Dressing the Part

Middle school students in the Brownsville Independent School District started getting used to life under a standard school dress code on Monday.

Some did so enthusiastically, while others seemed to be just following the rules.

"I think it's a faster way to get ready in the morning," said Gabby Salinas, a seventh-grader at Stell Middle School. "It's good that we get to wear jeans. That's the fun part."

Middle school principals last year asked the BISD board of trustees to approve a standard dress code for the district's 10 middle schools. It calls for blue jeans or khaki pants or shorts with a solid-color polo shirt or blouse in the school colors.

It Stell's case, black pants also are allowed. The policy gives each school flexibility to create its own guidelines.

"It's a great equalizer," Stell Principal Acacia Ameel said. "I know it's only the first day of school, but we only had about 10 kids who didn't wear what they were supposed to. ... Even staff members are wearing it. They look so good in them."

BISD generally had a smooth first day of school, district spokeswoman Drue Brown said.

Ameel said the goal in having a dress code was simple: deflect students' attention away from appearances.

"When the 10 middle school principals sat down, we wanted to make it so dress ceases to be an issue ... so that if you're having a discussion with a child, let it not be about what you're wearing. Let it be about learning, passing and doing well," Ameel said.

Eighth-grader Aaron Michael Gonzales said he can tolerate the policy, but he doesn't have to like it. "We're not a private school, we're a public school and public schools don't wear uniforms," he said, revealing a printed T-shirt that he wore underneath his school shirt as a means for self-expression.

Robert Crosnoe, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said a school dress code and its supposed benefits make sense but have never been tested in actual studies.

"The theory is that by eliminating a big source of social status, you can eliminate or reduce divisions among the students ... the warring cliques," Crosnoe said. "By taking away their ammunition, you can no longer rank or order the kids by what they wear. The other theory is that you can eliminate kids' preoccupation with clothes" by standardizing what they can wear.

"The theories sound logical and they could be true, we just don't know for sure," Crosnoe said.

George Saavedra, BISD's administrator of guidance and counseling, said BISD hoped to send a message of belonging by offering everyone simple, affordable standard form of attire.

The idea is to raise everyone's self-esteem and allow students to be more focused on their studies, he said.

Eighth-grader Aaron Davis said other students may not like the policy, but he does.

"I personally like it because I used to get judged on how I dressed," he said.

Ameel said she wore a school uniform from elementary school all the way through high school graduation.

"It makes you look forward to the weekends," she said.

"Kids like rules, even the ones that break them the most," Ameel added. "We're hoping to channel their creativity in other ways so that dress is not what defines you."

BISD has always had a dress code for middle and high school students that covers attire, accessories and grooming. The policy is online at www.bisd.us

There is no dress code for elementary schools, although some principals have instituted guidelines for their schools.