Being A Sharp Dressed Man Doesn’t Take Much

Proper dress is an issue that you would expect to be a non-issue if you know me.

I tend to be casual and limit the number of times I wear a suit or put on a tie to only when it is necessary or appropriate, appropriate being the key word.  However I take how I dress quite seriously and believe that you can look better in nice khakis and a polo shirt than a poor-fitting suit and wrinkled shirt. I never wear a wrinkled shirt.

However while I favor casual or business casual attire I truly believe that a problem with education today is the dress down look that is prevalent in public schools.  I’m a believer that students should be groomed to think of school as a work place environment that comes with standards of dress.  I know schools have dress policies but honestly they are mostly a joke and only enforced when someone really tests the bounds of what is appropriate.

Sure they’ll occasionally use the dress code when a young girl wears a belly shirt or a boy insists on displaying his underwear but to be honest when it comes to many teenagers you can’t tell if they are dressing for a school day or hanging out with friends.

If neat and clean is a guideline to use than it’s very often not what you see.  Many students today dress like they spent about 15 seconds picking out a tee shirt and shabby pair of jeans and less time grooming before heading out for the bus or drive to school.  My guess is that a large percentage of those who choose the sloppy look are not members of the National Honor Society although I’m sure that’s not necessarily the case.

However I do believe that students who care about their appearance are more likely to case about their grades and the two do go hand-in-hand.  By the way in most cases this is not a matter of economics and I am very much in favor of dress codes and uniforms which I believe set a tone of equality for all students.

There is one other part to this equation and that is schools should also demand their teachers and staff dress professionally because how can you expect students to do so when their so-called leaders are setting such a poor example.  The answer is you can’t.