A case for a dress code in colleges

A student I saw in front of a women's college sometime ago made me wonder whether there shouldn't be a dress code for college students.  She wore a shirt which was long and loose, no doubt, but it was buttoned haphazardly, and the two ends of the shirt were tied in a knot above the navel.  Her hair was as loose as the shirt, but the tight jeans she wore below the navel presented such a contrast to the looseness above.  But for the schoolbag she carried, I would have sworn that the pretty girl was a film actress – an extra, I mean – or a TV anchor, or a model – yes, a model parading an ill-fitting, dismal-looking, trashy outfit "on the catwalk".  Every eye was on the girl, and she seemed pleased with the attention she was receiving. 

Not that I am unused to provocative dressing on the part of teenage girls.  At Modern Superbazaar, or in Guru Nanak Colony or Beasant Road (these are some of the places I visit in Vijayawada) or at a wedding, I do come across former students in trendy clothes.  Not many sport such clothes, I must add; just a few from rich – especially North Indian – families.  I must admit, however, that it is refreshing to see them out of their stale uniforms; the fashionable clothes they sport certainly make a difference to how they look.  But the occasions on which I see them in trendy clothes are social occasions.  I wouldn't expect to see them in such clothes on a college campus.  It's because there should be some difference between a college and a marketplace, though education is already grossly commercialized, and higher education will become much more so once the GATS agreement is finalized.  Neither is a college a fashion house, though college campuses are increasingly being used for organizing fashion shows.  For serious academic work to take place, there ought to be some decorum and discipline.  I thought the badly dressed girl coming out of the women's college represented a serious threat to such decorum and discipline.

Some years ago, a Class X student said to me while leaving school: "One of the things that excites me about college life is that I will not have to wear a uniform."  True.  Freedom of dressing is one of the most exciting parts of college life.  But I feel it shouldn't be unrestricted freedom leading to undesirable things such as diversion of attention from studies, an increase in parents' expenses on account of the girl becoming a fashion victim, and eve-teasing.

Placing some dress restrictions may safeguard students against these evils.  Besides, the restrictions will help them discipline themselves.  A college is, after all, a place which is expected to prepare students for life.  Let it teach them, in addition to whatever it teaches them now for getting a degree, how to dress decently and behave properly so that later in their life they know how to dress and how to behave as wives, mothers, and professionals.  When some private companies, particularly software companies, have a dress code, I see no reason why there shouldn't be some dress restrictions in colleges.