Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Dress code Recently, the girls in a middle school have started wearing thick black headbands to school. As part of our school dress code, bandannas are not allowed to be worn in anyway at school, however, as these were not bandannas, they were permitted. Then, boys started wearing the headbands as well. They would often share with the girls but some of them had their own headbands. Our principal made an announcement on the morning news that boys would no longer be permitted to wear these headbands and even showed an example. He also sent an email to the teachers asking them to enforce this new rule. The majority of the boys complied, but a few are wondering why girls were still allowed to wear the headbands and boys were not, suggesting that it was discrimination. How would you justify this policy to your students? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) It would definitely be difficult to rationalize this situation, especially since these articles of clothing are gender-neutral. However, a lot of teachers don't bother justifying the dress code. You could easily be neutral about the situation and inform them that you're required to uphold the dress code, and let their superiors know if they feel strongly about this rule. This would be the best approach for you if you cannot rationalize the dress code, as it does not bring attention to how you feel, without making the students feel that you specifically are forcing them to do this.