Student dress codes: What’s fair?

Student dress codes in school, whether in primary, middle or secondary schools, are fairly standard throughout the world. There is an expectation that students dress appropriately in the environment and culture they live in.
Many, if not most, schools in the US, for example, have pretty strict dress codes against boys wearing sagging baggy paints and girls wearing tank tops. In private schools in the West students may be required to wear uniforms.
There doesn’t seem to be a prohibition against girls wearing the hijab in US public schools, although from time to time we hear of misguided educators misinterpreting dress codes to fit their own agenda. And we have some European school administrators who believe that girls wearing long dress in the name of modesty should be sent home. Still dress codes serve a purpose.
If Saudi students think they are immune to educators’ whims about what is appropriate attire in their schools, they need to hold that thought. In Madinah institutions, at least at the middle school level, young girls between the ages of 13 and 15 are being disciplined for a variety of infractions that could have a long-term affect on their education.
Teachers and administrators are prohibiting girls from wearing any type of embroidery, even the slightest designs, on their abayas. The penalty for repeated infractions is to have the offense placed in their student file. For the first offense, the girl receives a verbal warning and asked to sign a document that she promises never to wear the offending abaya to school again. A second offense means a disciplinary note in her student file.
Girls wearing rings, necklaces or earrings receive the same treatment. But in addition, these items are routinely thrown in the rubbish bin. The argument given by educators is that girls should focus on their studies and not on fashion, accessories or their beauty. If girls at school pay too much attention to their looks and what they are wearing, they can’t concentrate on their studies.
If it were only that reason, then it’s possible to go along with policy. The policies, though, are designed for something else much different. And that’s conformity.
If middle school students and parents see nothing wrong with a little embroidery on the sleeves of an abaya, the students risk adverse comments in her student file. This could result in high schools refusing admission to these students. Refusal of admissions in high school could affect a girls’ academic process for the rest of her education and ultimately affect job prospects.
Worse, by sending a message that your personal belongings may be permanently taken away and rubbished sends a message that a girl is not entitled to individual expression.
Middle school is a delicate time for boys and girls. As teenagers they are on the cusp of adulthood and are testing the boundaries of society and trying to find themselves as individuals. Where do they stand with their peers? How do they express themselves? What they wear expresses a small degree of individuality, at least in Saudi society, that in their teenage years serves as a foundation of who they become as adults. It’s part of the maturing process. This is just as much part of the education process as math and spelling.
To stifle personal expression is to create a generation of judgmental, intolerant young people who cannot appreciate differences in others. This is not to say that dress codes should be abolished in Saudi schools. To the contrary, a dress code must be part of the school’s policy but with enforcement of the spirit of the code and not to the letter of the code. We understand that colorful, open abayas in middle schools are not appropriate. That would be a distraction. Excessive jewelry may be a distraction. But black abayas with flourishes and a ring or pair of earrings are simple adornments that make young girls feel better about themselves, boost self-esteem and ultimately give them a better sense of who they are. These elements make them more productive students.
Conformity has its place in public institutions, but treating individuals as drones will only dampen their intellectual curiosity. Conformity in schools is pretty much strictly enforced in Madinah schools. Perhaps Jeddah schools are more relaxed on how they treat their students, but I suspect the rest of the country approaches student dress codes much the same way as Madinah.
A young relative of mine who attends a Madinah middle school told me the other day that there are a number of 14-year-old girls who leave the classroom in the middle of the morning without their abayas and roam the campus, dodging the prying eyes of teachers, or even leave the school grounds without permission. They are bored, frustrated and see little value in attending classes. This is a problem far more serious than enforcing dress codes. This behavior will haunt these girls for their rest of their academic studies.
We can’t draw a connection between unreasonable dress codes and the girls’ behavior, but it seems that school administrators are perhaps focusing too much on the appearance of young girls instead of the causes of their disinterest in their studies. It is perhaps the lack of balance between the emphasis on a dress code as opposed to study habits that have prompted these girls to act out.