Dress codes cause us arguments The first day of school is always a chaotic  time. For many students in the US, this year was even more so. It was all due to one extra school policy. They are now required to wear clothes that meet a new standardized dress code . According to the handbooks of all high schools in Allentown, Pennsylvania, students must wear short or long sleeve polo shirts and khaki  or black pants. Skinny jeans, leggings , and open toe shoes are not allowed. Allentown schools are not alone. Overall, about 57 percent of American public schools now have a "strict dress code", up from more than 47 percent a decade earlier, said USA Today. Some students don't mind wearing a similar attire  every day. "It takes away the daily fashion show and helps level the playing fields a little bit with the haves and have-nots," longtime school safety consultant Ken Trump told USA Today. But others aren't happy, claiming that uniforms rob students of individuality . While school uniforms have been a popular topic to discuss recently in the US, however, in the UK there are much fewer questions about them-they are a tradition. School uniforms in England were first introduced during the reign  of King Henry VIII in the 16thcentury. They became popular following the Elementary Education Act of 1870. The UK Department of Education's website states: "The Department strongly encourages schools to have a uniform as it can...contribute to the beliefs of a school and set the correct tone. The uniform is now a strong part of school culture in the UK. Schools sometimes even have "Mufti"  days on which students can wear their own clothes if they make a small donation  to charity. However, the tradition does not mean that school uniforms are popular there. Many "children hate them", according to Aisha on the BBC Newsround website. Ask UK students why they wear a school uniform and their answer will mostly likely be, "because we have to". According to the article, on Mufti days, students in some UK schools   _  .
are required to make a donation to charity can vote to choose their own school uniforms can wear their own clothes if they contribute to charity are allowed to wear whatever they like for the morning