Speaking of teenagers... dress codes

[Lammie]

The school where I work has instituted, beginning next year, a more or less uniform dress code.

Some history: Last year we had issues with the dress code as it was too vague. Everywhere you looked you saw what amounted to boobs, butt cracks and boxers, (the three B's) all over the school along with vile T-shirts and oversized shirts on the boys, I guess trying to hide their boxers. It was disgusting at times and impossible to enforce because unpleasant is in the eye of the beholder.

Last fall we started a different dress code. Boys had to wear collars, no sagging or bagging, no shirt lengths beyond the top of the wrist, girls had to wear shirts cut no lower than two inches from the collar bone. Well, we had pretty good complaince but I still get kids in suspension all the time, mainly for boys in t-shirts and girls showing the boobs.

Starting in the fall, we are going uniform, more or less. Pants have to be belted, shirts tucked, everyone in a collar, khakis of either dark blue or tan. No jeans except on specified days. Shirts have to be either white, blue or gold. No cargo pants. I'm sure that the rules regarding hemlines have changed as well, but we don't get a lot of that around here. Also, our rule from this last fall, and I hate to think that we had to say this, but that underwear has to be worn and must be gender appropriate. We have more cross dressing girls here... It's disgusting.

Needless to say, it is raising a stink in the student body. You'd think we told them that they have to shave their heads, which I am sure some of them would rather do. I have had kids tell me it violates their freedom of expression. I told them that was the point. That if they had expressed themselves within the confines of our liberal dress code, then this would not have been necessary. And if you are in school your rights extend only as far as the school will allow them while they are walking the hallowed halls.

I was wondering what everyone's opinion of the new dress code and if your kids have run into similar issues in high school. I wouldn't mind hearing what the younger generation has to say about it.

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

I'd say almost every school here has a school uniform. You still get girls hiking their skirts up to just under their boobs though. They also banned jeans unless you were a part of the ag program (I had agriculture everyday so I got away with it). If you wore jeans to school more than 3 times you were excluded from extra curricular events. We moaned but most people complied...

 

[Jogeephus]

Not to offend you but it sounds like the administration did a pi$$ poor job of enforcing the rules. We have rules on dress code and if you wear something inappropriate the parent has to come get the child from school. As we see it, this puts the responsibilty back on the parent - where it belongs.

Personally, I like the idea of a dress code as I think it would put everyone on a more equal footing in school.

 

[LoveMoo11]

When I was in high school we didn't have much of a dress code-tops had to have two inch straps, no cleavage, no bellies. Other than that it was pretty much teacher's discretion, if they told you to go change out of your Hooter's t-shirt you had to. But it seemed like the popular girls never got in trouble for anything...I don't really have a problem with dress codes-its school, not the mall. Gives the kids one less thing to pick on each other about.

 

[ga. prime]

We have rules on dress code and if you wear something inappropriate the parent has to come get the child from school.

What if the parent can't or won't come get them? Children at my son's school have to wear a lab coat all day if they dress inappropriately.

 

[angie1]

Uniforms are completly the way to go for a whole variety of reasons I am thinking will be addressed before this thread is over.

When I worked in the mainstream high school there was a dress code and I would have girls show up in 5th hour dressed like street walkers ~ they had made it that far into the day before I sent them off. Lammie is right ~ way too objective, and it creates problems for the teachers who attempt to hold kids accountable. One of my girls went to school 2 years ago with a rip in the thigh of her pants. I was unaware of this until I was called to bring her in pants more appropriate, she would be waiting in the nurses office until I got there. I never said a thing, I didn't have to, and it never happened again.

I have had kids tell me it violates their freedom of expression. I told them that was the point. That if they had expressed themselves within the confines of our liberal dress code, then this would not have been necessary.

Very, very good response. :nod:

Even the inmates whine about the uniforms. Too bad. :roll:

 

[FarmGirl10]

My school has a very strict dress code...but not all of the teachers will enforce it. I think its necessary...there is nothing more annoying than seeing your females classmates boobs/butts all day long.

 

[redluv]

Our dress code was 2 inch straps in shirts for girls, and no cut-offs for guys. Skirts/shorts had to be long enough to touch the fingertips of the person wearing them when their arms were at their sides. No bellies showing. Almost everyone complied, and teachers and staff were on the lookout for those who didn't. We rarely had anyone sent home or had t-shirts turned inside out. Then again, I graduated from a farming community, with less than 400 kids in the high school. Half the kids wore chore clothes to school and were proud to have manure on their jeans and shoes .

 

[Aaron]

It all comes back to the parents. If you need a dress code, you have a whole lot of parents who can't handle their kids.

No dress code at my high school. Would be a revolt, and possible torching of the school if they had.

On the other hand, it wasn't uncommon for my teachers to call a fellow female student a whore, or a male student a dumb-ass if they took their appearance to the extreme. No teacher ever got in trouble for saying it. If they ever did, there would be a class of students backing him up. :cowboy:

 

[iowahawkeyes]

":32d4u712]It all comes back to the parents. If you need a dress code, you have a whole lot of parents who can't handle their kids.[/b]

No dress code at my high school. Would be a revolt, and possible torching of the school if they had.

On the other hand, it wasn't uncommon for my teachers to call a fellow female student a be nice, or a male student a dumb-ass if they took their appearance to the extreme. No teacher ever got in trouble for saying it. If they ever did, there would be a class of students backing him up. :cowboy:

You don't have kids right?

And you don't live in the US. Faster than a speeding lawyer you couldn't get by with that.

