Describes efforts by school superintendents to develop dress codes for school employees. Describes link between teacher dress and student decorum. Includes excerpts from staff dress codes from three school districts: Goose Creek Consolidated School District, Baytown, Texas; Denver Public Schools, Colorado; Wake County Public Schools, Raleigh,…

In response to problems relating to student appearance, dress, and behavior, most urban schools use various kinds of dress codes or uniforms. African-American youth experience difficulties because of a cultural heritage favoring bold designs and bright colors, efforts to compensate for low socioeconomic status, consumerist exploitation, and…

Outlines 40 promising, low-cost strategies administrators can implement to make their campus safer. Success depends on establishing clear behavior standards, providing adequate adult supervision, enforcing rules fairly and consistently, cultivating parental and community support, and controlling campus access. A sidebar describes how to conduct a…

The particular circumstances of French history explain why that nation has adopted an unusually severe policy in attempting to suppress the wearing in schools of the Muslim headscarf. The long struggle to create French identity and then to resolve the bitter conflicts between traditional supporters of the Catholic Church and those of the secular…

Recounts a recent attempt of a New Zealand secondary school to resolve a challenge to the tradition of compulsory school uniforms, and questions the validity of some assumptions implicit in much of the contemporary writing about educational decision-making. (Author/IRT)

Reports findings of a survey of secondary school administrators showing that they hold a strong belief that the way teachers dress is related to school success and that they are influenced by a teaching candidate's dress in making hiring decisions. (FL)

Tells efforts by Pearland Independent School District (Texas) school board and superintendent to adopt a standardized dress code, an effort that led to student and community opposition and controversy. Describes lessons learned. (PKP)

The Arizona Court of Appeals, in the first court decision regarding public school uniform policies, held that mandatory school uniforms do not violate students' First Amendment rights. Discusses the Arizona decision and its effect on the structuring of school uniform policies and their potential successful institution at the high school level. (31…

Tattooing and body piercing are becoming mainstream, especially among the college population that comprises camp staff. Campers often idolize their counselors and want to be like them. Piercings may present a safety hazard. Camps should develop a policy and communicate it to prospective counselors and campers as early as possible. Several camps'…

Explored the role of clothing in expressing individual and collective identity among preadolescent English students. Results found that a relaxed enforcement of school uniforms created space for students to use clothing to gain recognition, generate common bonds, and share interests within peer groups. Clothing and footwear were used as an…

It has been 30 years since the U.S. Supreme Court, in the "Tinker" case, upheld three students' right to wear black armbands protesting the Vietnam War to school. Recent cases involving sagging pants and an African headwrap (dress code violations) did not meet allowable "free-speech" requirements. (MLH)

Some readers will recall Newhart, Bob Newhart's television series from 1982 to 1990. In it, he played Dick Ludon, a New Yorker who moved to Vermont with his wife to run an inn. Stephanie Vanderkellen, a snotty, rich, young woman, worked there as a maid to appease her parents. Her boyfriend, Michael, was not rich but was as snobbish as she was.…

This study identifies and evaluates sanctions for dress code violations in secondary school handbooks. Sanctions, or consequences for breaking rules, vary along seven interrelated dimensions: source, formality, retribution, obtrusiveness, magnitude, severity, and pervasiveness. A content analysis of handbooks from 155 public secondary schools…

The hidden curriculum in schools is frequently reflected in clothing worn by students. Schools grapple with the implications of dress codes as they relate to the appropriateness of the items students wear and, in this study in particular, to the messages placed upon tee shirts. Legal precedent indicates that schools have the right to eliminate…

General Conference Mennonites and Old Order Amish are compared and contrasted in the areas of physical appearance, religious beliefs, formal education, methods of farming, and home settings. General Conference Mennonites and Amish differ in physical appearance and especially in dress. The General Conference Mennonite men and women dress the same…