Do School Dress Codes Improve Student Behavior

Name: Kaiji Xie

Instructor: Michael Hale

Date: December 4th, 2015

Do School Dress Codes Improve Students Behaviours and Academic Performance? Over the past decade, the debate on the introduction of dress codes in private and public schools has attracted a lot of attention from parents, educators and other stakeholders in the education sector. Recent research conducted on the topic has provided mixed evidence supporting both sides of the argument. (Billy, 54) The manner in which a child dresses while in school may appear to have minimal effect on the learning process and the students’ performance. However, as the old saying goes, ‘ The Clothes Make the Man’, and the implementation of standardized dress codes and school uniforms has brought about a significant transformation in the academic performance as well as the overall behaviour of students in many schools (Espejo,157). This paper encourages support for the notion that the introduction of dress codes improves student behaviour and academic performance.

The question is ,“Do School Dress Codes Improve Students Behaviours and Academic Performance?”

It communicates the message that discipline and learning precedes fashion and social class. It enables students to draw their attention from their outward appearances and focus on their learning activities. Teenagers have been known to place a lot of attention on how they dress and, therefore, school dress codes helps them to spend more of their energy on their academic and constructive extracurricular activities. Moreover, all students are placed on an equal footing by the dress code regardless of their different socio-economic, cultural and religious backgrounds. Studies have revealed that students that attend schools that have dress codes have a positive perception in regard to their school environment .(Espejo,