Do Schools Want to Crank Out Little Monochromatic Robots?

Published on November 9, 2005 By Texas Wahine In Misc

My children's school has no dress code. That's right. None.

We see short skirts, little boys with earrings, mohawk hair cuts, band t-shirts, slippers (flip-flops), knee high boots, colored hair...you name it. It's very lax for an elementary school.

I can remember the dress code for my old high school. For several years we weren't allowed to wear shorts. Later sweat pants were outlawed (to be fair, this was because we were naughty children and anyone who wore sweat pants was pantsed). Sleeveless shirts were out for a while. The guys' hair could not fall past the collar of their shirts. Any t-shirt with words or graphics on it was subject to intense scrutiny (unless it said "Jesus" on it). Guys were absolutely not allowed to wear earrings.

When I was a Junior in high school I dyed my hair purple. Only two streaks were dyed because my parents weren't sure how the school administration would react. They tried to pull the "no unnatural hair colors" card on me, but it wasn't anywhere in the rules.

As a frustrated teen, tweaking my personal appearance was a satisfying outlet for me to express individuality.

When the trend was knee high socks and Mary-Janes, I felt comfortable in Doc Marten style boots, jeans, and a Kurt Cobain t-shirt.

I love that my children's school allows the kids to have the freedom to dress themselves in the way that makes them feel confident and comfortable. Oversight is the responsibility of the parents. Children don't have a say in much of the things in their lives that affect them, and I think that clothing and other appearance choices empower children and allow them to practice making choices without risking lasting harm.

All that freedom at my kids' school will soon be ending. Today I received a Dress Code Survey.

The survey offered three options in regards to clothing and three more for footwear and the instructions given were to discuss the choices with the children and then indicate my (parent) choice and their (children) choice.

For clothing the choice is a) conservative dress code (no midriffs, wide-strapped sleeveless tops, mid-thigh on pants/shorts/skirts),

school t-shirts in either one color for everyone or a choice of 4-5 colors, or c) school t-shirts in a single color per grade.

The conservative dress code is fine with me. I don't think it's too harsh. It enforces modesty, but that's not a bad thing. I really hope that other parents are like-minded, because I think the school t-shirt idea is sad.

For footwear the choice is a) closed toe/closed heel shoes only,

allow open toe shoes and sandals only if they have a heel or ankle strap, or c) allow any and all footwear to be worn.

The footwear might not seem like a big deal, but this is freaking Hawaii. Kids wear slippers. Adults wear slippers. We wear them to the park, to the store, to church, to funerals, to the movies, to school...everywhere. It's as much a part of the local culture as Zippys or Chinaman's hat. It's comfortable, it's convenient, and it's cheap.

Slippers can be bought for $2 and they last for a year or longer. The kids come home with grimy little red toes from running in the dirt with their slippers on. I love that. In the mornings, they grab their slippers from the porch by the front door and slip them on and we're good to go. Perhaps I'm being more sentimental than practical, but sneakers just don't seem right.

We'll see what gets approved. This is a pet project being put together by the newly created student council, and I applaud the children for working to shape the type of school environment that they want and for soliciting parent opinion, but I sincerely hope that the school uniform plan won't be implemented.

I want my children to be able to express themselves. They spend so much time complying and being told what to do. The least we can do is allow them to choose between the Darth Vader t-shirt and the Honu tank top.

Comments (Page 3)

Dr Guy

on Nov 11, 2005

In fact, Adrian has suggested that the reason they're pushing for it is because they want to make a buck. Perhaps...

It is possible, but as parents you should make sure that money is put to good use and not spent on something like an expresso coffee machine in the teachers lounge for example.

Actually, at the first school in this county to institute it, it was! They were more than happy to selll the parents the uniforms. Themselves! And not at cost! (Cost plus was what they called it).

lifehappens

on Nov 11, 2005

Great Article! I think that there should be guidelines at a minimum. Maybe not 10 pages of dos and don't, but every child should understand the consequenses of wearing inappropriate attire (Sit in ISS so you don't disrupt the other students if you have an inappropriate t-shirt on?) but I lean towards a dress code/high standards for a couple reasons
HERE IS A BIG ONE....

I think my opinion is a little biased as I grew up in a family that couldn't afford the "right" clothes to ensure my acceptance in the environment where we lived. And kids are cruel. So with that bit of background plus a little bit of adult thought, I support school uniforms. It takes away that little bit of distraction that for some kids is a HUGE deal and allows school to focus more on what school is for: ACADEMICS! School should not be a fashion show.

That's the biggest reason I felt uncomfortable in middle school....I didn't have the "right clothes" Would a dress code have helped? Maybe not..

Brand names don't mean much here

I grew up on an Air Force base and brand names were a BIG deal. i think kids should learn to be more than what they wear, but the mom in me wants to protect my kids. It hink it's a growing experience to realize everyone isnt' equal and life ain't fair. Are we doing a disservice to our kids by taking away the challenges?

also have a problem with the fact that uniforms don't provide the cild with a sense of individuality, which is an important characteristic for a young person to learn and respect in others as well as develop in themselves

So what to do? A relaxed dress code that offers options maybe? I could deal with that. The schools here are testing a plan where the kids can wear collared shirts in red, white, blue, yellow and navy. Buttonup or polo style. Jeans on Fridays and nice pants/skirts the rest of the week. No logos on ANYTHING. Black, White sneakers or dress shoes

One of my problems with this is jeans. I'm a jeans type of girl and I think that clean well fitting jeans are fine for school (ditch the baggy pants please) The kids are playing so least them wear sturdy stuff! but the no logos issue is hard on the parents. How many shoes do you see without a logo? I know one mom who spent $30 on a pair of all white sneakers because everything else had a stripe or logo! That's a little excessive.

And the number one killer for military families.....moving from a no-uniform school to a uniform school in the middle of the year. Nothing you bought for your kid before is okay to wear and few places carry uniforms at a cheap price except in September. Try the reverse too....only have uniforms? How will it feel to suddenly go to a relaxed dress code school? The price tag for parents can be a shock there.

So would I vote for it? I'm still up in the air. No to the one uniform, maybe to a strict dress code and definetely to a responsible/average dress code.

*sorry I blabbered so long!*

money move

ParaTed2k

on Nov 11, 2005

Just to add a little humor here. When I go to pick my kids up from school, and see the tiny skirts many of the girls are wearing, I can't help but wonder what the teachers thought of the panties the girls were wearing. Since those little school "desks" have no "modesty plate", I'm sure the teachers get an eyeful whether they want to or not. ;~D

dynamaso

on Nov 14, 2005

You also bring up a good point about respect. Allowing children to look different helps them learn tolerance and respect for themselves and others.

Thanks for the insightful reply

Pleasure, Tex. I think this is a particularly good topic, especially after your post about Brian Deneke. Well done.

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