School Dress Code Analysis

I went to high school in Provo, Utah, a largely conservative and highly religious area of the country. At my school there was a strictly enforced dress code, everyone I knew fell victim to it at some point during their tenure. Then and now this dress code seems to me to be asinine and discriminatory; while the more alternative looking students felt and claimed to be particularly victimized by them, the overwhelming majority of students targeted by these rules were girls.

In my junior year, I had been sent home and given detention for wearing shorts that were deemed to be “too short,” and pointing out that it was over 100 degrees that day got me no sympathy, the administration claimed that this would’ve been the punishment for any infraction

When I was in elementary school conflict regarding the length of boys’ hair or “gang dress” was common, I vividly remember male family members being chastised for their pants falling below their rear end. But those were the days of grunge and gangster rap, parents and schools had been worried for the safety of boys whose role models were criminals and depressives; the current round of moral panic focuses primarily on girls wearing figure-hugging garments, such as leggings and yoga pants, or revealing “too much” skin, as in the case of shorts and tank tops. Just as when I was younger the concern was for the safety of boys, the current conflict over girls’ clothing seems to be similarly aimed at the reactions of male students. The alarm claimed by parents and school officials is that the concerned attire could “distract” other pupils, the unspoken ‘male pupils’ is usually taken as read. Often times wearing shorts or leggings results in a punishment of suspension or the implementation of so called, “shame suits,” while the punishment boys receive for wearing an insulting t-shirt is that they’re made to turn the offending item inside out. How can two crimes that are arguably on par with one another in terms of severity, receive such wildly differing punishments? I believe, as do the students

Overwhelmingly, the answer I’ve heard from school officials was “safety.” The safety of students and teachers in attendance appears to be the number one concern – public schools have a duty to create and sustain a safe environment which is conducive to learning. A The National School Board Association estimates that 135,000 guns are brought to public schools each day (Celis). With statistics like that there is unquestionably cause for concern for the physical safety of students, and there regulations in many public school dress codes to that end. Larry Wilder, director of the administrative services program in the Fresno Pacific University School of Education, believes that these measures are helpful; he stated that, “educators report a decrease in violence, a reduction of fights in schools and improved student achievement when dress codes have been implemented.” If this is true then certainly, whatever is necessary to keep students safe should be a school's priority. However, if the harm is being done by the rules themselves how can school officials claim that they are interested in student safety? What is actually considered a safety issue, is safety as simple as preventing accidental physical harm or violence, or is it more complex than that? Does the concern for student safety reach as far as the safety of their self esteem, or the safety of their mental and emotional