 

[iowafarmer]

We dont ahve school uniforms, we have a dress code, its enforced its usually not a probelm. There are plenty of good clothes out there that you dont have to wear bad clothes to school. Its a christian school not a public school so thats y bad tshirts arent a problem really along with most bad clothes. I dont know, i could see them getting uniforms tho jsut becasue there are kids that push it at times but it would make a lot of people very angry inculding parents about how they have to buy their kid clothes to wear to school now and to wear other places. We arent allowed to have holes in our jeans even if they are below the knee becasue it makes us look ratty not because it shows inappropriate skin. I think that is a dumb rule. Jeans get worn through in the knees some of us are to cheap to go buy more. IF its a hole showing inappropriate skin i could understand getting detentions for that but not when they are on the knees. teachers will make you change your shirt or turn it inside out if its inappropriate. No tatoos are allowed as long as they cant be seen. No peircings on the face. Its a long list. Its about 3 pages long i think. Parents have to sign it at the beginning of the year along with other rules to make sure they are aware of the rules that their kid is supposed to abide by.

 

[K2011]

My high school is pretty laid back in their dress code.....if you wear a tank it has to have 2in. straps....if you wear shorts they have to be longer than your finger tips when they are at your sides, and I mean you can't wear like a Budwiser shirt to school but pretty much aren't that picky and I hope we NEVER have uniforms.

 

[Lammie]

Not to offend you but it sounds like the administration did a pi$$ poor job of enforcing the rules. We have rules on dress code and if you wear something inappropriate the parent has to come get the child from school. As we see it, this puts the responsibilty back on the parent - where it belongs.

Personally, I like the idea of a dress code as I think it would put everyone on a more equal footing in school.

That is exactly my poimt. If there had been a teacher or administrator in the school at the doors to accept or rejext them then it would have worked out better. As it is, some kids get through most of the day before anyone says anything about it and my point is, they have gone this far...

Sometimes parents won't come and bring other clothing. Other times the kid will refuse to change and then I get them for the day. We keep a lot of collared shirts at the school for kid to wear. It's usually a boob thing. I'm happy that we changed. It takes all the guesswork out of it. No collar, no khakis, no stay. And I should think it would cost less as Target and Walmart both sell uniforms now and khakis can be had cheap. You can get the collared shirts at the dollar store here, and since the junior high school already has this policy then incoming freshman will be used to it. There will still be a rebellion, though. I'm sure that the calls from parents will start coming in today. The thing I am happiest about is the shirts. The jean thing really didn't bother me but I am also happy about having to tuck and belt.

At my son's old HS if you didn't belt you had to wear a piece of clothesline around your waist and you got a demerit. One demerit was enough to keep you from field trips and since it affected your citizenship grade, it could keep you off the honor rolls. Not that we have that many kids who make the honor rolls... The kids who do are already willing to follow the dress codes. It's the dumba$$ kids who won't follow it.

We got a new principal and I met him yesterday. He seems like he's going to be consistent in the discipline area. He was talking to me yesterday about what would make my job easier, which is great because I am on the verge of leaving because of it. We have several good teachers that are throwing in the towel this year and going to where the grass is greener. Two are going to retire early and leave teaching altogether.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Jogeephus]

If there had been a teacher or administrator in the school at the doors to accept or rejext them then it would have worked out better.

This is exactly how we do it. In the morning there is but one entrance open to students and they are stopped there and never make it past the office if they are dressed wrong. It ruffled some feathers when it was first implemented but all this passed in just a couple of months. Consistancy was the key too. One "blue-blood" kid wore a shirt that was inappropriate and the family tried to make a stink out of it but lost. No exceptions for no reasons. Kids aren't stupid like some people think. A funny side note was with a football coach. He had a few players who reverted back to the britches around the legs thing till one day he explained to the young men what this meant in prison and played on the boys healthy sense of homophobia. They don't dress that way anymore. ;-) :lol2:

 

[Lammie]

We tried telling the prison thing to the kids and believe it or not it didn't make a difference to them. Most of those kids are Hispanic and they see their homies doing it and they want to look like them. As long as it is fashionable anywhere, the kids are going to dress like that. I got cussed by a kid last week because I got onto him for having his entire butt hanging out of his jeans. He's gone away for a while. I don't put up with that. I can't cuss you and you can't cuss me. No one can read my mind, though, and that's a good thing.

 

[alacattleman]

My school has a very strict dress code...but not all of the teachers will enforce it. I think its necessary...there is nothing more annoying than seeing your females classmates boobs/butts all day long.

this is where me and you differ :cowboy:

 

[Lammie]

My school has a very strict dress code...but not all of the teachers will enforce it. I think its necessary...there is nothing more annoying than seeing your females classmates boobs/butts all day long.

this is where me and you differ :cowboy:

Perv!

 

[alacattleman]

My school has a very strict dress code...but not all of the teachers will enforce it. I think its necessary...there is nothing more annoying than seeing your females classmates boobs/butts all day long.

this is where me and you differ :cowboy:

Perv!

not really, im for dress codes myself

 

[bigbull338]

the truth is dress codes can be both good an bad.our school always had them.but they knew when to enforce them an when not to.because if they tryed it with the wrong kid it would be heck to pay from the kids parents.most would go after the teacher princapel an superintendent.an give them all a stern cussing.but we was really all good kids.we dressed respectful.an when we chewed tobbacco or dipped snuff or smoked we went to the des area.

 

[alacattleman]

the truth is dress codes can be both good an bad.our school always had them.but they knew when to enforce them an when not to.because if they tryed it with the wrong kid it would be heck to pay from the kids parents.most would go after the teacher princapel an superintendent.an give them all a stern cussing.but we was really all good kids.we dressed respectful.an when we chewed tobbacco or dipped snuff or smoked we went to the des area.

thats another problem .....parents who think their little angels can do no wrong.....