Schools Making Anti-Gang Statement With Dress Codes

Jeremy Wray and his friends like to wear extra-large clothes. Make that extra, extra large.

Jeremy, 17, has a 33-inch waist, but he opts for size 45 shorts. He dons shirts and jackets in the largest sizes available. The high school senior said the baggy garb is more comfortable for skateboarding.

But come this September, he isn’t supposed to wear any of it to school. Jeremy attends La Habra High, one of a growing number of schools that have adopted sweeping dress regulations that specifically restrict clothing that law enforcement and school officials contend are associated with gangs.

“What do they expect us to wear? A uniform? The clothes they’re trying to ban are all I wear,” Jeremy said. “Lots of people wear big stuff to school and it’s not distracting and they’re not in gangs. We’re not dangerous for wearing this stuff.”

Now, Jeremy and tens of thousands of other students throughout the county find themselves increasingly being prohibited from wearing clothing such as baseball caps, Los Angeles Raiders jackets, baggy pants, oversize shirts and bandannas. The move comes as officials attempt to make their school grounds neutral territory for gangs and to prevent violence and disruption of school activities.

Last month, the Santa Ana Unified School District adopted its own gang attire restrictions, joining the Garden Grove, Orange and Tustin school districts, which adopted similar rules earlier in the school year. With about 120,000 students among them, the four districts now permit school officials to ban any clothing, jewelry or even hairstyles they consider as indicating gang affiliation.

Officials at the Capistrano Unified School District are now considering whether to implement similar guidelines.

Although some students complain that the new codes restrict their freedom of expression, school officials say that such regulations are not only legal, but necessary to ensure a learning environment free from unwanted distraction.

Still, Ronald Wenkhart, senior attorney for the county Department of Education, said the courts have determined that dress codes designed to ensure health and safety of school campuses are legal. As a result, “any type of gang attire that could lead to a safety problem or violence can be regulated.”

Shelia Thompson, assistant principal at Orange High School, said the school also outlawed Los Angeles Raiders jackets as well as black Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Kings attire last year, after a series of fights involving students who wore them.

“Our number of fights was very limited last year,” she said. “I would say that might have something to do with that.”

Enforcing dress codes “requires a great deal of common sense,” said Frank Boehler, administrative assistant in charge of child welfare and attendance at Orange Unified School District. “Anytime you restrict clothing, you’re also restricting rights of individuals.”

He said that rather than create a definitive list of prohibited items, his district adopted vague language that permits school officials to add and subtract restrictions immediately to adapt to changes in gang styles, a tack many other districts have also taken.

Like many other students, Santa Ana High School sophomore Estela Lagunas, 16, said she grudgingly accepts the new dress code at her school. But she added: “School is for studying, and if you learn, if you get good grades, you should be able to dress how you want.”

Santa Ana Unified’s code now forbids students’ wearing jackets, sweat shirts and other clothes that display emblems or other insignia that are not affiliated with school activities, unless school-level administrators specifically permit them.

La Habra City School District’s code is more specific in regard to gang attire and bans any pants and button-down, long-sleeve shirts that are dramatically oversize and “inappropriate for the wearer.” Assistant Principal Ann Elms said school officials must use their own judgment, adding, “if a kid should be wearing a size 30 and he’s wearing a 44--that’s oversized.”

Other items banned from school campuses include Dr. Marten brand or military-type combat boots, khaki work pants, Dickies brand work pants, biker wallets, net shirts and tank-style undershirts. Suspenders must be worn with the straps up and oversize white T-shirts or polo shirts modified with ironed-on creases on the front or back are not permitted. Caps can be worn only if they have the school insignia on them.

Fashion designers and distributors say many of the new regulations are overly broad, affecting more regular students than gang members, since the urban-youth look has crossed over into the mainstream and should no longer appear threatening as a gang uniform per se.

Sunline Electric Chair in Huntington Beach carries many of the items restricted by La Habra schools. The store caters to youths throughout the county looking for the latest looks--such as the extra-oversize apparel so much a part of the urban street-wear trend. Part of the style is wearing pants hanging precariously on the hips, violating La Habra’s code that “all pants must be worn at waist level.” Other accessories completing the look are baseball caps, biker wallets and Dr. Marten boots or shoes.

Jennifer Johnson, the store’s buyer, said she believes that school districts are attacking the problem in the wrong way. “The restrictions are just going to make kids want to wear it more,” she said.

“It’s not gang attire anymore. Now it’s just fashion,” said Luis Pulido, owner and designer of Gypsys & Thieves, a Los Angeles-based company that has had success with the trend over the last three years. “The clothes are not going to stop the fights,” he said.

Schools Banning Gang Attire

In an effort to minimize gang influence on campus, school officials are increasingly adopting dress codes that prohibit attire associated with gangs. By banning certain types of jackets, pants and jewelry, school officials say they hope to ensure that their campuses remain “neutral territory.”

Also Banned: Some of the other types of clothing deemed unacceptable in some county schools:

1. Raiders jackets and other items

2. College sports-affiliated shirts

3. Bandannas

4. Monogrammed belt buckles

5. Tank-style undershirts

6. Dropped suspenders

7. Oversized shirts modified to include pleats

8. Net shirts

Source: Various school districts

Researched by JON NALICK / Los Angeles Times