Uniforms and Public School Safety

Violence among today's young people, especially at school, has been labeled by many health professionals as a potential threat to the overall health and academic success of children (King, pp. 67-68). Approximately one in four students reports worrying about becoming a victim of crime or threats at school, and one in eight reports having been victimized at school (Stephens, pp. 96). In light of such reports, schools have implemented violence prevention programs, which have shown moderate success (Mancini, pp. 87). As these programs continue, teachers, principals, parents, and students have also noted a possible connection between school violence and the type of clothing students wear in school.

The fashion trend at school, especially urban schools, is largely dominated by children wearing gang-related or gang-like clothing. Since gang-related clothing is usually color coded, children wearing certain types of clothing may make them unwitting targets for violence. In addition, children may envy other children's clothing and lack financial resources to purchase similar styles. Consequently, children have been violently injured or even murdered for their designer clothing, shoes, or professional sport team jackets. Recent court decisions have leaned toward school district decisions to mandate student uniforms as a way to combat school violence (Zirkel, pp. 111). Courts are beginning to decide that if the dress code of the local district or school bears a reasonable relationship to the pedagogical purpose of the institution, then such regulations are in order (Phoenix Elementary School District No. 1 v. Green, pp. 78).

Concern about Student Rights and the Public School Uniform Issue

Historically, school officials were viewed as acting in loco parentis in their management and discipline of student behavior and appearance. In 1969 the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (pp. 111-119), that school officials were state actors whose discipline of students was constrained by the federal Constitution. The Tinker case established the right of students to freedom of expression in school unless the exercise of that right would materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline or collide with the rights of others in the school (Majestic, pp. 67; Zirkel, pp. 78).

Now, more than two decades after the Tinker case, there appears to be a nationwide trend by public school officials to adopt stricter dress and grooming codes, even to include the requirement that specific uniforms be worn ("School Uniforms," pp. 197). School officials give various reasons for this change. Many believe stricter dress requirements set a tone that has been missing in some public schools in recent years, one of respect and seriousness of purpose. Other school administrators, often with parent and student support, argue that students have grown so fashion conscious that they are distracted from their studies with thoughts about clothing. These administrators further state that popular clothing has become so expensive that families are becoming economically squeezed by peer pressure to dress as others do. Additional educational leaders are adopting policies that aim at specific evils, such as gang membership and ...