Thirteen-year-old Dana Goldstein knows her school dress code well. As an eighth grader in the Sharon Middle School in Massachusetts, she is aware that girls are forbidden from wearing flip-flops, open-toed or backless shoes, spaghetti straps, short shorts, or skirts higher than an inch above the knee. And Dana doesn't like it one bit.

I think that not being allowed to wear flip-flops, open-toed, or backless shoes is just ridiculous!" she says. "We have ramps, not stairs, so we won't trip. And many stores don't sell long shorts, which are very dorky-looking."

Sam Babchuck, 14, who attends the Jacob N. Lipman Religious School at Temple Beth Emunah with Dana, agrees-but not completely. He attends the Williams Middle School-where no dress code exists-near his home in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

I think that a dress code is a good idea," he notes, "but it should be used only to a certain extent. Kids should be able to express themselves by the way they dress, as long as it is appropriate for their age and their parents agree."

Yet teachers and administrators are not convinced that kids necessarily know how to choose appropriate attire conducive to a learning atmosphere. All over the country, schools are imposing stricter dress codes in response to today's more revealing styles, as well as inappropriate or violent messages on T-shirts. The reason, explains Alan Kritz, who worked in Rhode Island public schools for three decades, is that how we dress influences how we learn. "Attitude is frequently a reflection of environment," he notes. "While most students could learn just as well in the environment of a stringent dress code, I'm not convinced that they are as ready to learn in shorts and sandals."

Many Jewish day schools agree with this view: Almost all have a dress code-though it can range from very modest dress at Orthodox schools, to a simple prohibition against inappropriate sayings on T-shirts at more liberal schools.

Our dress code is mended, modest, neat, and clean," says Ellie Klein, director of admissions at the Weber School, a Jewish community high school in Atlanta. "This means that [students] don't wear uniforms, but we do ask that students dress themselves in a way that shows they respect their bodies and their community." For example, says Klein, a T-shirt is fine, but a ripped T-shirt is not.

Max Bartell, 12, a seventh grader at the Solomon Schechter School in Glen Cove, Long Island, says he thinks his school's dress code-which includes no flipflops for both boys and girls-is a good idea. "It allows the kids some decision, but still gives the school some control," says Max. But, like many students, Max is glad he has a dress code, not a uniform. "I wouldn't want to not be able to wear a shirt I like," says Max, "and I don't want our whole school to be seen as one person because we're all wearing the same thing."

Penina Lerman, a middle school teacher at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville, Maryland, understands the importance of dress codes. "Having a certain dignity in the way we dress for school," she notes, "helps create a more dignified attitude and atmosphere in school."

Even Dana-who would rather be wearing flip-flops to school-agrees that dress codes can be positive. "The dress code enhances the school's atmosphere," she admits, "because people are not as caught up on their looks. They focus more on friends and education."

Jewishful Thinking

Judaism emphasizes the concept of kavod hamakom, respect for place, meaning that the clothes one wears in a Jewish atmosphere to study Torah and pray to God should have a more serious look. In fact, in Hebrew, Makom is another word for God, meaning that our dress should reflect our respect for God. While not religious atmospheres, public schools can apply the notion of kavod hamakom to emphasize respect and appropriate dress in all learning environments.