Monday, the 4^th November 2013

American dress code VS French dress code

by Emilie Mathis et Lara Ergul

First of all, I learned that in a high school on Chicago's South Side, the dress code is « No bellies, no buns, no breasts » that is to say:"no" to  the 3Bs. As this code concerns mainly girls, the principal of this high school has added a 4B for boys : « No boxers ». Therefore, we can say that the girls' dress code is stricter than the boys' dress code. Moreover, the time used to scrutinize students' dress is time lost to teach and it has become a real issue.

In France, we have not a dress code as harsh as this. We are not allowed to wear obscene and libelous dresses or display any indication of gang or religion membership. Moreover, we don't have to wear uniforms in France contrary to England or Australia. At the Lycée Leclerc, everybody is allowed to wear what they want. For example, sometimes I can see boys wearing suits and girls wearing mini-skirts. Of course, it happens that teachers and even students find that some dresses are inappropriated for school and they can tell it but as I said before, there are not really rules.

To my mind, the American dress code is too strict. Of course, you should not come to school with a slanderous dress and showing buns and breasts, but if sometimes a boy can see a centimeter of a girl's belly it is not that terrible ! I think that it is the parents' job to tell their kids if a dress is appropriate or not . Morever, if the school has to scrutinize all the students' clothes, there will be a lot of time lost. Otherwise, a journalist said that her daughter was interrupted during a science lesson because they could see a centimeter of belly. I find it totally ridiculous ! Then we can wonder : « Why not wearing uniforms ? ». Well, uniforms are really expensive even if it could be simpler for teenagers to know how to get dressed in the morning.

Finally, we can see that the impact of the dress code is bad. For example, it destroys trust between teenagers and adults and teenagers can not express themselves thanks to  clothes anymore. Moreover , I think that they are a part of the community with the same rights and it includes to wear what they want without forgetting the wise rules which are: " no scandalous dress and don't forget school is a  secular place."