The heated debate over school uniforms and freedom of expression.

In the upcoming school year 2010/2011, the school my daughter is attending (high school) is going to implement the wearing of school uniforms. This has caused a heated debate and a lot of controversy among students, parents and teachers as well as the Board of Education (BOE). The reasoning behind the uniforms is to stop or decrease bullying among students (official reason). The problem is much more complex than just bullying though. The biggest problem at my daughters school is the fact that students are constantly disregarding the dress code and are then ‘punished’ by being put into ‘time out’.  Teachers really don’t have the time to then deal with parents calling and asking why their kids were put into time out again, nor do they have the time or patience to have the same students in time out three to five times a week, instead of giving these students the necessary education. Therefore, the initiative for the wearing of school uniforms was brought into life.

Now I can see a lot of reasons that would speak for the wearing of school uniforms. I can see plenty of pros behind it as well as some contras. I don’t however understand the arguments against school uniforms that I have heard so far. I want to let you be the judge and yes, as usual, I will give my five cents worth and it won’t be nice.

I work at the middle school as a coordinator of the homework club, so I have many eighth graders to deal with as well as students from sixth and seventh grades. The eighth graders are ‘totally against the undermining of our freedom of expression’ and therefore do not agree to the wearing of school uniforms…at all.  Many of the parents agree that forcing students at such a young age to ‘conform to a norm’ is taking their constitutional freedom away.  They will have enough time to fight against the status quo when they are of age and are allowed or forced to work for a living. Then uniforms such as the fast food restaurants require, or the grocery stores, or gas stations, or banks, or white collar jobs, or…oh wait a second, that is not conforming to a norm now, is it? Almost every single job one is ‘allowed’ to have requires some form of dress code. Teaching children that dressing for work or for a responsibility is then a bad thing? Let us look at school uniforms from a pragmatic point of view.

School clothing costs a lot of money. Kids seemingly believe that the only way to belong to the ‘in crowd’ is to wear name brand clothing. Not every parent has that kind of money though and the kids not being able to keep up with the financially better situated crowd get left out. School uniforms could avoid that problem. Of course there are kids that will then have their school clothing tailored and still possibly stand out, but folks, that is part of life. The sooner your kids learn that, the better. Fact is that children should not be judged by whether or not they can wear Aéropostale, American Eagle, Gap, HOTKISS, or Mossimo (all the equivalent to the adults Prada, Gucci, Dior, or Armani). Inevitably it is not the children, who are being judged, but you as a parent by whether or not you are capable of giving your child the proper ‘social status’. If you fail, your child pays the price, not you. So the idea of school uniforms is suddenly not all that bad, is it? It more or less puts everyone on the same level, does it not?

Now not having money is also a problem for single raising parents wanting their children to look good at school, but not being able to. These parents are fighting to give their children a fair chance at life and education, which these kids deserve. Often enough parents struggle along with the daily problems of bill paying, bringing food onto the table and trying to just get by. It is not fair to them, as well as to the children to have to struggle with issues such as designer clothing. In cases such as these, school uniforms could be provided at an extremely reduced price, just as the reduced lunches for the lower income brackets. This would help the families immensely. Think about it, your child is benefitting from no longer having to worry about what is ‘in’ or ‘cool’, but can now concentrate on just the other issues such as hair, makeup, or how to accessorize and trust me, that is complicated enough for them. Perhaps schools can then get back to actually doing their job instead of having to constantly send students home or put them in time out.

One last thing to the subject of school uniforms; If your child believes that other children are worth less because of their clothing or social status, then perhaps you need to sit down and think about where your child learned such nonsense. Do we not all want to be judged based on our character, our personality, our skills, our knowledge, our performance and how we treat others? Is this not something that we strive for in our personal as well as in our professional lives? If not, you need to leave this planet and find another one. There is something terribly wrong with you.

Teach your kids that there has to be other ways to express ones self or build up self esteem other than through brand names. Teach your kids that expressing ones self is shown through what one does, what one says, and how one behaves, not what one wears or how they wear it. Considering what some of these kids wear to school, and how they wear it, the overall opinion of what they are trying to imitate or represent is not very flattering. Consumerism may be great for our economy, and as a business major I agree fully with that assessment, but we all know that if we continue on the present path, we will be raising the next generation of materialistic, superficial and overly in debt individuals that will lose all sense for values, morals or integrity. Is that really what we are aiming for?

P.S. Just a little by-note. The last time I looked, school was for EDUCATION, meaning to teach our kids what they need to know so that they can one day continue on their own. Shouldn’t their education be the focus point in all of this? Just saying.

For those wanting to know what others have to say about school uniforms (and this does not necessarily reflect y own opinion), here are some pages you can visit to read more on the topic.

FamilyEducation.com

School Uniforms, Pros and Cons, by Anne Svenson

http://school.familyeducation.com/educational-philosophy/individuality/38676.html

Articlesbase, Free Online Articles Directory

Pros and Cons of School Uniforms, by Isaac Grauke

http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/pros-and-cons-of-school-uniforms-182.html