Title: Counterpoint: School Dress Codes Improve the Learning Environment
Authors:
Brian Wilson
Maureen McMahon
Source: Points of View: School Uniforms, 2011, p3-3, 1p
Document Type: Magazine Article
Database: Points of View Reference Center
Counterpoint: School Dress Codes Improve the Learning Environment
Thesis: With school violence still a problem in the United States, even after the 1999 shooting at
Colorado's Columbine High School and the 2007 attack at Virginia Tech, there is definitely a need for a
school environment more conducive to learning.
Justifying Dress Codes
Uniforms and dress codes vary only slightly in principle. Both seem to elicit the same fervor during
discussions of their adoption. In 2002, Cleburne (Texas) Middle School - which already had a dress
code in place - took on months of public discussions because the school's administration wanted the
dress code changed to make it more heavily enforced. The new requirement was created to eliminate
wardrobe as a source of competition among students.
Parents and students on both sides of the issue presented well-reasoned arguments to school
administrators and trustees, leading to a few modifications to the original plan. The new dress code
requires students to wear solid-colored shirts with collars and jeans or slacks. Similar policies are
being enacted in small and large school systems across the country. While many Cleburne school
trustees endured much criticism from parents unhappy with the new dress code, the requirements
were more lenient than in many areas.
Arguments against the changes at Cleburne Middle School ranged from the inability of some parents
to afford new wardrobes for their children to the view that restricting what students wear unfairly
limits their expression. While the first concern is legitimate, the second is not.
Requiring a parent with a limited income to buy several new school outfits could put the family in an
uncomfortable position. However, to claim that solid-colored shirts and slacks will hamper the
creativity of seventh- and eighth-grade students is to assume the children have a full compliment of
constitutional rights in school. There is no guarantee of free speech or expression in the classroom.
Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School
(1969) that students' freedom of expression should be respected in most cases, clothing has become
so risqué that it affects the behavior of students, and thus disrupts the learning environment.
Order in the Classroom
Students must do what school policy mandates or face the consequences. Schools are charged with
maintaining an environment conducive to learning, and strict dress codes or uniforms help encourage
this.
Larry Wilder, Ed.D., spent 19 years at the Fresno County Office of Education, and retired as the
assistant superintendent. Wilder currently directs the administrative services program in the Fresno
Pacific University School of Education, and he strongly believes that school dress codes are an
effective method of encouraging a positive school environment. According to Wilder,
"The National School Board Association estimates that approximately 135,000 guns are brought to
America's 85,000 public schools each day. This is one reason school districts use to implement dress
codes. Some schools even require students to have the belt line exposed at all times for fear of guns
concealed under clothing. Additionally, educators report a decrease in violence, a reduction of fights in
schools and improved student achievement when dress codes have been implemented."
In the wake of events at Columbine and Virginia Tech, it seems that whatever is necessary to keep
students safe is a school's priority. Regardless of the Tinker ruling, students (and their parents) need
to understand that free speech should never outweigh safety.
Common Sense Rules
During hearings to help board members craft a dress code, Cleburne teachers told them of the
difficulty they faced enforcing the old rules. Middle school girls wore tight-fitting clothing and shirts
with writing across the chest. For young girls to dress this way only reinforces the idea that sexuality
is crucial to success. Young girls who dress this way do so only to attract the attention of boys, and
boys in middle and high school don't need any reasons to view girls as objects.
While requiring students to wear certain types of clothing should be permitted, the rules must be
reasonable and enforced with common sense. In the Dallas suburb of Duncanville, Texas, this is not
happening. In the first weeks of the 2003-04 school year, students at Duncanville High School were
suspended by the hundreds, sometimes just for wearing an un-tucked shirt.
Duncanville Independent School District suspended 24 students a day through the beginning of
October 2003. By insisting on "zero tolerance" enforcement, Duncanville administrators have fostered
resentment toward those in authority. The failure to show leniency toward students who are adapting
to new rules defies logic, an important element of any set of regulations meant to maintain order.
The zero-tolerance policies regarding weapons and other prohibited items in schools have caused
problems because they make no consideration for intent. Legally, intent is essential in determining an
appropriate punishment for one's actions. For this reason, a drunk driver who kills someone while
behind the wheel is often convicted of manslaughter rather than murder.
Any school-uniform rule should allow administrators to use common sense when enforcing it. Before
making drastic decisions such as suspending students who otherwise have always followed the rules,
administrators should consider intent.
Conclusion
Placing restrictions on what students wear will certainly not solve the problems of under-achieving
schools. Only the hard work of teachers, students and administrators will accomplish this goal. At the
same time, sexually suggestive, inappropriate, or potentially violent clothing in the classroom is
clearly a distraction that could end up hurting students both emotionally and academically.