My World and Welcome to It!

These are my thoughts and opinions about life in general. I also get daily prompts from DSP which inspire me to write. If I throw in some scrapbook pages I've done, photos I've taken, and stories about me, you will have an idea about my loony life!

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Dress Codes

Blog Prompt: Should schools and businesses enforce a dress code? Why?

Yes, I think there should be a dress code because people have different ideas of what is appropriate. I am not in favor of a uniform in schools because I feel that is where we can teach students that there are different kinds of appropriate dress. This is a time for students to see what colors they think they look good in and to learn to make their own decisions. I don’t think that all students should look alike because individualism is important. Even if there are uniforms so financial status is not known, students still know who has money and who doesn’t. I don’t think the uniforms help with that. I think it is important to teach students what is appropriate to wear in different situations and expect them to do so. I think students who wear inappropriate clothing should be sent home for the day and receive a failing grade for that day. If we are preparing them for the real world, we can not compromise on this.

As for the workplace, I think people should dress appropriate for their line of work. I do not like going into a professional place where people are dressed extremely casual because then I feel the work they will do for me will be too casual. I also don’t want workmen doing manual labor to be all dressed up because then I think they have no experience and will do a crummy job. These types of situations need to be taught in schools.

Original image: 'Dress Code' http://www.flickr.com/photos/7261417@N04/3350129438 by: Steve Weaver

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I think you are absolutely correct in how a child/young adult should be treated when wearing inappropriate clothing. Getting away with it now, will just make it that much harder when they have to conform in the work world.

Ali Hall said...

Down here in Adelaide we have very few, if any schools that allow non-uniformed students (both gov and private). I think the exception is the senior colleges for upper high school students - but I can only think of one of them.
From personal experience I see that when you have uniformed students they tend to individualise the dress anyway - the way they wear their hair, if socks are up or down or for example if t-shirts are worn underneath uniformed shirts etc. (so that the logos show through!) I have seen in schools (espec. those in lower socio-economic areas), as long as the school shirt is worn, then anything can be worn on the lower half of the body - an on the body like piercings, jewelery etc.
As my experience has been only to see kids in school uniforms I am intrigued by the approach that I know some American schools have of not having uniforms. Does it really impact on what and how they learn at school? Well no. I do see your point on how it is important to educate students as to what is and is not appropriate dress.
Thank you for your post :)

loonyhiker said...

@Ali Hall: I really enjoyed reading your comment. It showed that even with uniforms, kids are going to show they are different in some way or another. I think poorly dressed students can learn as much as nicely dressed students but I think more importantly, it is their attitude that is most important. I think we aren't preparing students for real life where everyone is not the same, not dressed the same, and won't be from the same economic or cultural background. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment!