A student gets pulled out of class for wearing a cropped shirt, and because they do not have a set of clothes to change into, they are sent home and miss the rest of the school day. Having missed a lesson and needing to make up work, the student may fall behind.   

According to Find Law, the first dress code law was established after the case Tinker vs. Des Moines to ensure a lack of distractions and to allow administrators to monitor and limit students’ individualism in order to foster a proper learning environment. However, according to VOX, after protests from both students and parents, public schools across the country have started to take a more lenient approach to dress codes over the last few years. 

“I think because we all have different standards of what appropriate attire is, it’s very hard to set a universal [dress code],” assistant principal Amy Parmentier said.

According to Fresno Pacific University, one reason for stricter dress codes is to create an environment similar to that of a workplace. However, their research found that heavy monitoring on students’ clothing promotes conformity rather than adaptability, creativity and critical thinking, which are traits that are more desirable in both an educational and occupational setting.

“Students’ [clothing] will only affect learning if they are dressed in an extreme way,” senior Alyse Madsen said. “Strict dress codes infringe on a students self-expression and make for a dull environment with little creativity.”