School dress code: Top 10 offenses

School dress codes are not as formal as they once were – when girls had to wear skirts and boys had to press their trousers – however they probably will not disappear any time soon. The Monitor conducted an informal survey of two dozen schools across the country and found that while there is no universal dress code for kids and parents to follow, there is some common ground.

1. Hats off

Larry Downing/Reuters
Hats, hoods, and in some schools, fad hair-dos are fashion don'ts according to dress code policies.

One school rule that has changed little over the years is the requirement that students remove their hats and hoods when indoors, except for religious head coverings. All but three of the 24 schools surveyed ban headgear from classrooms. Some allow students to wear hats in the hallway, while others insist that students keep them in their locker.

Schools in areas where gangs are prevalent have adopted additional rules in response to specific trends in the use of headwear to advertise gang affiliation. James Logan High School in Union City, Calif. has banned hair nets, bandanas, doo-rags, and shower caps because they have been associated with local gangs.

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