<p>I honestly like wearing uniforms. Preppy uniforms make the school seem so orderly and a nice environment.</p>
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<p>Not quite. It was more of a wide spectrum ranging from extreme formal corporate-wear(i.e. high school Republican/Libertarians, aspiring MBA types, etc) to grunge/punk/metal/riot-grrl outfits and lots of “can’t be bothered wear”. </p>
<p>Students also tended to be much more free wheeling in their dress than any startup environment I’ve worked for or visited…whether in New England or in Silicon Valley. </p>
<p>It was a bit of a “You wear what you feel like, I’ll wear what I feel like…who the hell cares” type place. Especially when openly judging of other people’s clothing in the school culture tended to get the one doing the judging as someone trying to compensate for extremely low academic/intellectual bona-fides.</p>
<p>Almost all of the bullying was academically related. You’re much more likely to be made fun of for having SAT below 1350/1600 on the pre-1995 SATs when I attended, turning down Ivies/peer elite colleges to attend BC or Syracuse solely for sports reasons, whining about writing “long” 10-20 page humanities/social science essays, not knowing about current events related to politics/world events, not getting into HYPSMC, etc. </p>
<p>My undergrad was just as supportive of most clothing choices…unless it happens to be formal corporate wear and you’re not a conservatory student. Then, many classmates would wonder if you’re an obnoxious “Capitalist tool” or just putting on the duds to stick it to the radical left majority and/or to be “nonconformist” by emulating mainstream corporate norms when it came to classroom/campus attire.</p>
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<p>So it was a supportive environment of most clothing…unless one dressed counter to the what ‘most’ wore…then …you would judge…LOL - priceless.</p>
<p>It’s much easier to police a uniform than a dress code, at least to a certain extent. I had them at the (private) school I went to for K5-8 and am now going to a public high school without them. One could easily see if a student was wearing a uniform shirt/pants/skirt, whereas now, at my high school, people walk around with rather absurd t-shirts but administrators do nothing because they can’t tell except through close inspection.</p>
<p>I wore uniforms K-8. I actually liked them. I rolled out of bed in the morning, grabbed the damn jumper/skirt and off I went. I remember how stressful it was as a young woman to transition to high school where suddenly I had to put so much thought into what I wore and where people were constantly judging me based on my clothes.</p>
<p>As a parent, I LOVED uniforms. For a while, my kids attended a Catholic school. I’m here to tell you that those uniforms simply did not wear out. Washing after washing, those plaid jumpers looked exactly the same. A student could literally get by with two all year… one to wear and one to wash. </p>
<p>As a teacher, I’d like to see uniforms in schools. All too often in both middle school and high school, clothing becomes problematic. Kids don’t make good decisions about what to wear and it becomes distracting. I was recently lecturing at the high school and one of my female students was wearing a skin tight skirt that barely covered her bottom and a tank top that was completely backless. If she had been at a club, she would have been provocatively dressed. She was quite the talk of the class and you could tell that it made other students uncomfortable. </p>
<p>Adults do wear uniforms… Years back, when I was pregnant, I was having Amniocentesis. For those of you who don’t know this procedure, they stick an enormous needle into your abdomen and withdraw amniotic fluid. I was prepped and lying on the table when a lovely woman waltzed into the room. He hair was up with loose ringlets hanging down and she was wearing a dress made up of sheer, gossamer layers. She looked like she had stepped out of a romance novel. She introduced herself as Dr. _____ and she picked up the needle. I practically leapt off the table saying, “You are not touching me until I see a lab coat and a name tag!” We do expect people in our world to wear certain “uniforms”. It helps us define their roles. </p>
<p>Finally, I find it interesting that people who are so against school uniforms have no issue with sports uniforms. There is no need for a uniform in sports. Opposing teams can simply wear light vs dark. We did this in Ultimate for years. However, sports uniforms help bring a team together. They build esprit de corps. </p>
<p>I think scholastic uniforms serve much the same purpose.</p>
<p>Or shirts and skins, cbrand? Lol</p>
<p>Cbrand, in my sports league we did light vs dark. Poor league, poor community. Also, sports are a choice unlike public schools.</p>
