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School Dress Codes and UniformsBy Linda Lumsden and Gabriel Miller DeMitchell, Todd A.; Fossey, Richard; and Cobb, Casey. "Dress Codes in the Public Schools: Principals, Policies, and Precepts."Journal of Law & Education 29:1 (January 2000): 31-49. EJ 606 474. Available from: Journal of Law & Education, Jefferson Law Book Company, 2100 Huntingdon Ave., Baltimore, MD 21211 Aware that the voice of the nation’s principals was largely missing from the debate over dress codes in public schools, DeMitchell, Fossey, and Cobb surveyed 240 principals who were randomly selected from a national directory and equally grouped in elementary schools, middle/junior schools, and high schools. Nearly two-thirds responded and some sent copies of their dress-code policies for the researchers to analyze. The principals expressed strong support for dress codes, with 85 percent reporting that dress codes were needed at their schools. Most expressed the belief that dress codes "improve student behavior, reduce peer sexual harassment, prepare students for the work world, and are worth the trouble that it takes to enforce." The researchers note that principals’ opinions varied somewhat with their schools’ grade levels and locations. While high school principals expressed greatest support for dress codes, but took a dim view of school uniforms, middle school principals indicated the strongest support for mandatory school uniforms. "Principals in rural areas showed greater support for dress codes than principals in suburban and urban schools. Yet the reverse was true for mandatory uniforms. Urban principals showed greater support for uniforms, followed by suburban and then rural principals," say the authors. More than half the principals reported that their schools had formal dress-code policies that usually prohibited halters, low-cut tops, tank tops, low-riding pants, wallet chains, sunglasses, headgear, and exposed undergarments. Codes also often prohibited clothing with advertisements or depictions of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products, or displays of offensive messages. Some codes contain requirements that hair be clean and well-groomed, and that clothes be clean, neat, and properly fastened. Although the principals clearly favored dress codes, they acknowledged having some doubts about the constitutionality of restrictions on student dress. In response to this concern, the authors explain at length that the nation’s courts have repeatedly given school authorities wide latitude to enforce dress codes that preserve order in schools. A principal’s interest in enforcing dress regulations that "teach community values and promote school discipline" takes precedence over a student’s right to wear gang-related or sexually provocative clothing, say the authors.
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