Youth Forum participants split on dress codes

David Kihara

Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2004 | 10:09 a.m.

The halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center were buzzing with talk of school dress codes on Tuesday as high school seniors and juniors from across the Las Vegas Valley discussed the much-debated issue at the Sun Youth Forum.

While no consensus on the dress code and uniform issue was reached among the thousand-plus students at the forum, it became clear that many students favored a mandatory dress code for Clark County's high schools.

"You need a dress code in schools," said Rickey Lofton, a senior at Sierra Vista High School. "If you don't have one, people will show up to school in bikinis."

Another student, Chaparral High School senior Matt Maheras, said that he supported not only dress codes but also mandatory uniforms because they raise both achievement and safety in the valley's schools.

"The uniforms make us all the same, and it's been shown that with the dress codes the number of fights go down and the grades go up," said Maheras.

The senior added a story illustrating how school uniforms can increase safety within schools: An unidentified man once came to Chaparral High School with a gun but was singled out and apprehended quickly because he was not in a school uniform.

Yet the standardization that dress codes allegedly provide is also a rallying cry against the policy, according to some students.

"I think you should try to be a kid for as long as you can," said Dustyn Holloway, a senior at Western High School. "Be creative now because you are going to be wearing uniforms the rest of your lives."

The mandatory dress code issue came to light this year after Liberty High School senior Kim Jacobs was suspended several times over a monthlong period because she would not adhere to the school's dress code. The 17-year-old violated Liberty High School's dress code by wearing a T-shirt with quotes from the Book of Mormon printed on it.

The American Civil Liberties Union is currently suing the Clark County School District in federal court, accusing the district of violating Jacobs' constitutional rights by instituting a mandatory dress code.

Other students weighed in on the debate throughout the day.

"I don't go to school to see what people wear -- I go to school to learn English," said one Canyon Springs student who declined to be named. "Everyone has to grow up sometime, and you should be creative on your own time."

A majority of students who spoke at the Sun Youth Forum agreed that a dress code in some form be continued in Clark County's school system. While some did not go so far as to advocate school uniforms, such as the solid-colored red, white or blue shirts and khaki bottoms of some schools, many students said that showing the midriff or dressing "slutty" was not appropriate.

"You act the way you dress -- it's your whole personality," said Stephanie Pitts, a senior at Las Vegas High School. "When you are at school and you wear slutty clothes, you are going to act like a slut. When you wear baggy clothes, you are going to act like a thug."

There were a few students, however, who questioned not only the dress code policy but why students, teachers and parents continue to judge young people because they are dressed differently than others.

"The school administration labels the students. If you are dressed like a skater, then you will get blamed for for things. The teachers always eye me," said Coronado High School senior Ismael Diva, a self-professed skater. On Tuesday, Diva traded his usual "skater" attire for a button-up white dress shirt, tie and slacks.

Other students shared Diva's viewpoint.

"In my high school, there are restrictions on unnaturally-colored hair. How does having green hair affect your ability to learn? How does having facial piercings affect the entire learning environment?" asked Thomas Hartnett, a junior at Cimarron High School.

"Dress codes don't increase your responsibility. It takes it away," said Brittany Lett, a junior at Durango High School.

Another student placed the responsibility of student's behavior with parents rather than with school administrators or a student's clothing choices.

"It's not the school board's decision on what we should wear. The parents should be a little more involved," said Kristopher Dalton, a senior at Mojave High School.

But the attention the topic is receiving is wearing on students. Many expressed a sense of exhaustion with the topic, and even supporters of mandatory dress codes felt that teachers are paying too much attention to what students are wearing, not what they are learning.

"We've come to the point where even the teachers are too focused on this issue," Lofton said.