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This is a problem that needs to be addressed with changing times. Students have a right to express themselves how they want to, and often times this is done through style including clothes, sneakers, hair and so on. Schools are the right venue to adDRESS this problem because they're relatable. Every kid has gone to school and its widely known as a problematic circumstance in the education system for quite some time now.

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This video made me realize that the problem with school dress codes are not just peoples opinions stating that it is right or wrong but it violates students Constitutional rights by prohibiting free speech. In 1969 a Supreme Court case, "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District" took place after Mary Beth Tinker wore an arm band rounder arm that represented her opposition to the Vietnam War. She was dress coded for this. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tinker stating, "Students do not shed their Constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate."

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This article shocked me. In Texas last year, a 17 year old homosexual male was suspended from his public school for wearing fingernail polish. Especially in the year 2020, when this incident took place I'd never imagine that this sort of thing would happen in today's society. Also it's one thing that there is a punishment although I think any punishment at all for this is absurd; but the kid is suspended from going to school for days... this is irresponsible and ignorant doing by those faculty in charge at the school.

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A 17-year-old boy has been suspended from a public high school for wearing nail polish. It would ... [+]
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A 17-year-old gay male student has been suspended from a public high school in Texas for wearing fingernail polish. The polish would have been perfectly acceptable if the student were female.

Meanwhile, a transgender female student was disciplined by her public high school, also in Texas, for failing to conform to the dress code required of male students. According to a news report, "Dr. Garth Oliver, the superintendent for [the school district], said [the student] is accepted, but the school handbook is clear about what dress code standards students must adhere to, based on their assigned sex at birth. He reportedly told KTRK that it's simply about following existing rules."

There is no reason in this day and age for school districts to have different dress codes for boys and girls. This is separate from the debate over whether schools should have any dress codes at all. Some argue that the very idea that very short skirts or pants are distracting is inherently sexist. Others argue that schools are right to teach students that there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to dress in various contexts. Reasonable people can differ on that question. But there is no reason to have different dress codes for different genders. There is no educational value in schools demanding that only girls can wear fingernail polish or wear their hair long.

As long as schools are gender-neutral, they are within their rights to enforce certain dress requirements. In the seminal school free speech case, Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court said its holding did not extend to "to regulation of the length of skirts or the type of clothing, to hair style, or deportment."

But while the first amendment may not protect student's right to wear nail polish, the equal protection clause and anti-discrimination laws forbid schools from applying different rules to male and female students. Even ostensibly gender-neutral rules can run afoul of the law if they are applied in a gender-discriminatory fashion. For example, a high school, also in Texas, generated controversy when the principal circulated a video on the dress code showing many examples of violations but every single one of them by female students.

These days, there are many difficult and controversial issues regarding gender identity. Should transgender females be allowed to compete against other females on high school sports teams? Do students have a free speech right to deny that transgender men are men and transgender women are women or is that a form of hate speech? The public is divided on these issues. But getting rid of sexist dress codes should be easy. No one's rights are threatened by letting boys wear nail polish or wear their hair long. In fact, such policies probably generate more distractions than they prevent. America is going through a time when norms are changing rapidly and people are having trouble agreeing on anything. But the idea that your right to self-expression should not depend on your gender should be something that everyone can agree on.

... Read More

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It's Time To End Sexist Dress Codes In Schools

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A 17-year-old gay male student has been suspended from a public high school in Texas for wearing fingernail polish. The polish would have been perfectly acceptable if the student were female. Meanwhile, a transgender female student was disciplined by her public high school, also in Texas, for failing to conform to the dress code required of male students.

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When I first saw this middle schools' dress code policy from 2020, I thought it must be a private school.. not the case. This public school mandates some outrageous demands for its young learners including no hoodies and no leggings! I was intrigued to learn that this school district is also in the state of Texas; as was the finger nail polish dilemma I mentioned in the square previous. It leads me to believe southern states to be more strict regarding their dress code policies.

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I've gone through all the policies on SUNY Cortland's website and nowhere could I find a dress code policy. I find it interesting that all lower level education up until college have dress codes in place but as soon as we graduate high school they are nowhere to be found. Obviously we are held at a higher standard at college and with that comes more freedom and responsibly however I didn't;t think dress codes would disappear all together. I'm sure some more conservative colleges have something in place

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The policy and procedure documents are in a series of PDF files. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access these files. If you are visually impaired and using a screen reader, you may need to download the latest Acrobat Reader from Access Adobe.