The new school year has begun and with it the incessant griping about dress code has probably reached its zenith a month in.  The story unfolds the same way each year.  The freshman come in on the first day of school stiff and rigid in their newly purchased ties and dress clothes.  Every top button is buttoned, every shoe is polished, and all hair is neatly groomed and cut.  Fast forward a month later and the freshmen have become comfortable in everything but their clothing.  The teachers are not as strict as rumors led them to believe and the workload isn’t suicidal.  They’ve learned that despite some teacher’s claims, corporal punishment is not school policy.  Inevitably they slack and after some chosen few receive detentions, complain.  To no end.  Hopefully this article will give those of you who hate dress code solace with some understanding of why dress code benefits you.

However, it is only fair to examine the core arguments I’ve heard wined a myriad of different ways throughout my years at Xavier.  In a pathetic attempt to win some sympathy from the teacher who just gave the student a detention, students often bring up how uncomfortable dress code is.  Tragically, this argument boils down to how new clothes feel ‘new’.  Therefore, this is barely brought up after freshman year.  Another frequently made argument is that dress code detracts from individuality.  I agree to a certain extent, but if you get your sense of individuality from aspects as superficial as clothing, how much of an individual are you?  Unless you make your own clothing, you probably buy massed produced t-shirts that thousands of other ‘individuals’ have.  Lastly, the argument that carries the most weight is that a strict dress code is unnecessary. But the flaw with arguing about dress codes’ necessity is that dismissing a policy based on necessity is a shortsighted practice.  For instance, it is not necessary for students to attend Xavier over their public school but many would argue that attending Xavier provides benefits that a public school could not.

So why stuff teenagers into dress shirts and ties?  Beneficial deceit is the only real reason.  When a child dresses up as Superman for Halloween, until he breaks his arm trying to fly down the stairs, he will believe he is Superman.  Dress code is nothing more than a business costume for the entire year that tricks teenagers into pretending they are serious and intellectual.  This explains the better behavior.  But it should also be noted that the business costume does not stop its deception there.  Not only are we fooled into thinking we are serious and intellectual, but most of the world is also put under the spell.  Because of this, in my vast experience of 17 years of life, the only piece of information that I truly know for sure is that our kindergarten teachers have failed society.  In kindergarten we should have learned never to judge a book by its cover.  Unfortunately, whenever I am out in public while in dress code people take me seriously.  I am called ‘Sir’ and ‘Mr.’ at a time in my life when I have no will or right to be called either.  No 17 year old should have the abuse of being taken seriously, in effect be pronounced a dead, dried up, shriveled adult.  Our kindergarten teachers have also neglected to cultivate our imagination.  If more people had imagination they would be able to imagine what a 17 year old truly thinks and does, instead of being tricked by the dress code ruse.

However unfortunate it is the overall scheme of society, deception is the benefit of dress code.  By taking advantage of our kindergarten teacher’s failures and doing something as simple as dressing up our chances in life can only increase.  If you feel down that you are being ‘oppressed’ by the system when you put on your tie each morning, remember, in reality, you are the one exploiting it.