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Any kind of unsophisticated school uniform has just got to be better than the status quo in our public schools here in the city. Kids at elementary, middle, high school levels can all do with some dress code to substitute for the present dress fiasco with our kids - waists of jeans hanging precipitously below their butts, blouses and skirts revealing too much for their ages, torn, worn, flopsy or skimpy outerwear that reveal a don't care attitude that too oft parallels the attitude toward schooling and life in general.
Parents too can save via uniforms for their children as opposed to having to fork over money for their young ones to compete each school term with their school rivals for the newest Nike or Air Jordan, the sexiest tops for young misses, high-end belts and other accessories that would strain the budget of even the most frugal parent.
Civil rights of children being violated? What about the rights of parents struggling to keep afloat financially in the midst of economic woes, sometimes doing two or more jobs to feed, clothe, house themselves and their kids? How about the rights of parents, the school system, society in general, to set the right tone, to instill a sense of pride and dignity in their attire, to prepare them academically and socially for their future years when as adults they will need to conform to work codes and other codes of conduct to become successful in life?
It seem to me like a win-win situation for both the kid and the parent - financially and educationally. The focus would shift from going to school to make fashion statements or to rebel against prevailing fashion norms to one of learning to be future successful elements of society.
So now we are worried about the Parent's right to choose? Is this a joke? Choose to home school your kids and don't send them to public school. Seriously folks..the kids can jump out of their uniforms for the other 16 hours of the day they are not in school...so the parents can have them wearing their outfits, just not during school time. I am missing the problem here. Parents have the CHOICE of home schooling their kids, sending them to a private school, a religious school, and all boys/girls, boarding school, etc....the options are there. Public schools NEED a uniform...and there is NO infringement of rights here...you don't like the uniforms in public school? HOME SCHOOL YOUR KID!
So ..... I'm just wondering how many of you are actually teachers in the public schools? You know, people who deal with wardrobe issues on a daily basis?
Uniforms do make it so easy to get out the door in the morning, and when I was at school there was a little competition as to how far one could stretch the rules of dress. Red socks with lime green polka dots, crazy cartoon socks, hot pink, electric blue, they were all there. And, on selected Fridays we had "dress-out" days, but not down. You still had to wear shirt, tie, blazer, dress pants, shoes, but you were allowed to wear stripes and some wild ties, for example, while the girls had to wear dresses, or skirts with a blouse, and cardigan/blazer. The rule was always "equal to, or better than" the uniform on such days. Dressing "down" was suitable only for athletic events and extra-curricular activies
I went to a private school for high school too (all boys), and the dress code was dress shirts and ties.
Even though there was a strictly enforced dress code, there was still a substantial amount of self-expression as to which clique one belonged to based on how one dressed. Each group tended to have its own dress code. This was back in the early eighties. At that time preppies wore deck shoes and bright colors, jocks wore boot cut corduroys (which were cut just like jeans) and cowboy boots or moccasins. The nerds had that "NASA Engineer" pocket-protector look going on.
I guess my point is that a dress code is different from a uniform. I believe that in the years since then, there has been a substantial increase in consumerism (fueled by the parents) and pressure on kids to wear to the cool brands, although back in my day, there were still specific brands and styles that were the only "cool" thing to wear. This tended to stay out of school, at least in my case, because anything "cool" was not legal to wear at school, plus, there were no girls, so what would be the point anyway?
Arussel..so I take it that you wear whatever you want at work? Because work is not a jail and they can't force you to wear a uniform/or some other business specific clothing right?
Of course, I follow a standard dress procedure at work. However, they only give guidelines and we adhere by using our common sense.
"standard dress procedure" = generally accepted clothing based on your profession. Schools "standard dress procedure" = Uniform. Please don't make this harder than it is...it is quite simple..you wear what you are SUPPOSED to wear for work..you know what the expectation is and you do it. Why should KIDS be held to something different? UNIFORMS.
Disclaimer - I'm a single male with no children in public school.
I do believe school uniforms are a good idea for most of the reasons already mentioned.
Another idea would be to foster a cottage industry to locally produce the uniforms by enabling stay at home moms, people on welfare, former token-booth clerks, etc to work piecemeal from home.
I've never understood how this became such a controversial issue. And I don't see where having public school kids wearing uniforms would hurt.
And as far as a "right to choose" is concerned, what else do you do in life but make choices?
Sorry I don't editorialize with endless paragraphs, citations and references to Wikipedia. In a former life I was a copywriter, and I guess I just never got over the habit of saying what I had to say concisely.
Some dress code is okay, but uniforms no way. Unlike what they are teaching in schools these days we are still a nation of individuals!
Whats wrong with uniforms other than your liberal perception that they are being forced to wear something they dont want which takes away from their freedom as individuals? Give me a break...they're kids!!! Don't you understand the positive in having kids in proper uniforms?
Whats wrong with uniforms other than your liberal perception that they are being forced to wear something they dont want which takes away from their freedom as individuals? Give me a break...they're kids!!! Don't you understand the positive in having kids in proper uniforms?
Agreed.
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