Students in all grades and in all regions of the country complain about “dress codes” and how they interfere with their personal freedom.  Sociologists and psychologists have studied the alleged impact of uniform dress on academic performance (the trend suggests that uniform school dress improves performance, though the reasons offered differ).  Surprisingly, this issue has not been a “hot topic” in the courts, but a recent case gives more insight than most in the last forty years and raises the question:  do students have a constitutional right to dress as they please?

As this article explains, Kimberly Jacobs, a high school junior in Nevada and devout Mormon, was suspended for twnety-five days because she repeatedly wore a T-shirt with religious slogans supportive of her Mormon faith, in violation of the school dress code, which prohibits wearing any logo or wording of any kind on one’s clothes other than that of the school itself.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appellate court for most of the Western states, found the school policy did not violate the First Amendment freedom of religion or freedom of speech, because the policy was “content neutral” and served a legitimate purpose of preventing distractions at school.  The case represents a bit of a reversal from a famous case in 1968 where the Supreme Court allowed students to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War.

The case raises the broader issue of what one law professor has termed the “freedom of dress.”  Should students be allowed to wear whatever type of dress they prefer?  If we say yes, but draw a line, where do we draw the line?  No tattoos?  No visible tattoos?  No piercings?  Nothing risque?  No vulgarity?  No rap music promotion?  It seems once we start to draw a line, we begin regulating the content of the message, and that is precisely what the First Amendment prohibits — silencing speech because we do not like the message.

But these are schools and we are dealing with minors, right?  Do they have the same constitutional rights as adults?  And it is not like adults can wear anything anytime in the workplace, right? 

Students have free speech rights in school, but they can be circumscribed in some respects to meet the educational mission of the school.  Dress codes became fashionable again when schools discovered the color of clothing revealed gang identification and made school violence more likely.  Allowing a student to wear a highly offensive slogan on a shirt may lead to violence.  On the other hand, having to wear a uniform completely eliminates the ability of a student to express herself through clothing and accessories at school, to reveal her personality, her identity.  If schools help students develop not just academically but as individuals, should we discourage their ability to explore their individuality?  Can we have a vibrant school community if we limit the ways members of the community can express themselves?

What do you think?  Should we have school uniforms?  If you go to a school where you wear a uniform, do  you like it?  Do you find it less distracting when everyone wears the same outfit?  If you go to a school without a dress code, do you like it?  Do you find some student outfits offensive or outrageous?  Is it distracting in class?  Do people comment on it in class?  Outside of class?  Have you ever seen someone’s attire cause a fight?

Let’s start a real discussion!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 11:09 am and is filed under For Educators, For Parents, For Students. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.