These days practically all schools require shoes. That’s just the way it is, and I suspect it is that way just because . . . that’s just the way it has been.
A lot of that is just cultural. Here’s a story from the September 12, 1903 New York Times about a father petitioning the school to let his son attend his Jersey City school barefoot. Just the thought was enough to make the news . . . in New York City. Meanwhile, in rural districts all over America, large numbers of children were attending school barefoot without their school districts batting an eye.
[A repost with added picture.]
Anyways, here’s the story:
SHOELESS THE YEAR ROUND
Father of Boy Who Was Never Shod Asks That Son Attend School Barefooted.September 12, 1903
Victor Smith of 641 West Side Avenue, Jersey City, has made application by letter to the Board of Education for permission for his son to attend school in his bare feet. Mr. Smith said the boy had gone barefooted Winter and Summer all his life. He asked that the boy be allowed at least to go shoeless to school until cold weather sets in. The matter was referred with power to Dr. Murray E. Ramsey, who is a member of the board.
Dr. Ramsey said yesterday that he would see the boy and his father before giving a decision. Personally he thought it might be a good thing for boys to go barefoot, provided they kept their feet clean at all times, but he feared that if one boy were given the privilege asked for other boys might want the same favor.
Mr. Smith, who is connected with a New York morning newspaper, when seen at his home, said that his boy had gone without socks and shoes all his life.
“He can walk on tacks,” said Mr. Smith, “and even broken glass does not cut his feet. He coasts down hill and uses his bare feet as other boys use their shoes. He can sleep out doors in any kind of weather, and has never had a cold or a day’s illness.”
Oh, and look at the possible horrible implications if they let the boy go barefoot to school: other boys may want to do so too. Horrors!
Harold Smith
“These days practically all schools require shoes.” – Not so in Europe. Most schools don’t have an explicit dress code. What kept me from going to school barefoot was the social pressure from both teachers and pupils: anyone going barefoot would really stand out and become the absolute outsider. Expressions of individualism weren’t really appreciated, it seemed easier to fit in. University was more relaxed, later on.
Around here some schools explicitly require shoes, but sure, there are plenty without the requirement in their dress code. (E.g., see the Glenbard East High School Handbook, from a Chicago suburb. Nothing explicit about shoes, but if you tried to go barefoot, you can be sure they’d figure a way to stop you.)
The idea that other people might want to do it was one of the ‘reasons’ my collage gave me for forbidding bare feet.