What type of dress code should be enforced in a public school system?

Most of the schools in our town have a school uniform policy in place. I am okay with it. The kids all must wear the same certain colors, red, white or navy blue shirts only, oh and the shirts must have a collar, pants or shorts must be either navy blue or khaki (I think that's spelled wrong) or the girls can choose a skirt in navy blue or khaki. We are poor so we buy most of the kids school clothes from thrift stores, yard sales or super sales when they have them. The uniforms end up being a lot cheaper than regular clothes would be. Our school will also help people who can not afford uniforms at all. They have a drive and collect school uniforms and then give them to those who need them. So we've been very happy with school uniforms so far.

Kids should be allowed to wear what ever they want as long as it is not revealing. I don't see the point in everyone wearing uniforms and looking the same. Looking the same does keep everyone equal in what they wear. Wearing the samething everyday gets boring. Everyone needs change every once in a while. Change is good. I think some restrictions should be on clothes but I don't believe in uniforms.

We have that type of dress code and worse, no jeans are allowed, has to be dress pants basically. No clothing with hoods, has to be polo shirts, no T-shirts at all. I tell you it is ridiculous! The kids hate it and so do most parents. They say it was to stop the children picking on each other on their clothing. All I have seen is it has made it worse. I was able to afford Jeans and T-shirts not so much what we have to get now. It hasnt stopped any picking on each other either, as only certain children seem to have to follow all the rules. They arent suppose to wear hip huggers and I cant tell you the times we have been up there and seem with our own eyes that "certain" kids get away with it. I even went to the office and complained. I had my daughter and her friend take pictures one time of girls not wearing the dress code. I took those up and even thou you could tell it was the school, the principle said it could have been taken anywhere. *ROLLS EYES* Anyways I think it is uncalled for and isnt right.

In our district we have a choice. We can use the dress code. Or we can use our regular clothes. I have given my daughter the same choice. She has uniform outfits to wear. And she can and does dress in her own clothes. Sounds like an awful situation there. It sounds like they are defeating their own cause. The district is focusing more on the clothes than education.100-200 kids a day? that is crazy!

Here in the UK when I went to school, and is still policy today with many schools, you had to wear a school uniform which was shirt, tie, jacket, suit trousers and shoes. We were never allowed to wear casual clothes such as jeans or trainers. It may sound harsh but it did mean that trying to outdo someone when it came to the latest fashion wasn’t an issue. I think once you have allowed certain standards of dress code it is always more difficult to introduce stricter standards. So suddenly saying something is not allowed is always going to be hard to do. But I can see the point of view by enforcing certain dress codes it forces the emphasis on education rather than fashion. What it also means is that those who can’t afford fancy labels won’t feel such pressure to have to wear the latest brand name fashions. What would be a more sensible policy, and I apologies if I am wrong as I do not know how the schools work there, but they should introduce these new policies for children when they start a new school and so over a space of a few years the issues over fashion will be removed. At least by doing this the financial burden is not suddenly enforced on everyone.

That is really too extreme! As long as the clothes are not indecent, they should be allowed to wear them. Who cares if they have stripes or flowers! Otherwise they need to set a uniform policy where you can get certain items at a local store inexpensively. Public schools around me have started to require uniforms. Mostly, khakis and a specific color polo. They are not expensive and have great deals at a local shop. And in the long term you are saving money on clothes. I know this takes away from individuality, but kids still can be individuals when they are not in school. Trust me, I took advantage of my individuality when I was young. My daughter is in catholic school and wears a uniform. She actually really loves it. And it also prevents kids from showing off. We have some poor families and I think normally those kids might be picked on at a different school if they didn't wear certain clothes etc. It helps the children realize that they are all equal and no one is better or worse than the other. They can express their individuality in school in other ways, their art, music, writing, sports etc.

http://www.pal-item.com/article/20090809/NEWS0301/908090344b http://www.pal-item.com/article/20090817/NEWS0301/908170320 http://www.pal-item.com/article/20090816/NEWS01/908160302 The policy was communicated to the parents in May, and 90% complied. I really need to see what the suspended kids were wearing in order to respond to this. If they were wearing low-cut jeans, for example, or just blouses with pretty flowers, or plaid shirts. I would find it hard to believe that the latter two are "gang-related," but I would need a few days of research on that ...

Kids express who they are through their dress. I think it is important to allow them some freedom in this area. Sooner or later....they will get it right. By enforcing such a strict dress code, kids are still focusing on what they are wearing...they are just focusing on what the school wants them to wear as opposed to what they want. I understand that they should not be allowed to wear revealing clothing and things with certain logos. They should be dressed clean and neat but I do think that what you described is going way too far. I am very against uniforms. We are trying to teach our kids to be individuals...not follow the crowd and then to force them to wear uniforms just seems to go against all that.

My three older children did not have to abide by a dress code in school and they usually drove me nuts because it seemed like every week someone in school was wearing something they just had to have or they would die! My youngest went to high school down here in Florida where they had a dress code so everyone was limited in what they could wear. It wasn't as strict as Richmond and she still managed to pull off her gothic/punk/skater look but she didn't try to drag me to the mall every other week like her older siblings did. Richmond's dress code does seem unnecessarily harsh.

I think when it is a school thing there should be always a common dress code and no colour outfits should be allowed, i think jerseys also go out good with black trousers or plain basic denims in blue.Or then kneew length skirts with white formal shirts and red ties with blazer coats.

That's too harsh. You can't have parents of your pupils spend more money on clothings just because you think it improves their focus on education. Of course schools should be able to demand that clothes with certain words and pictures aren't allowed to be worn. It would be inappropriate to have children wearing all kinds of adult stuff or have them wear strings of course. But it doesn't mean you can say: "Hey you there, go home your current clothes contains a logo, try again tomorrow." Smaller children will shed in tears and older kids will probably be very mad. What sense does it make when children can focus more on education while on some days they are send home? I hope they are willing to proceed legally because such nonsense should stop.

Our public school district in general doesn't enforce a dress code like this, but many of the schools in the district do have a pretty strict dress code, my daughter's school being one of them. When my daughter started last year (she was in kindergarten), the dress code was khaki, navy or black pants (skirts, shorts). Solid colored polo shirts or dress shirts/blouses. At Christmas they ammended the dress code to include the children being able to wear official school logo T-Shirts, Sweat Shirts and also to include patterned polos. At first, I hated the fact that her school was a dress code school, but now that she has started her second year at the school with the dress code I love it. She is able to pick out her school clothes easily. And though the initial fact of buying her clothes for school was more expensive than it would have been to just go out and buy clothes for her to wear to school, this year the school clothes shopping was easy. I just replaced what she had ruined or outgrown and let her go on with that that still fits her until she outgrows it. We spent about 100 dollars all together for her new school clothes. I also now feel that it shouldn't only be selected schools in our district that are under dress code, it should be the entire school district that is under a dress code. I think in a certain sense it keeps the kids behavior better and they don't have to worry as much about being trendy.