<p>^^OK. let’s dress you for that final week. I’m envisioning a happy senior, bound for Sonoma, wearing an uncollared (oh my!!) shirt, hoodie up when she feels like it, but not if she wants to show off that COMB in her hair (oh, my). If questioned, you can assure them that “Sonoma” on your sweatshirt is not gang code. Have fun! </p>
<p>Just watch out for the boys when you show up uncollared I’ve seen boys fall apart at the sight of exposed skin behind an earlobe, especially if they’ve been deprived all these years.</p>
<p>That was too great. And it’s so something my mom would say…that’s the best part.</p>
<p>It will be fun to show up to school in jeans without having to worry about being sent to ACE. (they pull kids out of class for THE WHOLE DAY if they’re out of uniform. How stupid.)</p>
<p>I wore a uniform for the four years of my high school career from 9th all the way to 12th grade. At first, I did not like it, but now i see the benefits. Anyone that argues that uniforms stifle individuality is quite ignorant. It is your personality that should show your true individuality, and if you rely on clothing then it is quite shallow. </p>
<p>Second, uniforms leave people on a RELATIVELY fair playing ground. I went to a school where a lot of kids were living below the poverty line. By having a uniform, people did not have to always concentrate on what they’d wear but rather what they would study. Sure, some people had nicer shoes, and wore their hairstyles in expensive ways, but no one really notices after awhile.</p>
<p>Thirdly, people judge you on your clothing, particularly teachers. If a girl with a short skirt or a boy with sagging jeans asks a question to a teacher, she may not take the student seriously, therefore letting the child to not take HIM/HERSELF seriously.</p>
<p>Finally, HELLO kids who wear uniforms at school still wear whatever they want at home/weekends. It’s not like they become stifled. The only problem with uniform is when the administration finds it suitable to severely punish a child for an untucked shirt.</p>
<p>Also, as seniors we were given dress down days. Not because we were good, or because we raised money, but because we were seniors. It was nice to finally wear jeans :)</p>
<p>Count me in as a fan of uniforms for at least some grades. S’s local public middle school required uniforms: khaki pants, red or blue polo shirt (color dependent on which class you were in), black shoes, black or dark brown belt. </p>
<p>For those of you who do NOT have a gang problem in your area/schools, count yourselves lucky. Uniforms are an important tool here to deal with gangs in schools. The local high school just went to uniforms; yes, it has a gang problem.</p>
<p>I found uniforms less expensive than not having them. I ordered the shirts online and got the pants at Target. The one year my S spent at the local middle school was the first year the uniform policy was in effect, and it was at my suggestion that they started a clothing bank, though I’m sure it would have occurred to them had I not suggested it. (S grew loads that year, so I needed a place for barely used khakis to go!) </p>
<p>I went to private elementary school and sometimes was embarrassed to be going to school in clothes from the church clothing bank – clothes that I knew had belonged to older girls in the school, because I recognized the dresses. One teacher chastised me one day for wearing a dress that she thought was too short; it’s not as though I could really do anything about that, however! The clothes I had were the clothes I had.</p>
<p>So yes, I am a fan, and yes, I’ve seen teachers and guidance counselors wearing the school uniforms, too!</p>
<p>I had one daughter wear uniforms to her Catholic school and one not at her public school. They were personification of both stereotypes. The older one never had trouble getting dressed, there was no attire drama at all. Her principal had a handle on skirt rolling because they were required to wear tights under both sumer and winter uniforms, so there was no point to rolling and they didn’t do it. The younger one, on the other hand, drives me nuts. She has to always be dressed just so, can’t wear things too often, can’t wear some things, must wear others. I can’t stand it.</p>
<p>Irokotree…I spend a good deal of time at school, sometimes even on weekends. Which means almost all of my time is spent in boring uniform clothing.</p>
<p>No, I don’t think it stifles my individuality, because I already know I’m an individual. </p>
<p>I’m glad people at YOUR school don’t notice hairstyles/accessories. But that is the exception, not the rule.</p>
<p>If my school stated tomorrow that we were not allowed to carry accessories, they’d just find something else to define their caste system. Why punish the whole school for the “popular clique” needing to be popular so badly?</p>
<p>As for the gang issue…it hasn’t made one single bit of difference at my school. In fact, we have more fights now than we did before the uniform policy.</p>
<p>Also, I’ll reiterate: It would be so much easier if the staff would do like what owlice mentioned and actually abide by the policy as well.</p>
<p>Uniforms weren’t required for weekend activities, but then, there are not a lot of weekend activities at the middle school here.</p>
<p>HisGrace, SOME teachers/counselors wore the uniforms. Certainly not all of them did, nor would I advocate that teachers/school personnel be required to wear them; in fact, I would argue against it.</p>
<p>Regarding gangs, the concern is not so much fighting as murdering or attempts at murder. THAT is the bigger concern here.</p>
<p>I have never gone to a school that required a uniform, so I admit I don’t have personal stories dealing with them, but I don’t think they should be mandatory in public schools. Reasonable dress codes (no shorts/skirts above a certain length, no halters/tank tops/strapless things) I’m fine with, but I really use clothes to express myself and would not want that freedom taken away from me. Does that mean that I take longer to get ready in the morning that someone who doesn’t have to pick out clothes? Yes. But that’s never been a problem with me.</p>
<p>I met a girl at camp last summer who was a brunette with blonde highlights in her hair. I complimented her on her hair and she shrugged and said “Thanks, but I have to let it grow out and stop changing the color before September. My school requires that we show only our natural hair color in school.”</p>
<p>Now, can someone please tell me how ^that helps anyone in any way?</p>
<p>How about the Japanese model for school uniforms: No jewelery, no make-up, no perfume and no colored hair. All kids have the same back-pack (red for girls, black for guys), the same shoes and generally the same outfit (no choice of brands!). Kids get the choice of two outfits, one for warm and one for cold weather. All school supplies are provided by the school.</p>
<p>Maybe you could tell rich and poor apart by how straight and white the kids’ teeth are, but that should be about it.</p>
<p>This brings me back to memories not so long ago of a “Unified Dress Code” (Black, White, Navy, Gold, Khaki polos, Black, Navy, Khaki dockers-style pants/shorts) in middle school. I see the benefits of the dress code, but there were so many loopholes in the way they were implemented here. Students could wear whatever shoes they wanted, so that was still an open ground for peer criticism, and also parents could appeal the code for pretty much whatever reason (monetary, individualism, religion). </p>
<p>My school changed the dress code policy to Unified when I was in 7th and 8th grade, and I really didn’t see a difference in student behavior. I was indifferent to the policy because I thought it would be cool to not have to worry about what to wear in the morning, but by the middle of 8th grade, it got tiring. So tiring that I didn’t wear a polo shirt for 3 years (just wore one last week). My school did eventually start a clothing bank, and as a reward, 8th graders could wear whatever they want for the last 2 weeks of school if they brought in a few shirts to donate.</p>
<p>I do agree with the policy for K-8, but I can’t imagine it implemented in high school. It was necessary in middle school because students were breaking the dress code regularly; the high school policy is a bit more relaxed. My school has a hard enough time enforcing tardies and other disruptions, I doubt they could handle one more behavior issue to regulate. I can see it creating more problems than solutions at this level.</p>
I’ve seen boys fall apart at the sight of exposed skin behind an earlobe, especially if they’ve been deprived all these years.</p>