Dress-Codes In Schools And Workplaces - Why Or Why Not?

Human beings, by nature, love to have diverse choices infront of them. People eat diverse foods, people read diverse books and people wear different cloths. There is a deep seated psychological and metaphysical reason behind our tendency to choose things. We love the freedom of choice.

When this freedom of choice gets curtailed, we panic. We see it as an attack on our basic human instinct. This is the reason that the issue of dress codes in schools, restaurants and other workplaces is debated intensely.

Dress Code In Schools

There are many reasons that a dress code is implemented in a school. The first and foremost is - the school authorities try to enforce a uniformity among the students. This is exactly the reason why school cloths or for that matter official suitings are called uniforms. Suppose there is a school that does not have any dress code in place. A student who is financially well-off will wear high end cloths, while her poor classmate will be wearing a bland dress. This inequality can result in other sinister consequences like bullying, decrease of morale, segregation on the basis of societal class etc. So implementing a dress code in schools is somewhat acceptable.

However, schools sometimes go overboard in implementing this dress code. The authorities become too specific. Across the internet platforms like Reddit or Quora, you will see girls complaining that they were hounded because their bra straps were showing. Another boy complained that they had to wear shorts regardless of the season. This kind of draconian acts should be avoided while implementing dress code in schools.

Dress Code In Workplace

While the implementation of dress code in schools have reasons behind it, the same in workplaces is more or less unnecessary. Since all the workers are earning in a workplace, the issue of financial status can be ruled out. So, why then implement a dress code? The companies say that they implement a dress code so that people can identify that the employees work for that particular company. Some companies say that dress code is a way of showcasing their culture in the office.

However this implementation of dress code becomes a problem to the employees. At the very basic level, the companies are snatching away their freedom to choose what to wear. The irony is that people earn money to get freedom to do whatever they please. Again, impractical dress codes becomes a safety hazard or obstruction. A cook who has to stand near the oven has to wear safe clothing. If a company makes him wear a loose dress, it becomes a safety hazard. An IT guy has to work with cable-jungles, computer parts, and mainframes. It would make his work hard if he is forced to wear a tie.

To conclude, dress code in schools is necessary but it should be implemented in a less rigid fashion. However dress code in work places is illogical and should be done away with. Mark Zuckerberg does not wear a tie.