If you were lucky enough to experience a strict high school dress code like I was, you might remember the institution being paraded as a way to force students to look more professional. In actuality, this was a one-sided policy which seemed to target female students, while simultaneously attempting to squelch overall student body individuality. 
You may read this and think, “Hey, both sexes were equally targeted.” However, if I remember correctly (and I know I do), girls were constantly hounded for showing too much skin.
I went to a small Catholic high school, and on our so-called “free dress days,” girls were forbidden to wear shorts while boys were more than welcome to showcase their new pattern of chubbies, which we all know show a considerable amount of leg. But girls in shorts? Never. 
The practice of females wearing shorts was limited to gym class and homecoming week if one was lucky. God forbid you reveal your legs, or even worse, shoulders! It seems the right to show a little bit of shoulder or leg is promiscuous unless it concerns a male student.
Unless a student is gallivanting around school in their birthday suit, I do not see an issue in showing a moderate amount of skin.
Although this does not concern me now so to speak, I worry for my future children and how they will be subjected to a school system which makes them feel their bodies are something to be ashamed of, or hide for fear because they dress a certain way they will be considered a distraction to their peers of the opposite sex.
The problematic nature of dress codes even extends to undergarments. According to Hayley Krischer of The New York Times, one girl who decided to go braless to avoid friction on her sunburn was forced to put on an undershirt and place Band-Aids over her nipples, even though the shirt she wore was baggy and her nipples were not visible.
Some girls even held a “silent protest” following the incident “Despite threats of disciplinary action, about 30 female students opted not to wear bras, and a number of students decorated their backpacks with Band-Aids in the shape of an X. One student wore a shirt that read, ‘Do my ni**ples offend you?’ (The asterisks were hers,)” Krischer explained.
How a set of nipples attached to a woman can be any different than those attached to a man beats me. The “offensive” appendages are used to one day act as a medium to feed children, which seems to be quite the opposite of harmful to me. So why are these features, which were not even visible to begin with as she was wearing a baggy shirt, deemed harmful?
Additionally, dress codes are not only sexist, but they limit the individuality of students. There is no imminent danger associated with a clothing style or hairstyle, and if anything, telling a student their style or body is a distraction is itself a distraction to the student affected. As long as there are no harmful objects or slogans adorning clothing, I see no real issue clothing choices can pose. 
According to Susanna Heller of Insider Magazine, some schools, one of which being Evanston Township High School in Illinois, are pushing to make dress codes more inclusive to students.
“While some districts across the country still cling to the notion that certain styles are too “distracting” for a classroom, ETHS debunks that notion. The high school’s new dress code doesn’t prohibit specific styles or fits of clothing — nor does it shame students for expressing themselves through clothing,” Heller stated. 
More schools should aim to do what ETHS did to make their students feel welcomed and accepted in an already tumultuous period for adolescents. High school is a time for students to worry about grades and ACT scores, not whether they will be reprimanded for expressing themselves.
Dress codes should exist for the sole purpose of preventing harmful or offensive clothing from being on school premises. As long as a style does not harm others, students should be able to express their individuality without repercussions.