As fall approaches, students will be visiting local malls to purchase new clothes for school. Public schools throughout the United States are adapting new policies regarding dress. These newer policies are widely unpopular with today's youth.
Clothing as Self Expression
One telltale sign of adolescence is independence. Teens need to develop their own sense of identity in order to transition to adulthood. They typically express independence through appearance and dress. With appearance teens will choose a hairstyle or hair color to set themselves apart from their parents. Many teens will use color dye, like pink or blue, to make themselves stand apart for their parents.
Teens may dress similarly to their friends as a statement of solidarity. Students who identify with the Emo culture may darken their hair black and/or dress in dark clothing. Some students want to be perceived as wealthy and will wear only in season name brand clothing. Students who enjoy music like rap or hip hop may wear clothing similar to the artists: baggy jeans, over-sized shirts, and baseball caps.
Fashion Trends for Teens
Within the past ten years, fashion trends for teens have caused controversy. This has been the case for both genders. For boys, the fashion has included exposure of boxer shorts. Jeans are often over-sized so that the pants sag below the waistline, which then exposes the shorts. Many boys choose not to wear a belt to secure the pants appropriate and consciously choose to wear the pants low and boxer shorts exposed.
For girls, the trend has also included the display of undergarments. Low rise jeans are popular, which if a top is not long enough to cover, will expose underwear. Many girls will wear thong-style underwear under low rise jeans to purposely expose the thong. Tops are often cut low to expose cleavage.
School Dress Codes
Schools have had to contend with appropriate dress of students for decades. In the 1950s, girls would often fold over the waistband of their skirts to shorten the skirt's length. However, most recently, dress code issues have surfaced due to the perceived vulgarity of student dress choices.
Because media and music videos depict people in everyday situations wearing attire that is questionable, students believe that the same attire is acceptable to wear at school. Schools, on the other hand, need to maintain an environment conducive to learning. When students' attire distracts from the learning process, then that clothing is not appropriate for wearing to school.
The following are some of the more popular dress code violations in public schools:
- Tops, like tank tops, that have shoulder straps less than the width of two fingers
- Short skirts
- V-neck tops that sport the cleavage or are lover than the measurement of two finger lengths from the collarbone
- Pants that do not cover undergarments
- T-shirts that depict illegal activity for teens
- Tops that expose the midriff
- Pants whose waistbands fall lower than the waist
- Baseball caps or hoodies that cover the face from security cameras
- Bandanas or other clothing that may be perceived as gang affiliation.
Administrators and school boards have the authority to create any type of dress code for their student body. This is widely unpopular with the students Paul Palmer, a high school student, recently attempted to advocate that dress codes are a violation of students' First Amendment rights. School contend that dress codes are an essential boundary. Students learn that what attire is appropriate in certain situations. For example, a bikini is very appropriate at a beach; however, it is not appropriate to wear in a business office. They also contend that dress codes assist students to prepare for corporate dress code policies.
While students desire to express themselves individually through dress, the choice of attire is not always appropriate for all situations. This often creates contention among students who believe that it is their right to wear any type of clothing to school.
Kerrie Troseth - Kerrie is a licensed school counselor who works exclusively with adolescents. As a school counselor she is trained in the areas of ...
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