School district's dress code does not violate students' right to self-expression

March 18, 2005

Spectrum/Brenda Litwack

Congratulations to Shabina Begum of Great Britain on winning her right to wear modest clothing in school. As a Muslim she had been sent home from school for wearing a jilbab, which is a long dress that reveals only her face and hands.

What a contrast to Ms. Schmidtkuntz of Sutton, who feels her daughter is seeking the right to self expression by being able to wear clothing that is transparent, shows undergarments or is sleepwear. School should not be the primary place where children learn moral values, especially not from their peers.

It is also not a place to test the community's values, for if teens are allowed, not only by permissive parents, but by the district and school itself, to wear and do whatever they feel like, adults will have lost their authority to be in charge and therefore be ineffective teachers and there would be no purpose for being at school.

Dressing in a professional manner is preparation for what will be expected in the workplace, including not wearing revealing attire, inappropriate jewelry, chains and explicit or otherwise questionable T-shirts.

The definition for feminine is simply: Of or relating to women or girls. Being sexually suggestive in public is not referred to. The values I would hope for my daughters to display in their femininity are intelligence, assertiveness, positive attitudes and a desire to do their best and be their best in a way that is not degrading to themselves or others.

As for interruption for appearance, if you watch young people in public you see that those who wear certain clothing, hairstyles and colors or have piercings or tattoos get attention! Kids are in school to be taught not to distract from the teacher. This has been an acceptable reason to my own children as to why I have not let them do or wear most of these things.

My husband is a teacher and feels it's important to enforce the rules as they read at his school. He had an incident with a young male student who wore a sexually suggestive T-shirt in class. He asked him to turn it inside out, but before long the boy had turned it back and had to be asked again.

A young woman with an alcohol ad on her shirt was, on a different day, asked to close her sweater to cover her shirt. Enforcement may be time-consuming at first, but as teachers, faculty and parents support the new rules, then so will the students.

Learning to follow rules and respect those in authority is also a big lesson kids learn in school. The current student handbook does not mention public display of affection under its conduct requirements, but the proposed code seems to be in line with what the schools are already enforcing individually. Sexual acts have their place and it is not in school. There are some parents who even teach their children that the most important place is after marriage.

Having a school safety officer is a benefit to our children, not an impediment. Having come from a district that had much more supervision of students during breaks, as well as before and after school, I am not surprised at some of the things that I hear the students do on school time and premises.

In our former district, not only did all faculty members have supervision responsibilities during these times, but all middle and high schools had a residing police officer on the premises on school days. Mat-Su Borough schools certainly don't need that extreme, but a little more supervision would go a long way in alleviating problems before they occur.

Parents who are not aware of the impending changes are not uninformed because of the schools. Each of the schools my children attend has the option of receiving e-mail from them regarding what is going on in the school and the district.

The newspapers cover the board meetings and have covered the new dress code in detailed articles. Information is also accessible on the Internet. Being involved, in person, at your child's school is a great way to keep informed as well. The information is out there if we, as parents, choose to seek it.

Brenda Litwack is a Wasilla resident.