By GRACE STEVENS, Age 13
Dress codes in schools are supposed to maintain a distraction-free, safe and professional environment, but can instead make students feel less than their peers because of sexism or racism in school rules. Some school dress codes have rules directly targeting certain genders or ethnicities. These exist because school dress codes were established at the same time as public schools, and many of these rules have not changed since then. That leaves rules that are fit for how people dressed in the 1830s and not in the world we live in today.
A study by Education Weekly in 2022 found that 90% of dress codes are about clothes predominantly worn by girls, but many dress codes also have rules about only boys. Cheyanne Mumphrey of the Associated Press writes,“In 2020, the ACLU of Texas identified 477 school districts with boys-only hair length rules. Since then, half have removed the restrictions from their policies, according to an ACLU report.”
Dress codes also have rules about certain races. Education Weekly shares that “59 percent of dress codes have rules about students’ hairstyles that disproportionately impact Black students.” Education Weekly also found that schools with more Black and Hispanic students have stricter dress codes.
Having rules specifically about the global majority’s hair goes against the CROWN Act, a law in about 20 states. It stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” and was put in place to stop discrimination based on natural hair in educational and professional settings.
While the CROWN Act is a step in the right direction, it has not completely stopped dress code discrimination based on race. One example of this is Darryl George, an African American teenager who attended Barbers Hill High School in Texas. He was banned from attending school for most of the 2023-2024 school year because of the length of his locs.
PBS shared that for much of his junior year, George “either served in-school suspension … or spent time at an off-site disciplinary program” because his hair violated the school’s dress code. George’s family has accused the school of going against the CROWN Act. When the case was taken to a Texas court, it sided with the school system. Before the trial, Darryl told AP News that “[Wearing locs is] how I feel closer to my people. It’s how I feel closer to my ancestors. It’s just me. It’s how I am.”
School is a place where students should feel safe and respected. Schools made dress codes to ensure that, but they often have the opposite effect. Dress codes have left students upset and even taken out of the school building. A measure made for safety should make students feel safe, not discriminated against.
