It might not be easy for you, especially if you are growing up in a neighborhood where you see it all the time, but you can rise above that, and one of the ways you can do this is by showing your support for your school's dress code. It might really seem lame, but dress codes are there for a reason - to protect you. You probably don't think you need protecting, but what about your younger brothers or sisters? Do they need protecting? You can't be around them 24 hours a day to keep them safe, but you can let the school help you do that so you don't have to worry so much about that. There will always be people who belong to gangs and people who want to cause trouble, but if they don't recognize each other in school based on their clothing, they won't be as likely to fight and cause trouble. You don't want to accidently wear something that gets misinterpreted as a gang symbol, either, or you or your family could be a target for violence! There's no question that dress codes are restrictive. It makes sense that you want to wear the things that you like and the things that you see your friends are wearing - but being safe is a lot more important than looking cool. You can wear whatever you like on the weekends and when you get home from school during the week you can change into what you like to wear, but you need to think of school differently. it's like a job, where you have to follow the rules that your boss (the...

If you do things the boss's way, you'll benefit a lot more in the long run. You're not really in school that long - although sometimes it probably feels like forever - and when you're not there you can do things your way.
That's just how you'll do things when you graduate and get a job and go out into the working world, and you probably won't like it any more there than you do in school, but it's what's called a means to an end. You follow rules you don't always like to get the desire result - like cleaning your plate at dinner so you can get the dessert that you wanted. That's what the dress code is, too, but a lot of students see it as an attempt by the school administration to try to control you, to make you like puppets, and to make you all the same. it's not that at all. The people who work at the school know that they are in charge, but they also know that they are required to keep you safe while they have you in their charge for the day. Since they're running the show, they get to decide how they think that they can best keep you safe. They'll have rules that don't always make sense to you, but you're not in their shoes, either. If you take more time to think about the reasons that they have instead of making the assumption that they just want to hurt you, you'll be happier, your school time will go more smoothly, and you'll be safe, too.