do you think that schools should require their students to wear a uniform? if you are a student...what would you think if you had to wear a uniform? do you think students would be happy, or would they be mad?

I think if students had to wear school uniforms they probably would not like it. I am beginning to think that school uniforms might be a good idea. They would do away with competitive dressing.

many students attend school very badly dressed. This has nothing to do with their ability to afford decent clothing. It seems to be their choice to dress like slobs. This of course is only my opinion.

MT

It would do away with competitive dressing, but I think that individuality should be encouraged, especially at that stage in life. It is when people figure out who they are by trying on different personas, and appearance factors into that. Also, even if you find some clothing choices to be slobbish or strange, they can help build self-esteem in individuals who have little. Remember, beauty is subjective. Besides, when else can you dye your hair blue or purple and not have to worry about your boss reprimanding you? Let the kids have fun while they can.

Well, if you live in Madtown you can color your hair any color you want no matter how old you are. You can pretty much dress any far out way you want and no one will give you a second look.

A friend and I made these crazy hats for an Easter hat competition. I mean, they were something else! We wore them on State St (one of the main city streets near the UW campus) we went into a coffee shop, walked up to the counter and placed our order. The clerk shrugged his shoulders, raised his eyebrows a bit, but otherwise kept a straight face. No one else in the place paid any attention to us.

A little off subject, but it's quiet here tonight.

MT

Got pictures?

I agree Cyan. I have 3 kids. My oldest went through a period when she was in her teens she wore dresses and skirts with combat boots. and I don't think she had a piece of clothing that was not black. My middle daughter dressed what I considered normal. My son now 19 wears the pants hanging off his butt. T-shirts with rock and roll band's logos on them. Owns 1 pair of dress pants and I dress shirt. But, I could't have asked for better kids. Jaime is now grown and living on her own pretty much since she was in college. Jen is going to Jr. college and working 30 hours a week. Bobby is working full time and all three are very respondsible loving caring people. So let them wear what they want. It is a statement for their time. Just like when I was growing up. Hippie era. Clothes do not make people. As for uniforms, they can be quite expensive. And I think when they get out into the working world depending on their careers they will have to have a dress code then. So I agree let them be kids.

Two of my grandsons wore "uniforms" at a Catholic grade school. They were required to wear navy pants, long or short and light blue shirts, sweaters or sweat shirts. No paticular brand or style of shirts or pants. The girls wore navy slacks, skirts, and walking shorts and light blue tops. A lot of trading went on amongst parents of younger children.

The boys didn't seem to mind, but got into clothes of their choice right after school.

MT

Our family's experiences with school uniforms are positive. Some of them went kicking and screaming, but in the end found it solved a lot of problems for them, and made life simple. There was and is no worrying about what to wear.
The city in which some of my grandchildren are residing at present has great many poor African American students. Their parents in particular like the uniforms. They voted for them. They were not required until a vote was taken, (that is at the public schools) and all schools in the city did not vote for the uniforms.
The children have plenty of time to wear other things. Though school is the main social life of children there is still a lot of time left at the end of the school day.
At any rate, I can tell you that uniforms did not seem to effect my children and so far the grandchildren adversely.
I happen to feel that children, and adults for that matter, act more politely, and less aggressively when they are dressed nicely. Laugh if you will, but I have taken note, and I know this is true.

For a college freshman, I'm probably pretty backwards when it comes to fashion and dress, but here goes!

I've never wasted time worrying about what to wear. I've always dressed sensibly (what momof3 would probably count as normal), and have never really had this problem.

Advocates of school uniforms say that studies have proven that if students wear uniforms, their academic performance goes up. While this may be true in urban areas (outside my limited experience), I haven't seen any proof of it myself. As I mentioned, I've always dressed casually, and have maintained straight A's through my whole acadmic career, as did a number of my classmates.

I agree with Cyan and Momof3. Let kids be kids while their kids. The adult world sets in too soon anyway.

I'd be all for school uniforms.

I think the way you dress affects the way people view you and the way you view yourself. Having kids dressed in school uniforms would promote an atmosphere of professionalism.

I wonder how schools would change if all the boys were required to wear suit and ties...

Otseng, you are correct, the way that a person dresses does effect the way that they veiw themselves. That's exactly the reason why I think that kids should be allowed to wear what they want to. It encourages individuality and decision making skills, and it promotes self-esteem. In my experience, some of the most intelligent people are the ones who dress the strangest.

America is based on individuality and freethinking. Why do want want to force our kids to be cut out like cookie cutters?

I am totally against the idea of a strict dress code being enforced (anywhere) especially in school. Its a PUBLIC school, there is no reason for children to have a dress code. Private schools can enforce whatever rules they feel are necessary, but I dont feel it is right in a public school. There isnt a dress code for going to a public park, nor into any other public area (aside from the obvious indecent exposure), there shouldnt be one school.

Clothes has nothing to do with how well a person performs in any given task. When I was a teenager I dyed my hair, wore spiked collars, combat boots, etc. and I graduated with honors. We should encourage individuality, and for alot of teenagers the way they dress is a form of asserting themselves, and it helps the grow. Teenagers are trying to distance themselves from their parents and define themselves, and it shouldn't be oppressed.

Actually, kim, there is one public place of which I'm aware that a strict dress code is required - Court.

A few years ago when I was employed at a criminal defense firm, we had a number of clients that were told to leave the court and come back when they were appropriately dressed. I even knew an attorney that was forced to put his suit coat on even after he had spilled coffee all over it. In Court, it's about respect and an ability to show whether or not you know the rules (one of which is appropriate dress).

