emeraldkity4

My d attended a private prep school. Her jeans were worn in the back and a few pairs may have had a hole or two about the size of a nickel. Of course her baggy tshirt probably covered it up. Her jeans were also covered with writing and drawing. It helped her concentrate during class. She was an excellent student, & the clothes must have been good luck to her because they got her through Reed College.

I don't think her sister ( who is the one with tactile sensitivity) had jeans with holes, unless they were styled that way.
Her jeans were probably too tight for pony to grab ahold of.

sseamom

The school was marketed as in-progress to parents at sign up time. Everyone knew that the specifics, other than it being STEM, were yet to be determined. For example, the math curriculum was a complete unknown. The team/staff chose a popular math program and no one is complaining. You can't have it both ways-you don't sign up for a school still in design and them complain only about the parts you don't like. You get involved and help design things and roll with the punches.

MD Mom

My kids went to schools with uniforms(private). Neither of them seemed to mind and liked not having to think about what to wear in the morning. My son can tie a tie and I never have to give him directions other than he needs to dress up for something. Uniforms really made my life easier.

b@r!um

I personally like the Japanese model of school uniforms. Shoes and bags are part of the uniform; makeup and jewelery are prohibited; and there are strict rules on acceptable hairstyles. Unlike American uniforms, they are actually equalizing.

These uniforms would have made my elementary and middle school years a lot easier. My family was living near the poverty line and I was fortunate that I got the opportunity to attend a "better" school with mostly middle class students. If someone had warned me how much I'd be bullied and excluded for not keeping up with fashion, I would have begged to attend a more destitute school with my socio-economic peers. As a result of my teenage school experience, I was wrestling with severe social anxiety until well into my college years. (In my sophomore year in college, I conducted a little experiment counting the number of words I was saying. I got up to 14 words - in one full week. I didn't speak because I thought that speaking would make my inferiority even more apparent than my appearance alone.)

Would I have fared better with uniforms? Maybe, or maybe I would have been excluded on another pretense. I would expect that uniforms can alter the social dynamics quite a bit, though. Furthermore, school uniforms would not just protect a small minority of potential victims from harm. The introduction of school uniforms seems to correlate with overall improved discipline and higher test scores.

Many opponents of uniforms appeal to a right to express one's "individuality." I am not familiar with the argument behind that catch phrase. Can someone please explain to me why it is so important that teenagers get to pick their outfit for school hours themselves? What bad things would happen if they didn't?

I am also curious how countries with strict uniforms deal with special needs (such as tactile sensitivity). Does anyone know?

07DAD

The above is from the program's website.

OP stated:

Isn't the STEM school at Boren new? It does not seem to be capable of being "troubled" in advance.

If Boren was the trigger for OP's post, I think post #152 makes a valid point. Under the circumstances there does not seem to have been any "promises" made prior to the enrollment cut-off that the Boren STEM would not have mandatory uniforms.

bookworm

B@rium, I am truly sorry you had such a bad experience in school. Were your parents sensitive to what you went thru?

MommaJ

B@rium, you attended school on another country. I don't think being bullied for one's clothing is a very common experience in US schools. And individuality is quite prized in the US. It shouldn't be surprising that students want their appearance to reflect their own preferences. It's not that something bad will happen if kids have to wear uniforms, it's that any most Americans feel that any government-imposed restrictions on one's freedom have to be well justified. Many of us feel there's insufficient justification for public school uniforms.

footballmom104

I hated uniforms as a kid and loved them as a mother! My kids went to a parochial elementary school and they made my life so much easier. It made things easy on the teachers too. There were many more behavioral problems on "uniform holidays" when kids wore what they wanted. Allowances were made for kids like my older son, who attended a gifted program at a public school once a week and was allowed to wear "civvies" that day. They weren't the great equalizer everyone seems to think they are - money always talks, just not through school clothes. But they aren't nearly as dranconian as some people seem to think, either. A wide-eyed first-year public school teacher once asked me, in seriousness and concern, "But how do they express themselves through dress?" I just shrugged and said "On their own time!"

Momzie

Went to a school with uniforms as a child, and always remember being told:

Your mom or dad puts on a suit to go to work. They wear different clothing than they wear at home to signal that they are doing something professional. You also wear a uniform to make that distinction between relaxing at home and working at school. Right now, school is your job and you get dressed up for your job the same way your parents do for theirs. School is not an extension of your living room, nor is being a student an extension of playing video games at your house. Different rules and expectations apply -- just like they do for your parents. (Dad can't say whatever he wants to his boss, and you can't say whatever you want to your teacher.).

Yes, uniforms enforce the notion of hierarchy and professionalism. That's the point! Works for us!

emeraldkity4

Interesting thoughts about uniforms.
We don't see them much in Seattle, perhaps why Boeing, Microsoft & all the tech companies that encourage casual dress located here.

07DAD

And, a uniform does not stiffle creativity and individuality of thought or action. The students in uniform still create and express themselves in their class work, class participation, EC's etc. rather than in labels, logos and look-at-me ensembles.

07DAD

Really? I imagine the fact that Washington is one of only 7 US states that has no state personal income tax is perhaps a greater motivation.

emeraldkity4

Boeing & Microsoft were started by locals, not sure about most of the tech companies. Personal income tax I don't mind, but 10% sales tax gets a little old.

Wellspring

School uniforms aren't a bad thing. They don't do harm (except to those who find it harmful to dress like golfers.) They are, however, unnecessary. A facile answer to an unsubstantiated problem.

WilPowerMom

I hated my school uniforms that I wore for all 12 years (at a public school in Ireland) but I cannot recall a single memory of any incident where I was upset about anyone teasing me about my clothes in school since we were all in the same boat - in fact, we bonded over our ugly clothes. Imagine doing that in a "Mean Girls" environment in a US public school? I've had my daughter come home distraught because some princess made fun of the fact that she dared to wear the same jeans twice in one week! Not only do these witches obsess over clothes, but the amount of money they spend on designer labels is obscene (and yes, they know the difference between an "original" and a knockoff, and telling them that both are probably made by underage children in Asia falls on deaf ears). The money their idiot mothers spent on clothes would have been better served going to a college fund. My kids, who had my self-enforced "uniform" (a few outfits I bought specifically for school), are graduating from college debt free (the money I saved on clothing went straight to a 529 account). Whereas the princesses could not accept the schools they wanted to attend since their parents had no money to send them (and those fashionable clothes are now out of date and utterly worthless, even on eBay).