School uniforms

[heathwaldrop]

Uniforms K through 12 is on the agenda for the Crossett School Board meeting again tonight, and sources are telling me that this issue is going to pass.

The code probably would be modified for those in the elementary grades to become more lax, and would become much more strict for those in the secondary grades.

Let's get some comments from those who have children in the district. Is the proposal good, bad, or indifferent?

[hogdog]

I think like they have it now really sucks !!! If they are going to make the kids wear uniforms they need to make THE WHOLE system wear them from 12th on down and NOT like they are doing now

[heathwaldrop]

The board decided last night to leave the current structure in place. The whole thing ended up being a lot of smoke but no fire. The board did admonish the adminstrators at the junior high and high school though that the existing code needs to be better-enforced and there was a lot of finger-wagging about putting in a stricter code if it isn't. Which of course makes little sense to me, but whatever.

[mzsmartypantz]

I say strictly enforce the dress code and get rid of uniforms for the whole district. The whole idea of making the lower grades wear uniforms and the upper grades not is stupid anyway. The problem with the dress code was not in the lower grades. I say if a student comes to school with his drawers hanging down to his knees or with her belly and whatever else exposed, the answer is simple....send their butts home to change. If they don't change, send their butts home to stay. If this is executed consistently the kids will get the idea and stop trying to get away with breaking the dress code.

[Outlaw85]

Have any of you ever just sat and watched what the kids wear to school? I drop off and pickup at the Jr. High everyday. Belly buttons showing, very low hip hugger jeans leaving little to the imagination. I don't remeber girls ,specifically dressing that way when I was in school. And shorts were a no no!!!!!!

As for uniforms , I'm to the piont all or none. It either needs to made district wide or done away with. I have no problems either way just do something!!!!!

[heathwaldrop]

Again, the reason why this rule was put into place to begin with had nothing to do with how much skin that students were revealing. It was put into place because of the notion that poor kids don't do well in school because they have low-self esteem about the clothes that they wear. Some really brilliant educational "consultants" (who, I would guess, held stock in school uniform companies) sold the State of Arkansas on the idea that uniforms would erase all natural social divisions and therefore eliminate all self-esteem problems, which clearly must have been the reason why the entire state underperformed on standardized tests year after year (sarcasm very much intended).

So the solution was to punish children who could afford to wear designer labels, and to imply that everyone is exactly the same. Not created equally, but actually THE SAME.

It was called the School Uniform Act of 1999 and you can read all about it right here: www.arkleg.state.ar.us/ftproot/ACTS/1999/Htm/ACT1301.htm

[Bohoppa]

I personally think uniforms are a step in the right direction for both reasons. Yes the clothing that the students wear is something you would expect to see in a nightclub environment and not school. Secondly do you actually feel that how a student perceive themselves do not have an effect on their attitudes and performance in school. I can tell you it does make a difference

[heathwaldrop]

I don't see any evidence of it, and nobody's been able to present any evidence of it. It's a high-minded idea thought up by adults. I didn't always have top-of-the-line merchandise to wear to school every day growing up, and I got picked on about just about everything you can imagine.

I graduated as the salutatorian of my class, scored a 30 on the ACT and had a 3.96 cumulative grade-point average. I went on to college where I graduated summa cum laude.

You know the No. 1 thing that I got made fun of about?

Good grades. Go figure.

The point is that erasing class differences—even if you could pull it off (besides being a socialist concept)—would not by a long shot eliminate insecurity or low self-esteem. Of course I don't want to see anybody singled out or ridiculed, but my God, since when is clothing the only thing that kids make fun of each other about?

And why is it the job of the school district to play benevolent grandmother? Isn't that benevolent grandmother's job???

[Outlaw85]

Why are griping and complaining about school unforms and dress code when we have more important issues at hand? For crying out loud people we have 2 schools under academic distress with one getting very close to having the state step in. Parents, we need get our priorities straight. What is more important what a child wears to school or the education they receive? You want to solve this uniform/dress code issue? Take responsibility for your child or children and see to it they are dressed appropriately no matter what grade or age they are. They are kids for crying out loud and it is a parents job and responsibility to help their kids make good descisions in life. Too many parents are giving kids way too much freedom in making their own descison. That's my personal opinion and it's not changing!!!

[heathwaldrop]

I agree with that. In other words, it's the PARENTS' responsibility (right) to sign off on how their child dresses. And it's nobody else's business. This whole thing goes back to people who blame other folks for their own problems. If the way that somebody else is dressed offends you, then keep your blankety-blank eyes in your book or on your paper.