Back to uniforms in school...

As mom told all of you, I would have been deprived an all black wardrobe and combat boots had I been forced to wear a uniform. I think I turned out OK, so what worked with me? I would say it was that my mom was very involved in my life.

Mom pretty much ignored all my weirdness growing up. Her expectations of me never went down because I chose to look like a vampire (or a turn of the century immigrant, depending on the outfit). She always expected me to get good grades and go on to college. She didn't care how I got there as long as I did. Her confidence in me is what helped move me along. There was no chance I would do anything to bring shame or disappointment to her or any of my family. Way to go mom, all that without uniforms!

Everybody's different Jaime. I didn't wear uniforms and look how weird I am today!

MT

Jaime...I think you and I lived in the same alternate century during high school

I agree that unconditional love and support is what encourages kids to succeed. If parents make their children feel good about the choices that they make that don't harm anyone else, their children will grow up being more confident and capable people.

I think that the reason that some parents react so strongly to the clothing that their kids are wearing is because they are embarassed to be seen in public with them, because the clothing is not something that they, themselves, would wear. They fear that people will judge them based on how their children dress. It's a legitimate fear in the sense that people do judge based on appearance, but a parent's loyalty should be to their children, not a judgmental stranger.

The fact of the matter is that most kids who dress "strangely" in junior high and high school, "normalize" in their adult years, and if they don't? So what. They are adults, and they are capable of making their own lifestyle choices.

A little bit off the subject of uniforms, one time When my son was in Junior High Bobby decided he wanted to dye his hair purple. The kind of dye that washes out in about 6 washes. So Jaime being the big sister said SURE!!! well let me tell you his hair was a dark bright purple. I wasn't too fond of this. I said OMG Bobby the kids are going to make so much fun of you. He didn't care. Went to school and all of his friends were so jealous and said they wished they had an older sister who would do their hair. so much for using reverse psycology.

Sorry to stray this off topic but, Ive been to court a few times (only once because I broke the law, and I was 15), and while Ive noticed that all the lawyers, and court employees are always dressed nicely, Ive also noticed that if you are not a worker you can dress however you feel. Ive had a few friends that had to go to court, and they all dressed like ####. Ive noticed that most people in court for crimes tend not to look their best (especially those in their teens), so is there really a dress code for court? Because I havent seen one, maybe it has to do with the states Ive been to court in (Florida and Colorado). Is it up to the judge? Is there a law stating you have to look nice in court? Im just curious.

Sorry if I was unclear, kim. Not all Courts have dress codes. I've not dealt much with appeals level courts, which have their own rules, I'm sure. I'm speaking mostly of lower state courts. Usually, the Judge is the one who determines the level of appropriate dress in hir/her courtroom.

Traffic court Judges are usually pretty lax. In fact, I saw a guy in a Metallica t-shirt, ripped jeans and industrial work boots stand before a Judge for a moving violation and the judge didn't say a thing.

Once you're there for higher crimes the Judges tend to come down on people a little more severely if not dressed respectfully.

Now back to our regularly scheduled topic...

I'm a bit torn on this one. I wouldn't advocate uniforms on the grounds of academic performance, but would certainly consider it on the grounds of "competitive dressing" - or possibly even Otseng's "professionalism" argument. The main advantage I'd see to unifroms is that they discourage the most overt class (as in caste, not grade) distinctions and the potential knock-on in terms of prejudice, all-important "popularity", and so on (for both one's fellow students and one's teachers).

A minor example of what I mean: Several years ago, my brother-in-law was laid off over the summer and the family couldn't afford all of the Adidas-type branded clothes that a majority of the kids were sporting at the start of the new school year. This earned my nephew the nickname of "Generic Brands" for the school year. (The following year, once both my sister and her husband were working again, my nephew indulged in a bit of overkill, which earned him the moniker "Mr. Nike" for the year. Sometimes you just can't win) My nephew is fairly resilient and was not much affected, but what about the kids who can never afford the more "fashionable" clothes that many of their peers are wearing. What about those who don't have the option of amassing a Goth wardrobe, if they so desire? Clothing chauvinism can marginalize some kids for their entire academic career - and, I believe places at least some students at both a social and academic disadvantage.

On the other hand, I also feel that individualism should be encouraged at every possible opportunity. On the other third hand, don't most student fashions have their own more or less uniform look? Perhaps a compromise would be to only require uniforms during class hours (which I think is already the case most places), allowing for fashion expression at all extracurricular and sporting events - and possibly having the equivalent of "Casual Fridays" which would give the affluent individualists an outlet without daunting the less privileged full-time. A local school here has introduced uniforms, but there is a choice of two different colors of trousers (and/or a skirt) and four different colors/styles of sweater-vest things, with no rules regarding hairstyles. This allows eight to twelve variations (doubled with the option of shorts during fall and spring). Maybe this is another way to go.


Off-topic postscript: I also had dark purple hair for a few months - which I quite liked (as did most of my friends and colleagues at the time) - but that was when I was about thirty-five.

I think school uniforms are a good idea. I would get rid of competitve dressing like everyone said before. I think it might change the materialistic views of some people too. You wouldn't be able to judge anyone by their clothes, you would have to look deeper.

And even though these kids would be wearing the same uniforms, they could always put different accessories with their uniforms to make themselves look a little different.

school uniforms are a good idea because not everyone can afford to dress in all the name brand clothes-uniforms would not allow anyone to be dressed any " better" than anyone else. It would take anyway the emphasis on what other people are wearing and hopefully put a little more emphasis on what people are learning.