Many schools institute dress codes to reduce discipline problems associated with competition over fashion, fights over gang symbols and controversial messages and the distraction that comes with focusing on other students' clothes. Middle schoolers are often increasingly aware of their own appearance as they enter puberty, and more likely to notice the appearance of other students. But dress codes can mitigate these distractions and help students re-focus on learning. For example, Nash-Rocky Mount (North Carolina) Public Schools reports that dress codes reduce the frequency of discipline problems. The Broward County (Florida) Public School System says dress codes can improve self-esteem and that they improve school safety by making it much easier to identify intruders.
For a dress code to be effective, administrators and teachers have to enforce it. This may mean more monitoring of student behavior and dress, which can be challenging for busy educators. It's also key that dress codes be enforced equally. For example, a dress code that mandates that students avoid offensive T-shirt messages can be vague. A religious message could be offensive to one teacher but not to another, and this means teachers may have to spend more time determining what is and is not acceptable. Middle schoolers are increasingly independent, often developing their own subcultures with which educators might not be familiar. The meaning of a T-shirt acronym might be clear to other students -- and highly offensive -- but unclear to teachers, compounding the confusion about what is and isn't acceptable.
Dress codes can help to eliminate the disparities created when students from different socioeconomic backgrounds attend the same school. Middle schoolers are increasingly image-conscious, but typically still have to rely on their parents to buy clothes for them, making their clothing a reflection of their socioeconomic status. With a dress code, underprivileged students are less likely to be teased for not keeping up with fashion trends or for avoiding expensive brands, while children who can afford expensive clothes are less likely to spend time trying to compete with their friends. Except when students wear a uniform, however, it's almost impossible to eliminate disparities. Students may wear more expensive versions of the same color shirt or may easily be able to wear designer clothing and jewelry while still following the dress code.
An important developmental task of middle school is developing an independent identity, and children this age sometimes begin questioning parental and societal values. Dress codes make it more difficult for students to express their beliefs and ideas via clothing. While this reduces the risk of students fighting over the messages conveyed by clothes, it can also limit expression. The American Civil Liberties Union, for example, has expressed concern that dress codes infringe on student freedom of speech, and emphasizes that schools can't ban speech based upon whether or not they agree with it. For example, banning certain religious imagery but not banning other religious imagery would be illegal. Instead, a school would have to ban all religious messages, and even this could prove legally problematic.