If the kid is in violation of the dress code, send him or her home to change. If it happens X number of times, suspend him or her. Pretty simple concept. Eventually he or she is going to stop showing up out of dress-code compliance, or flunk.

After all, they don't ban milk in the cafeteria just because somebody might have used it as a weapon in a food fight.

But again, the reason why the big uniform advocate (Robert Cornelius) jumped up on this soap box in the first place is because he wants to erase the social lines between economically-underprivileged children and "the Joneses." It's a high-minded goal--I've said before that his heart is in the right place--but it's impossible and it's not a school district's place to do that. To say nothing of the fact that it will not affect the ultimate goal--higher test scores--anyway.

[mzsmartypantz]

outlaw67 said:

Take responsibility for your child or children and see to it they are dressed appropriately no matter what grade or age they are. They are kids for crying out loud and it is a parents job and responsibility to help their kids make good descisions in life. Too many parents are giving kids way too much freedom in making their own descison. That's my personal opinion and it's not changing!!!

I totally agree with that!! Parents today seem to be more interested in being their kids' buddy than being the parent. Sometimes being the parent isn't fun and sometimes your kid may not like your decision, but that's your job as the parent.

[mzsmartypantz]

The uniforms have not erased the socio-economic issues at all. They are still there. It hasn't even eased up any. Now the big issue is what kind of shoes you wear with your uniform or whether you wear standard uniform pants or big legged baggy khaki pants, etc. etc. It just goes to show that kids will always find something to pick on others about. And the interesting thing is that it is usually the students that would think about being more underpriviledged that do the picking on others.

Furthermore, the uniform code is not being adhered to any better than the original dress code. As an example, my kid wears cargo pants (which are supposed to be a no-no) almost every day and no one ever says a word about it. In the spring you will see students wearing flip flops and short khaki skirts and shorts.

[stevesanders]

Ed Johnson sent students home who weren't wearing ID badges. Any word what's happening with dress code since school board said Monday night to stritcly enforce it?

[mom]

You know I dont agree with the uniforms being k-12 if anything they should phase them in throughout school, not just slam them on everyone all at once, I have a child that will be graduating next year, and my child is at the top of the class, the top 10, and I dont see any reason to punish a child for being at the top of their class, by making, deciding for them what they are gonna wear, I am told that each day over the intercom that coach Johnson from which I have alot of respect for, says education before anything else, well, if I know the way things work, education will be the last thing going on at CHS if they tried to do uniforms, if they are having dress code issues then address them, if these kids are so "bad" at CHS without uniforms, then just imagine how many classroom distractions they will have with uniforms.

As far as the ID badges, I dont agree with sending a child home for not having one, that goes back to the thing " education before anything else" a child is sent home for a id badge violation what education is he getting for the day? NONE.

I know some of the students would go into the school, and have their ID badge in their cars and they werent allowed to go back and get them, they were sent home, what did that accomplish for the school? Nothing, but for the student they got a free day out of school. Something isnt right with the entire picture....As far as benefitting by wearing uniforms, I have a child that is in elementary and wears uniforms, and that has not changed the fact that that child doesnt do well in math, my other child dont have a problem with anything, and is wearing normal clothes each day? Go figure....what does it have to do with education? NOTTA.......

As far as the name badges now, I was told yesterday that now they offer temporary badges in the case you forget yours, so I think that that might be under control now.....and as long as they have uniforms, there will be class disruptions that take away from instruction time, a child forgets his/her belt....in 10 years will it matter? No but on the day the child was sent to the office for a uniform violation they missed classroom time in algebra, and they missed an important step that could effect them in 10 years.

I say teach school make them keep their pants pulled up and shirts pulled down let them go outside and play like normal kids I dont see anything wrong with any of us here we all seem to have pretty good sense, and I doubt that we were made to wear those faded out after 2 washings uniform shirts...or pants, I still say let them be kids.

I hate the uniforms, and I do know this, Crossett would have lost several students next year in the Sr. Class alone, they would have simply gone to Hamburg.

[heathwaldrop]

You've raised some good points. Especially about the distractions involving uniforms. Do some informal surveying (as I have done) and compare how many distractions there are with the uniforms in the elementary school compared to what things were like before. My gosh...teachers are spending time in the morning doing stupid crap like checking to make sure that pants have belt loops. BELT LOOPS!!!