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November 29, 2009

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Letter: School dress code has little value

Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004 | 9:12 a.m.

The controversy regarding school dress codes reminds me of my years as headmaster of a girls' boarding school in Pennsylvania, where the issue that generated the most heat was not curriculum, but uniforms.

The board of directors liked uniforms because they suggested discipline and order. Uniforms appealed to parents because they represented the look of an Eastern prep school. Some teachers felt that uniforms were vital to an environment and others thought the issue unimportant. While some students wore their uniforms with pride, others hated them and constantly challenged the policy in small or large ways.

What I learned from all this was that it is impossible to legislate or mandate good behavior or good study habits through a dress code. We are a nation of individuals, and so long as the students' clothing is clean and inoffensive, how they dress is of little significance in the long run.

JOHN H. ESPERIAN

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