school dress codes

[spears312]

The schools in my county have always had a loose dress code, restraining of corase anything suggestive and inappropriate. This year they made things more strict like requiring girls shorts to be longer, no sleeveless shirts for the guys, and no low pants, etc. Nothing that really effects me, since I wear jeans and polos half the time (and my heatwave stuff the other half it would seem some weeks ). I just hope I can get through my senior year (next year) without uniforms, because I had to wear them from like, Kindergarten to 8th grade, and I really don't want to go back .

[dubious elise]

Sounds just like grade school to me! I went to a parochial school from Kindergarten through 8th grade where, like your high school, there were few, if any, restrictions as to what we could wear. Just before 4th grade began, we too had a "dress code" sicced on us. Naturally, the students were resistant, especially the junior high kids. It actually started out surprisingly lax; khaki's and navy pants all the time with plaid dresses/skirts for girls and shorts in the early fall. We got 4 colors of shirts (red, white, navy, and green) whether they were polos, buttondowns, turtlenecks, or sweaters. We were also promised at least 1 "out of uniform day" per month.

That all went down the tubes as our school realized that things they hadn't expected (lowrise pants, JNCO-like khakis, bell bottomed khakis, cargo pants, trashy Abercrombie-esque "fatigued" pants, etc) also fell quite nicely into their own categories. Brand-related disputes would still break out in the junior high when kids were picked on for wearing Land's End uniforms vs. something pieced together from American Eagle and Banana Republic. As children's clothing became more grunge-like and risque (read: midriff tops for 8 year olds, shredded jeans, etc), our out of uniform days were restricted to a student's own birthday and the occasional holiday (yes, the Friday before a big Packers game was a holiday, as long as you wore something green or gold...).

Now, the students are restricted to wearing only what is sold by a specific uniform company to keep things totally and completely fair. I never really had a problem with the concept of uniforms. There was just something about wearing a 100% polyester shirt/pants combo on the bus ride home on that one abnormally hot spring day that never sat well with me.

Either way, aside from the fact that it ususally just adds up to be another, oftentimes unnecessary, expense for a lot of families, if your school is having such problems with attire disputes, this is an option that has been shown to work in many instances. I'd say give it a chance.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I've never been in a situation with a strict dress code like that, but my school enforces very strictly shirts that show any cleavage, and shirts with inappropriate advertising of any sort.

Many teachers have the "labcoat". It's a really ugly lab jacket that you have to put on if they don't approve of what you're wearing. When the teacher whose 1st and 5th hour classes disect pigs brings up the concept, students obey.

I personally don't really float either way. I think there's a lot more to a school or a person than what they wear, and while individualism in clothing is important, you are honestly only in school for maybe 7 hours or 9 or 10 with ECs. Deal with it, everyone is doing it in your school. You'll have to do it when you're in the working world, just like David said.

[JoeXIII'007]

Hmmm... that dress code of xzvrw2's school is indeed a bit strict. I wouldn't like it at all. BUT, I would like to see what would happen if a dress code like that was enforced at my school for just one year. Heh heh heh That'd be interesting. Currently though, we've had a great principal who has actually enforced the exisiting dress code, and it has worked really REALLY well. Has anyone in the Pontiac district contacted the board or some section of the school to try and work something out?

[Bcahn836]

Personally I don't think a school has the authority to tell its students what they can or cannot wear, and make them only wear uniforms. I can see restricting a student from wearing any thing offensive, too "showing" or some thing like that but to tell a student they can't wear jeans or something like that is just lunacy.
I remember one year my school was trying to pull the whole uniform thing a few weeks before school started and it never worked so they made it optional for the students, now some followed the suggested guide lines but much of the school didn't and the ones who wore the uniform didn't get laughed at too much.
But that is just my opinion. . .

[wilshire]

I am not so sure they can pull that strict of a uniform policy at a public school. Public schools are supposedly for the public. Now they have to pay even more money to buy appropriate attire? that in my opinion is ridculous for a public school.
I agree with all of my school policies with no offensive content/drug display/showing of cleavage for shirts pants skirts or shorts. and girls can have shorts and or skirts being no higher than fingertip length. I used to go to a Catholic shool where the basic attire you were allowed to where was blue shorts or blue pants with a white collared shirt with a navy blue sweatshirt if you felt like it. Girls could where the navy blue shorts or a green plaid skirt with a white collared shirt.
anyways dress has neverbeen an issue with me because I always wear shorts or jeans with a polo. You can never go wrong with the polo

[Bharat Nain]

Originally Posted by dubious elise

Either way, aside from the fact that it ususally just adds up to be another, oftentimes unnecessary, expense for a lot of families, if your school is having such problems with attire disputes, this is an option that has been shown to work in many instances. I'd say give it a chance.

