From the BZ editorial team
New discussions about our students’ clothes! The Federal Parents’ Council has spoken out in favor of dress codes in schools. The organization’s chair, Christiane Gotte, told the Funke media group’s newspapers: “We recommend that schools reach a consensus on a dress code.”
Such a consensus should then also be included in the house rules. Violations could be punished more easily this way: “Then you can send students home and ask them to dress properly.”
Mostly it is about “inappropriate, loose, torn or revealing clothing”. Mothers in particular see an advantage in clothing rules in order to avoid morning discussions with their children. At the same time, Gotte conceded that a general dress code in schools would hardly be enforceable in the federal system.
The background is a debate in France about the introduction of school uniforms. President Emmanuel Macron (45) had spoken out in favor of uniform clothing. Among other things, he wants Islamic abayas to disappear from the image of guilt.
The German Teachers’ Association rejects fixed rules. “Because of our history, we in Germany are geared differently towards freedom, towards self-determination and responsibility. Finding a wording that defines how long a T-shirt can be is hardly possible,” association president Stefan Düll told the Funke newspapers. The fact that clothing is more casual, no longer so formal, “is a trend in society as a whole”. But it is also clear: “School is not a beach and not a club.”
The Association for Education and Upbringing (VBE) considers school uniforms and standard clothing to be an encroachment on the right of self-determination of parents and children, as Association Vice President Tomi Neckov said. On top of that, uniform clothing does not prevent social injustice. In addition, financially weaker households must not be additionally burdened with the purchase.
School in North Rhine-Westphalia sent students home to change
Occasionally there are repeated discussions in the federal states when individual schools set rules for appropriate clothing.
► It was not until March, for example, that a school in Wermelskirchen (NRW) banned cropped tops and sweatpants and sent students home to change if they violated them.
In another case, a school in Horb (Baden-Württemberg) resorted to another drastic trick several years ago: anyone who showed up in a provocative outfit such as hot pants or a very short skirt had to put on a white XXL T-shirt.
(dpa/cbu)