My dislike of this new school uniform wave that has been raising its head these past few years has not been a secret. I was first introduced to the idea of a dress code change prior to my senior year of high school; since then, that very high school has been operating under this program for some years now. I don’t even remember the initial reasoning for wanting to subject the students to this uniform dress code. I do hear a few opposing points each time I speak my opinion though. With each one, I respond as someone who was once a student, and now, I can address the issue from the point of view of a parent. The three main reasons to favor school uniforms are usually: the fact that it limits the opportunity for children to be robbed of named brand clothing; uniforms will lessen or eliminate the chance that a child will be picked on because of their clothing as well as the pressure parents feel to purchase expensive clothing; and finally, it controls dress code violations and allows students to prepare for the working environment where they will be expected to meet standards of dress. One by one, let’s look at these arguments and see how school uniforms are not the solution to the problem.
Victim Blame Game
Proponents would have us to believe that students are robbed of their clothing because there are other students that may not have the same privilege or opportunity to wear certain labels. Really, they are saying that it’s the child fault that other people in this world are idiots, envious, and greedy. In all walks of life, there are those that exist to do harm and take what doesn’t belong to them. These dirtbags continue to get the pass at the expense of their victims. This is akin to blaming a woman’s attire when she’s raped. It’s my fault that my car is stolen because I took the time and money to have it customized. This reasoning is so flawed but yet has become the standard for dealing with issues. If we just don’t provide these low down people the opportunity to take advantage of us, we win. We have the right to enjoy the fruits of our labor; so do our children if we see fit.
Bluto the Bully
Somewhere, it was found that children cannot focus on academics due to pressures from others concerning their style of dress. I find it funny that over the years that clothing is the only issue that causes children to be bullied. I remember my childhood totally differently. Let’s see, I caught grief for being dark skinned, smarter than the kids in my neighborhood, shy, slow, chubby, a mama’s boy, a daddy’s boy…the list goes on. Somewhere near the bottom of that list was the fact that I didn’t have the top of the line in clothing. Rather teaching our children that it is okay to be different, we resort to finding ways to make them equal to the pack. At the same time, we want to preach that this is America and the American way is to be whatever you want to be and let no one hold you back. This is true to the contradictory nature of our beliefs. Just as with the blame game, we have put the power in the hands of individuals that hold material value and cannot value traits beyond appearance. As I am developing this thought, there are those of us commenting on Gabrielle Douglas’s hair all while she is having a gold-medal performance in the 2012 Summer Olympics. I don’t hold you at fault if you do not like her appearance, but I am not telling my son that his appearance should be a great concern when he is capable of accomplishing more by focusing on his goal at hand.
School-wear to work-wear
I was almost sold on this point until I remembered that we don’t care about our children’s education. So I’m wrong? No Child Left Behind has disallowed educators to hold the student accountable for not performing well in school. As a matter of fact, I would say that the policy points the finger to the teacher as being the reason why students are not meeting standards in certain school systems. Basically, it says that because you are so inadequate at delivering a quality education sir or ma’am, we’re going to make sure that struggling students don’t get lost in the system and advance them. Never mind the fact that this student may not be gaining the knowledge needed to exhibit basic performance at higher levels; it’s the fault of the instructor. Now to this point, opponents would want us to believe that this uniform issue encourages students to understand and appreciate the work environment, which may require them to meet standards of dress each day. Let us ignore the fact that employers also expect employees to come to work and do the job they were hired to do at no less than the minimum standard. In fact, as time passes, the employer usually expects the worker to become more skilled. Those that do not progress do not reap the benefits of their peers that outperform them; essentially, the slow workers to get left behind and sometimes even left out completely. There’s nothing better than being laid off or terminated for not meeting job performance standards. But at least, you will be in dress code when you’re looking for a new job.
These are only three of the points I hear when I bring up this topic. I’m open to the discussion and my opinion can be changed; I’ll listen to any counterpoint to my current mindset. They have to be better than these. Can we address the issues that are not allowing children to get top notch education? Like the fact that we don’t want to fund the education to sharpen these minds. How about the fact that some parents just don’t care if their kids do well; hell some of children don’t care either. Get rid of these uniform policies in public schools. They are costing parents; they are pacifying the real issues; and it’s public school people. I digress.
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