Ever since the beginning of time people have been dressing in ways that describetheir cultural background, social status, and sometimes even their religion. Ido not see why this deep tradition should be changed, throwing children ofdifferent backgrounds all into the same unifying clothing.
I did not go to aschool where I had to wear a uniform, so I do not exactly have a firsthand ideaof what it would be like to wear one. I do know though, that I would feeluncomfortable. The way I dress is something that I take pride in and put effortinto. That might sound corny, or strange, but I really do not give a damn! Ienjoy looking good, everybody does, however not everybody will admit it. As asenior in high school I was voted best dressed, a huge accomplishment if youwent to the school that I did.
All of my friends, all of the girls that I wasinterested in, and even most of the teachers dressed with a certain passion, thepassion to impress others with their outward appearance. While reading a recentarticle in the Chicago Tribune by Lauren Waters, I found that Dr. HaroldGoldstein held the same opinions on the subject of school uniforms as I do. Dr. Goldstein is the school superintendent of the Bethlehem Trinity Lutheran SchoolSystem, in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Dr. Goldstein was asked to make a speech for theNational Reading Council on the topic of school uniforms, in the article he wasquoted as saying: “In all of the fifteen years I have been teaching, I havenever seen a school that resembles an institution atmosphere as much as theB. T. L. S.
S. At first we believed that the school uniform would improve academicsand increase order in the classroom, but in reality, we now have an UN-spiritedgroup of children who no longer enjoy attending their own school”(Waters,121). In this case, the school not only had a decrease in academics, it wasturned into an almost drone like atmosphere. I feel that if school uniforms wereimplemented, this passion and desire to look good would be diminished. I mean,how much control can you possibly have with your appearance, when you are toldwhat to wear.
Originality is something that would also be destroyed. There wouldbe no more trend setters, or fashion experimentation. Thus, style would come toa complete halt! Now I know that I am making this all sound very dramatic, but Iam trying to make a point here. Also, as I said in the introduction, many peopledress in affiliation with their religion or culture. If school uniforms werebrought into effect, what would happen to the Jewish kids that had to wear aYamalka? Could Muslim children wear head wraps, or could Christians even wearcrosses? This is another problem that would arise.
Christopher Bishop, a writerfor Time Magazine, researched the idea of having school uniforms in severalTexas public schools. Bishop found the biggest problem was for the children ofthe Middle East, who were unable to wear their traditional wraps and culturalrobes. “. . . in most cases the children were forced to just up and changeschools, and move to different community”(Bishop, 77).
Kids would always betrying to squeeze a little more freedom out of the system. Where do you draw theline? What is wrong with kids dressing in all black with fishnet stalking ontheir arms? In my opinion, nothing, it is just different. Let kids expressthemselves. Let the Indians wear their full body sheets, and the cowboys weartheir oversized belt buckles.
The childs clothing is not whats causing theproblem; it is their upbringing. The final problem that I see with schooluniforms, or atlas the last one I can think of, is money. I do not have thefaintest idea how some people can see school uniforms as being cheaper. It isnot like the kids are going to wear those ugly things everywhere. What kind ofsocial leper is going to wear blue trousers and penny loafers to play ball onthe weekend? Parents are still going to have to fork out money for regularclothes.
Also, what happens when an article of the uniform gets ripped, torn, orstained? There goes a bunch more money for replacements. In a recent pole takenin New York of 1,000 parents who had to wear school uniforms in the past and arenow faced with dilemma of sending their children to school that has uniforms,78% said that they would not be in favor of putting their kids in uniforms. Thebiggest reason was found to be because of money problems. I can see how somepeople would vote for school uniforms, but I still do not think it would be anintelligent choice. The negatives brought on by having school uniforms outweighpositives by far.
Why do we feel this need to make everybody look the same, weare not, and in many ways. Leave the uniform to the military, not the classroom.
