I got in trouble because I came to school in jeans that were torn above the knee! The vice principal made me wait in her office until my mom brought me another pair of jeans from home. I missed my biology class and my mom missed her lunch hour at work. Are they allowed to do that? It depends on what school you go to. The Pennsylvania Code says that schools can only stop you from wearing clothes to school that would disrupt the education process or cause a health or safety risk. But another law passed in 1998 lets your school board set stricter dress codes or even require school uniforms if it wants to. That means you need to find out the specific rules that apply to your school or school district. However, you should keep in mind that the courts in Pennsylvania have not been willing to get involved in disputes over dress. Can the school force you to wear uniforms for gym or safety goggles in chemistry lab? Yes. Schools can make you wear special stuff like the gym uniforms or goggles if they are needed to protect your health or safety while you’re in class or doing extracurricular activities. My school just made a rule against body piercings. Girls are allowed to have one piercing in each ear, but boys can’t have any piercings. And, no one is allowed to have any visible facial piercings. I don’t want to take out my tongue ring! Help! You’re a bit out of luck on this one. Piercings have not been considered by the courts to be protected by the first amendment (which protects free speech). Like a political T-shirt, piercings are non-verbal communication, but, unlike words on a shirt, they don’t convey a specific message and are, therefore, not seen as protected speech. They are also seen as a possible disruption or health risk. You can state your case about keeping your tongue ring to your principal, but the courts aren’t necessarily on your side. Some people have argued that applying different rules to girls and boys – like allowing girls to wear earrings but not boys -- is gender discrimination. Courts in other states have rejected that argument when it comes to earrings or dress codes, but the issue has not been decided in Pennsylvania, where there are especially strong rules against gender discrimination. What if I want to dye my hair blue or have dreadlocks? Can the school stop me? The Code says it’s up to you to decide the length or style of your hair, including facial hair. If your school wants to stop you from dyeing your hair blue or wearing dreds, then it has to prove that those styles will disrupt your school or cause a health or safety problem. Again, you need to check with your school’s policy. For my 17th birthday, my older brother gave me a Marilyn Manson tour t-shirt. We’re allowed to wear t-shirts at my school, so I wore it to school the next day. As soon as my homeroom teacher saw my t-shirt, he said it was “indecent” and sent me to the vice principal’s office. I told the vice principal that my right to free speech meant I could wear my new shirt. She didn’t buy my argument, and I was suspended for three days. Can my school suspend me for a picture on my shirt? It depends. If the message on your t-shirt is political, then school officials can’t stop you or punish you for wearing it to school, unless it is too disruptive. If the message is something that might be considered “indecent”—like your Marilyn Manson shirt—then the officials likely can stop you from wearing it to school. Remember, schools can control student speech that is “indecent” or “offensive” on the school grounds. After some school shootings in Colorado, my school made rules about what students can and can’t wear. Now we can’t wear black trench coats, baggy pants, any kind of head gear or have body piercings or tattoos. The school says it’s to protect our safety, but I don’t believe them. Whatever happened to my right to express myself? You DO have a right to express yourself in your dress. But you should know that courts balance that right against the need for safety and discipline in the schools. They are often sympathetic to school safety concerns, and may not overturn a dress code unless it discriminates on the basis of religious or political views. The Philadelphia School District requires school uniforms. What’s up with that? In May 2000, the Philadelphia School Board approved a mandatory school uniform policy for all students. Each school in the district will decide individually on the dress policy for its school. If you are a Philadelphia public school student, you need to check with your school about the uniform policy. Can the School Board do that? Are school uniforms even constitutional?There isn’t a clear answer to that. School uniforms are popping up all over the country. Some students and parents are challenging them—fighting for their right to make their own, private decisions about what to wear to school, without the school board’s interference.
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