My speech for English Class

Are Student Dress Codes A Violation Of Civil Rights?
By Rachael Smith



I.Introduction

A lot of people like to express themselves. Some people like to dye their hair psychedelic colors or maybe some people like to dress in a certain style, like, punk or Goth, for example. With student dress codes, we are not allowed to express ourselves the way we've been told to do so many times before. Dress codes restrict our individuality and our personal style. It gets us into trouble because we want to express and be ourselves. They also seem to make schools more like a prison than an educational center. We're not prisoners, we are teenagers who want to be ourselves. If a student wanted to wear a hat into class, why shouldn't they be allowed to? Why shouldn't we be allowed to write our homework on our arms if we forget our assignment notebook? It's not always a distraction when someone has something written on their skin. They restrict religious wear from being worn. If a Muslim girl wore her head scarf to school and head wear was against the code, they would get into trouble for being Muslim. I strongly believe that student dress codes are a violation of civil rights.

II.Point Number One

Dress codes restrict our individuality and our personal style, and that is a violation of the Civil Rights. From a source on Wikipedia, it says, “Civil rights are the protections and privileges of personal power given to all citizens by law.” Dress codes do not give us that privilege. They restrict us from our personal power and we are unable to have that power with dress codes in action. I read online that there were people from all over the states that were suspended from school for wearing “Gothic” clothing. This is wrong. We've been told to express ourselves, haven't we? If someone wants to wear dark clothing then they should be allowed to.

III.Point Number Two

Dress codes make schools seem like prisons. We forget our assignment notebook, write our homework on our hand and bam! We're sent down to the office with a detention. Students are treated like prisoners, not pupils who are there to learn. We shouldn't get into trouble because we were trying to find a way to remember our homework assignment. If we didn't write it on our arms, then we would forget and then we'd get a zero. Nobody likes to fail at things.

IV.Point Number Three

Dress codes restrict religious wear to be worn at school. In Muskogee, Oklahoma, a sixth grade Muslim girl named Nashala Hearn was suspended from wearing her head scarf to school, and head wear was against the code. If someone wanted to wear a necklace with a cross on it, then like I said many times before, they should be allowed to. We have a right to, says the First Amendment of the Constitution. According to that, we have a freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. What we wear is how we express ourselves, how we have our freedom of speech. A lot of people like to wear Christian clothing, and there are some schools that are against that. They'll get suspended from school if they wear Christian clothing, and that's not right. Dress codes are a violation of the first amendment and civil rights.

V.Conclusion

Dress codes take away our individuality and our rights. Students get suspended for what? For expressing themselves? For being themselves? Board members are stripping away our privileges with what we can and can't wear. They are controlling us like we are prisoners. As a teenager myself, I love freedom and independence. Dress codes doesn't provide either of those things and I don't like it. I like it when I am given the choice of what I can wear to school. I don't like it when someone tells me that I can and can't wear certain things. Like I said in the beginning, a lot of people like to express themselves. They like to have freedom and they don't like being treated like prisoners. They like it when they don't get in trouble for wearing religious clothing. Dress codes are a violation of our Civil Rights, and they should give us more freedom.