Many girls wore yoga pants or leggings in defiance of the ban. One example took place at Haven Middle School in Evanston, IL where over 500 students signed a petition opposing what they’d been told was a full ban on leggings and yoga pants. The young spokeswomen said that: (1) the dress codes unfairly target girls and transgender students (2) they send a message to girls that if they are harassed by boys, it is their fault (3) they feel judged and shamed by the dress codes and (4) that a different standard is applied to girls who are more curvy and developed than other girls. Their words quickly traveled via social media and news articles.

In recent years, a desire to stop conflict over designer labels and create a more “professional” school environment resulted in dress codes and uniforms becoming more popular.Ī few years ago, student dress codes made headlines because several groups of students-predominately girls-began to question and protest school dress codes because they thought the policies were unfair. In the 1990s, there was a push for dress codes to prevent promotion of gang-related violence. For example, in the late 1960s and 70s, young men with long hair were sometimes physically attacked by their classmates and, as a result, many schools required boys to wear their hair cut to their ears or shorter.

Over the years, schools have implemented student dress codes to address a wide range of issues, some of which have been quite controversial.

Holland township school dress code