Youth Opinion : ‘A Conflict Between Freedom, Order in Schools’

There are prices one must pay for the security of living in a civil society. Indeed, throughout history, American government has prided itself on its ability to maintain certain degrees of order to keep its citizens safe.

For example, each day, millions of drivers stop at red lights and strive to keep their speed under 55 m.p.h. to obey laws enacted to achieve civil safety. They dutifully obey such laws without ever taking into account the fact that they have, in a real sense, traded in their freedoms--to drive when, where and how they choose--in the name of order. Few would argue that such laws are repressive or unconstitutional.

Where, then, do we draw the lines when standards of order overwhelm our basic freedoms? I am not speaking of liberal-defined freedoms but the inalienable rights--life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--enumerated by our Founding Fathers more than 200 years ago.

A conflict between these two most basic American values, freedom and order, has crept into public schools. A new wave of radical conservatism aims to standardize public schools--and thereby students--with strict dress codes and full uniform policies on the grounds that a student’s right to self-expression and individuality must be limited to ensure order and safety on campus.

This argument may have some merit, depending on where the school is located, crime statistics or if the campus has experienced any problems. But there is no statistical evidence that such dress codes decrease violence or promote safety. The point is that these policies disregard students’ right to self-expression.

Simi Valley illustrates what I call this fallacy of order over freedom. The school board approved a dress-code policy. Two schools in the district, Garden Grove Elementary and Valley View Junior High, adopted strict dress codes, banning clothing including oversize pants, hats and shirts with any writing or pictures other than those with the school logo. (The latter school’s policy is being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union in court on the grounds it violates students’ constitutional right to express themselves.) This follows moves to implement religious-based abstinence-only sex education and to ban some secular literature, all of which is being done, parents and students are assured, in the name of “safety.”

Safety? Is that really an issue in this city, which is the safest for its size in the nation and home to a high percentage of police officers from throughout Southern California? I think not.

I fear the grim reality behind this “order versus freedom” agenda is not to ensure a more civil society, but rather one that will be safe from young people who choose to exercise their right to think for--and express--themselves.