Attitudes of Youth of Color on Student Dress and Uniforms: A Case of Commercialism in Schools

The Survey of Student Dress and Behavior in Public Schools was administered to 213 predominately Black middle school students in an urban school. Statistically significant intergrade differences were found among students on their knowledge about the incidence of dress-related problems and the use of uniforms to reduce and prevent dress-related problems. Intergrade differences were also found on students' attitudes on the relationships between dress and dress-problems in their school and other settings. Younger students, grade 6, agreed more than disagreed with attitudes statements, while the pattern was reversed for older students. Implications are made for further research, policies, and interventions on the topic of dress and behavior among students in schools and other socialization settings.