<p>So are we going to agree that any parent or student who is against a school uniform should also refuse to wear/support the use of sports uniforms? Gosh, I sure hate to think that there are soccer players out there whose individuality is being squashed because they have to wear a uniform.</p>
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<p>Who said anything like that?! </p>
<p>I played sports for YEARS- yes even with a uniform. Played for my school, various leagues, etc. I have no problem with uniforms in sports- I doubt just about ANYONE does. Sports are a CHOICE though and you know what you’re getting into. Mandated uniforms at a PUBLIC school are not a choice.</p>
<p>I think that we have already established the public school is a choice unto itself. If you don’t like it for any reason (uniforms, science curriculum, sex ed etc) you can always home school.</p>
<p>Even within the system, there are lots of things at public schools that are not a choice. For example, you have to take a certain curriculum in order to graduate. </p>
<p>I still think it is odd that people scream bloody murder over school uniforms but never give sports uniforms a second thought.</p>
<p>I’m not “so against uniforms.” I object to uniform policies imposed in public schools for reasons that are apparently impossible to articulate. Esprit de corps?? Sez who?</p>
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<p>Lol maybe in YOUR family. Most families can’t afford to have a parent stay home and teach. That is a major, major luxury not afforded to most families.</p>
<p>In my family, it would have been impossible. Yes, I do mean impossible.</p>
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<p>Because they’re not even in the same ballpark of being similar. They just happen to have the same name. It’s like comparing needles in immunizations vs tattoos. Same “thing” but completely different circumstances, uses, choices, etc.</p>
<p>“Scream bloody murderer”? Is that what you’re hearing? Really?</p>
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<p>While this may/is true…somewhere along the line we seem to have lost the idea that all support and education of the offspring one produces is one’s own responsibility. So, if a family is not agreeable with the local public offering (assuming this offering is to the best service of the MAJORITY of other families), then it is up to the family to figure out how to do what is needed for their own kids. Figure out how to start a charter school, home school, get a group of like minded individuals and pay someone to home school (or trade childcare, driving services, meal cooking and delivery services, offer whatever your personal talents maybe in order to server your kids’ particular needs.)</p>
<p>Frankly, IMO the biggest problem our public education faces is the mandate to served every individual according to their individual specifications/desires/ requirement/ demands. It is just not fiscally possible.</p>
<p>There is the option of sending your kid to a charter school in the required uniform and continuing to believe that uniform policies in public schools are unnecessary, ill thought out and ridiculous.</p>
<p>Wellspring: I’ve found that living life on the 80/20 principal has worked well for us. Find the 80% that works, suck up the 20%… everyone gets to decided which is which. If the uniforms are the 80%…don’t do it, if they are the 20%…go for it. In order to spin brain cycles on such an issue, one has to be in a position to have the available brain space…i.e. those of us on CC. Frankly, I’d bet one shade grown, sustainably farmed, eco roasted low fat, no whip chai late with a twist…that most families just don’t work themselves into a milky froth (of the right consistency) over this.</p>
<p>I didn’t spend a lot of time agonizing about whether to put my kid in a uniform at a public school. I did it- the kid didn’t care and I thought it was stupid. The kid still doesn’t care and I still think it was stupid. If you and/or your kid find value in having a uniform policy in a public school, that’s your prerogative.</p>
<p>Wellspring: IMO we’ve both taught our kids a valuable lesson…you can’t always get what you want…but you can get what you need…oh…geez…wait…I hear a tune in my head…:)</p>
<p>I think uniforms would be great. I grew up with very little money and on my own. I stood out like a sore thumb. I was humiliated all the time. Uniforms would have removed that element from school. Also, in the real world, you do not just get to wear whatever you want all the time. You generally have to dress for work, dress for this or that. I think it is excellent to get in to the habit when you are young.</p>
<p>At least in the dark ages when I went to public school (the 1960s), there was a required PE class and— a set uniform for PE for the males and for the females. I know my S’s private had PE (1998-2007). </p>
<p>Do publics have required PE? Do they still have uniforms for that? If so, is that also tiffling?</p>