<p>Totally off topic, but AAA is able to get to me in less than 15 minutes the last 4 or 5 times I called. So yeah, they can change the tire in the driveway, while I cook dinner. (And other than the yearly membership charge, which I get back in travel discounts, it’s free!)</p>
<p>You’ve had to call them 4 or 5 times?
Maybe you should get your tires replaced. Or at least check the alignment.
:)</p>
<p>Many cars.</p>
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<p>On safety alone uniforms are a plus.</p>
<p>Wow! We should all wear uniforms. Or move to Long Beach.</p>
<p>Yep–seeing the stats, it is a strong argument.</p>
<p>
[Brunsma</a> Article - MU College of Arts and Science Research Communication Project](<a href=“http://rcp.missouri.edu/articles/brunsma.html]Brunsma”>http://rcp.missouri.edu/articles/brunsma.html)</p>
<p>I am wondering how the horse gals are going through so many pairs of jeans! I used to ride regularly, I mucked stalls and was on feed and turnout, I helped run summer camp-- and I can’t think of a single time I got a tear in my jeans. I wore the same jeans and t shirts to the barn that I wore to school (washed, of course!), and I wore the same pair of paddock boots for at least five or six years… I’ve only owned one or two pairs. I got new clothes maybe once a year when I was still growing, less than that as a teen-- never wore anything holey. We own horses and my family has been riding and competing for generations… and no tattered clothes here! What gives!?</p>
<p>My oldest worked with several different ponies at the zoo, a few were bad tempered & bit.
Not all ponies are pleasant when you are applying eye medication or cleaning their sheath…</p>
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<p>Well, we kept feeding our horsey girl and she kept growing…right out of those Goodwill jeans. As will happen between the ages of 8 and 18 
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<p>D also owned a pony (rescued from a neglectful neighbor who lost interest in her newest toy). He had the most attitude of any of the horses she’s worked with. I think ponies have Napoleon complexes.</p>
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<p>Seems unlikely that the differences in safety trends within the same school district can be explained by
</p>
<p>My school district put uniforms in place this year and here is what anecdotal evidence I can give you:</p>
<p>In the first place, the only reason they were put in place is because the teachers’ union controls the board and the teachers wanted them. Teachers claimed that they were taking too much time to write kids up for dress code, were tired of looking at boobs, etc. etc. blah blah blah. The truth is, it was just another power trip brought on by a select group of high school teachers that don’t like kids anyway.</p>
<p>I always argued that the only people who cared about what we were wearing were teachers. They claimed that the clothes were a distraction and that without the distraction; scores, grades, and attendance would go up. I can tell you that this is not the case. For reasons unrelated to the uniforms, we had severe attendance drops (especially among seniors), we did not meet our state testing goal, and we had a record drop in honor roll students. Everyday, there is an announcement about having teachers check to make sure everyone is in uniform. Everyday I see kids being written up for new things (ie, instead of cleavage or sagging; too many buttons or wearing a sweatshirt). In the end there was still so much gray area in the policy (teachers also complained that the prior policy left too much up for interpretation) that there is more violations (just less that the teachers care about). </p>
<p>Oh, and suddenly having to buy entirely new wardrobes was not in any way, shape, or form cheaper for anyone. Especially since khaki’s and polos are the most expensive types of clothing!</p>
<p>You can buy them at Walmart for $10 each. Expensive???
Maybe if you buy major logo brands.</p>
<p>I remember one mom at my kids’ elementary school complaining about the girls wearing shorts (and not even short shorts) because her son was getting too distracted to do school work. I was thinking if her son was getting that distracted by 5th graders legs he was going to have a tough row to hoe in college.</p>
<p>Re: #131</p>
<p>However, comparing the K-8 going to uniforms vs. high schools not going to uniforms is not a well controlled experiment. It would be a better experiment if some K-8 and some high schools went to uniforms while others of similar initial characteristics did not, while following the same other policies.</p>
<p>Uniforms could theoretically help with crime control by making it easy to identify “outsiders” entering the school area to commit crime. But that is only speculation (and it is also speculation about how much crime has to do with “outsiders”). Of course, the criminally-inclined “outsiders” could evade detection by wearing the uniforms when entering the school area to commit crimes, though the additional hurdle of doing that may be enough to deter many who commit crimes of opportunity as opposed to well planned crimes.</p>
<p>I think the fact that uniforms are seen to reduce crime is a reason that middle class parents don’t want to send their kids to schools that require uniforms. Those parents don’t want their kids to attend schools that have so big a crime problem that they need to institute uniforms to combat it. People who don’t have a choice as to where their kids go and are stuck with high crime schools may prefer uniforms for that reason. Parents now see uniforms in public schools as a signal that crime is a problem.</p>
<p>Emeraldkity is talking about a brand new magnet STEM school. The principal coming in from out of state is assuming that the kids who will enroll at the school need uniforms (will be subject to criminal tendencies?), why is that? The neighborhood it is in is very diverse (some multimillion$ houses, some subsidized housing), I think all of the kids would benefit from attracting a diverse community. (See Richard Kahlenberg, All Together Now)</p>
<p>(And what exactly is the ‘crime rate’ at any given K-8 school? Are we talking about a reduction from 2 incidents to 1?)</p>
<p>I can see how horse clothes would get beat up. Between the nipping horses and the crawling through fences, and the chores (painting fences was a messy one) some clothes are no longer suitable for church or school. </p>
<p>I can’t see how someone would use all their clothes for horses, or scene painting, or whatever the student’s passion is, and not set aside an outfit or two for when they should look presentable. </p>
<p>Perhaps to them, school is not worthy of looking presentable.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why so many people act as if having a uniform policy is an either/or situation. There is a wide spectrum of choices that school administrators can take under the heading of “Dress Code”. At one end is Anything Goes, where as long as the police don’t arrest you on the way to class, you are good to go. At the other end is the Army where a manual with hundreds of pages defines exactly how every piece of clothing must look. I don’t think anyone advocates for either of these extremes.</p>
<p>The intent by good administrators is to get the focus of students off attire and on to education. There will always be rebels and disciplinary issues no matter where along the spectrum a school falls.</p>
<p>To those who argue “NO Uniforms”, I would ask how you would feel about girls who just feel more comfotable wearing bikini tops all day, or boys who prefer to not wear a shirt. Why “persecute” these students and prevent them from dressing in a manner that they feel allows them to study best?</p>
<p>There must be some standards and I prefer for my children to be an environment that puts these standards well above the bare minimum required by criminal courts.</p>
<p>rmldad-I have never argued, nor have I seen anything in this thread, that advocates for an “anything goes” policy. Of course there should be a dress code, and students should be dressed appropriately for school. I just don’t see why jeans and a t-shirt should be deemed “inappropriate.”</p>
<p>This was my high school’s dress code, taken directly from their web site:</p>
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<p>Every time I have shared this with someone, they look at me, jaw open, and say something to the effect of, “And you went to PUBLIC school?”</p>
<p>When I was in middle school, they had a rule that if your clothes broke the dress code, you had to wear a shirt that had the dress code printed on it for the rest of the day. That worked surprisingly well for a while.</p>