Black Educators' Views on Middle School Students' Dress and Uniforms: Addressing Challenges from Commercialism

Youth dress, influenced by commercialism, impacts students' attitudes and behaviors in public schools. This article reports quantitative data and qualitative data on Black educators' views on student dress and behavior, including the use of uniforms. Findings indicate that educators support the use of school uniforms because they believe that uniforms reduced the risk of both psychological harm and school related problems. Younger students (sixth graders) agreed with the educators while the older students disagreed. These findings generally reflect the views of many educators who are grappling with effective strategies to reduce dress-related problems among youth in public schools.