Black Educators' Views on Middle School Students' Dress and Uniforms: Addressing Challenges from Commercialism*

Journal of Negro Education, The, Fall 2003 by Alleyne, Sylvan I, LaPoint, Velma, Lee, Jennifer, Mitchell, Harold W

Survey Findings

Educators reported that students experienced taunting, fights, or a combination of problems at school that may be related to the way in which they dressed. Approximately half of the 16 educators (e.g., teachers, counselors, staff) interviewed felt that parents and other adults, who set rules and guidelines for the students in grades 6-8, were most influential in how students dress for school. The majority (93.8%) of the 16 school personnel agreed that dress codes and uniforms are being used increasingly to reduce or prevent dress-related problems at school. Eleven (68.8%) of the 16 school personnel agreed that students are judged by their dress and appearance. Also the majority (87.5%) of these school personnel agreed that the way students dress for school set the pattern/teaches them how to dress for work.

We also compared students' and educators' views on the use of uniforms (see LaPoint et al., 2003, for a more detailed analysis of students' attitudes towards dress and behavior). Fourteen of the 16 school personnel agreed that dress influenced overall behavior at school. In general, students in the lower grade (6) agreed with the school personnel's views more than students in the higher grade (8). There was a significant difference (p

The data on attitudes about dress and related problems were analyzed in the following categories: (a) personal harm; (b) social status-in the form of idolization for wearing nice jewelry and clothing; (c) gang-related issues-gang affiliation colors; and (d) school-related issues of tardiness, absenteeism, poor academic performance, breaking school rules, and disruptive behavior.

Regarding the category of personal harm (e.g., teasing, taunting, fighting, theft), the majority of students as well as educators agreed that students are teased for wearing clothing that are out of style or wearing shabby clothing as shown in Table 1. However, as shown in Table 2, there were significant inter-grade differences between students, which were due mainly to the 8th grade students disagreeing with both statements regarding persons being attacked for wearing designer dress and nice jewelry at school and persons getting their jewelry stolen. The pattern for physical attack was similar to that of teasing. The majority of the students and the school personnel agreed with the possibility of an attack on a person as well as theft when students wore designer clothing and nice jewelry.

Regarding social status (i.e., idolization for wearing designer dress and expensive looking jewelry), 48% of the students in comparison with 87.5% of school personnel agreed that students gained social status for wearing designer clothes and nice jewelry. Twenty-seven percent (27%) of students disagreed while none of the school personnel disagreed with the statement.

Regarding gang-related dress (i.e., gang-related colors, symbols, and dress), there was a significant difference between the students' and the school personnel's views that students who wear certain colors or clothing maybe connected with certain gangs as shown in Table 3. The younger students were more in agreement with the school personnel while the older students disagreed with the statement.