Actually, uniforms might actually save money for some. Instead of spending money on too many sets of clothes for school, they will be limited. As far as my view goes on uniforms, I am not one who would enjoy wearing a uniform to school everyday. I feel the students should be given some freedom as far as what they want to wear. Ofcourse I understand the rules they impose.

[mechanicalbrain]

School uniforms are very often custom made for schools and as i understand it very pricey. I wonder about the actual benefit to school uniforms. For example in my school their really isnt any such thing as gang violence. Before you say that its that i come from a "good" neighborhood ide like to say i also went to school in DC (not the good part) and we didn't really see any gang violence in school their either. The little that was present deffinitely wouldn't be stopped by clothing. It reminds me of a popular quote by Murphy "It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious". I hate to say it but you can remove all the visual hate you want but kids will keep on finding new ways to hate (yeah i know im pretty pesimistic just calling on experience). Its sad to see but to me school uniforms are like metal detectors at airports kind of pointless.

[sanddrag]

After seeing the video posted earlier in this thread, I wish there was a metal detector in ever door anyone walked through in any place. That was just plain scary. That many guns, and all different kinds and sizes, and you'd never know until it was too late.

[mechanicalbrain]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

After seeing the video posted earlier in this thread, I wish there was a metal detector in ever door anyone walked through in any place. That was just plain scary. That many guns, and all different kinds and sizes, and you'd never know until it was too late.

Yeah i still can't tell if that was a joke or something seriously put together by parents. Sanddrag, every time you see a guy walking funny your going to wonder whether the guy has a rifle in his pants. However if you insist on security you can always get a MET-1 metal detector ( take a look) for only $149!

[xzvrw2]

We don't have school uniforms. Its is a dress code. We can go out and buy the $15 pair of khakis from k-mart. It doesn't have to be the $40 pair of pants from some uniform catalog. I don't know if you know what kind of school Northern is, but it is an urban school so there is a big problem with guys sagging thier pants down to their ankles, girls wearing these shirts and skirts that would make a hooker tell her to go put some clothes on. We have had a dress code since my dad has went to that school 20 years ago. They just don't enforce it. I think that this dress code will fail but that is just my opiion. The school board telling the principal of the school that there is a dress code 3 weeks before school is very bad. The told the parents at the same time they told the principal, 3 weeks before school starts. I can see the whole, "We spent all this money on clothes already I can't afford to spend more monsy," here is a thought, take those clothes back. I garuntee that most of those clothes are the reason why this school is going to a strict dress code. Then the parents say, "I want my baby to look good," to me, dressing like a hooker doesn't look good. "I didn't buy my baby his $150 air force ones, his auntee did," Tell his "auntee" to go out and buy him some khakis and a nice shirt. The only problems I have with this is the colors they chose. I got to this other school called GMTS (General Motors Technical Academy) and the students there have to dress up in business casual, just like the engineers do. We are not limited to the colors we have to wear so I have like brown pants, yellow shirts, green shirts, and stuff like that. I could have worn them to both school and GMTA. But the colors day that I cannot. That is just rong. Also right now I have a mohawk. It says that hair cannot be distracting. Would my hair count as a distraction? I hope not. Also it was stupid to tell us this with 3 weeks before school. The school board has done this kind of thing forever.


Stevie

[Mike]

Originally Posted by xzvrw2

no shorts may be work underneath the skirts

I'm assuming you meant to say worn there. Now this confuses me, if anything shorts help the dress code. No... erm... "show" if a girl falls or something like that. Sounds like they didn't think this through enough. Get a ton of kids and go to a Board of Education meeting. If you get enough people I think they'll definitely repeal this.

[xzvrw2]

I just typed it they way tey had it on the paper they gave us. So any typos are on them. It is the board of education that is bringing this on not the principal.

[mechanicalbrain]

Originally Posted by xzvrw2

It is the board of education that is bringing this on not the principal.

Get kids to show up and speak out. You wouldn't believe some of the things our board tried to pull that would probably have worked if kids hadn't stepped in and said something.

[xzvrw2]

My school board isn't the best school board. They look out for them selves. Half of them their kids dont even go to pontiac schools. One of the members don;t even live in pontiac, they live in lake orion.