One of the oldest arguments, in the American school systems, is the infamous dress code. This code has been in effect since 1969, when The Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, ruled that schools could limit student expression, such as the way the students dress, to promote a better learning environment. The students of Des Moines were simply exercising their first amendment right, freedom of speech, when the student body wore black armbands to protest the Government’s policy in Vietnam. Not only was this a silent protest but the punishment also violated the students first amendments rights. The schools have followed standards set in the late 1960s and have only added more restrictions to preserve the learning environment, without making amendments to the current dress code. A survey, that was conducted at a local high school, revealed the students’ opinions about the dress code implemented in their high school. Students that leave the school systems in America, now go through life with certain expectations and gender roles that women are mostly expected to follow or risk hindering the male population.

Students now come to school with unrealistic expectations that the school demands they meet. Students are expected to keep their home lives out of their school life, but most of the average student’s home life revolves around school. The question that most students are asking is, when does school end and a student’s home life begin? With school taking up so much of a students life, such as hours of homework a week, the dress code is just another thing that makes students detest the school system even more. The students of the high school, where the survey was conducted, were very vocal about their opinions on the dress code. One student, in particular, stated, “It's too strict. Especially towards girls, I'm not allowed to wear half of my clothes, tank tops to be specific, that I can't wear because their ‘too distracting’ even though the only thing that I'm showing is my shoulders. And we get in trouble for wearing off the shoulder tops even when nothing revealing is being shown, and we get in trouble for showing our bralette straps when we're wearing a shirt. We get targeted when it comes to the dress code and it is not fair. Girls wearing certain clothing items gets sexualized normally by boys, when it shouldn't be. Us showing our shoulders shouldn't be "distracting". Instead of teaching girls that wearing a tank top, for example, is too distracting, we should be teaching the opposite sex not to sexualize it.” At the age of eleven to twelve, when students start middle school in sixth grade, a dress code is implemented that further separates the girls from the boys. If the school system is teaching boys, from the age of eleven, that women are to be covered at all times to not become a distraction to their male peers, how is society supposed to improve their thinking of women? This being said, there are some restrictions that need to be set in place when attending schools, but most of the rules are sexist towards women.  In the recent survey, it was revealed that about 50% of students do not like the dress code set in place and about 85% of people would change the dress code set in place at their school. Students have their own opinion about what they would change the schools' dress code and most would still have appropriate clothing. A student stated, “I would increase the size you can have as a headband. You can still tell someone's identity even if they are wearing, say, like a 2-inch headband. You should only dress code people whose private parts are out and about. Wearing a tank top should be allowed. You should be able to see part of someone's bra (it's just a bra strap, get over yourself). Girls should be able to buy shorts without having to worry about if they are long enough, as long as the butt is covered, it should be fine. These changes should be made so that people can focus on their education and not what they are wearing.” Students who are in high school are forced to do challenging things every day, such as driving to and from school everyday or choosing their major that will affect their lives, they should not have the freedom to choose what they wear to school.

Not only does the dress code affect future and current students but also former students. By objectifying women's bodies it is promoting the rape culture in America. If we are teaching boys from a young age, how are we to improve the social standards? A student, who is currently enrolled at the high school where the survey was conducted, stated, “I think that it's kind of objectifying women's bodies when you are telling them to cover themselves because they might be a distraction. Teach people to control themselves instead of telling girls to cover themselves up.” This shows how large and revlant the dress code of society is, if high school students have grown up knowing that the female needs to cover up so the male is not distracted. If men being to feel entitled to certain things from women and blame the repercussions on male instinct, the female whom is the victim will always be pushed aside. Male students, who took the survey, have stated things like, “I just wanna see some tiddies, like c'mon bro” and “I like to see skin”. These male students have grown up thinking that they are entitled for women to cover up, so they will not distract them. This is why society is so harsh towards women, they think that unwanted attention is caused by the woman in question. The mindset of many Americans is that if the woman dressed differently, then things like cat-calling or rape would not happen in America. A student stated, “I think it is very misogynistic and sexist. There is no reason why girls should have to cover up because the boys can't handle it. If there is a problem, it is the boys who should learn to respect women. If I want to wear a spaghetti strap romper I should be able to because my shoulders are not something that is distracting.” Instead of teaching women to dress differently, we should be teaching boys from a young age to respect women.

In a culture that is constantly changing, we should also try and change the way society views the way that women dress. If women are subject to what society thinks is the appropriate and proper way to dress, then nothing is going to change. If schools were to revise the dress code then form a young age we could teach boys to respect girls and that could later translate into a better society. As a wise student said, “We should be empowering everyone, not just girls. By having such harsh dress codes, we putting even more pressures on students. This is the most impressionable time of our lives. By adding yet another thing for us to worry about we’re slowly destroying our body images. We already feel the pressures to fit in, to look nice, to have nice things, and social media. Adding a dress code doesn't help with the anxieties we already deal with from our society. It should be the schools top priority to make sure their students are prepared for the future, dress codes are not the way to do that.”