Why Dress Codes Should Be Eliminated

School dress codes around the world have been a debate for many years. I personally believe that it should be abolished because it was made to accommodate the beliefs and ideas of the time it was made (1969), and some dress codes don’t allow students to have a choice at all, forcing them to wear uniforms. Although our current dress code was lightened, that doesn't mean that there isn't a problem with other dress codes around the world, which is what I’m here to talk about.

The first school dress code on record was made in 1969 when students began to wear black armbands in protest of the Vietnamese war. Given the time period, dress codes accommodated to the teen fashion of the mid to late sixties and early seventies, which consisted of clothes with more coverage than we have today. Because of this, dress codes typically don't allow things like exposed shoulders, skirts and shorts above the knee, and lower cut collars.

Certain dress codes are very constructive and can keep a student from wearing patterns or designs on clothing or even require students to wear uniforms to try and keep students focused on education and not clothes. This isn't plausible because clothing isn’t a very time consuming decision and it identifies a person; it shows how they act and how they think. The purchases and cleaning of one singular uniform can keep a student preoccupied compared to having multiple outfits which they can wash at the end of a week. Uniforms also leave students with a lack of individuality which can keep them from developing their own sense of style and artistic freedom.

In conclusion, students shouldn’t be confined to a dress code. It caters to older generations and puts their idea of what’s acceptable for a person to wear on newer generations. Uniforms and other constricting dress codes are also able to hinder individuality and freedom of expression. I think dress codes are unreasonable, but what do you think?