Friday, December 10, 1999: School uniforms

[NonsenseWords]

[Caoimhin]

What they never mention is that private schools, which for the most part, have a uniform policy havn't curbed bullying as much as we'd like to think. Bullying amoung girls has never been out there in the open as much as it has been for boys, which now due to an awful attitude toward physical fights has become almost equal in execution, that is boys too will result to the same tactics as girls, using gossip and words. In other words its a waste of money and unless paid for by the public schools is just a money drain for the families who don't have a choice of where their children go to school.

[Bocaj Claw]

School uniforms were a big issue at the time I wrote this. I embarked on this storyline thinking the issue had a lot of comic potential, but I don't think I really knew how to write my way back out of it, and I didn't really want to permanently alter my character designs... I think it worked out okay, but it was a learning experience.

[Tom_Radigan]

What they never mention is that private schools, which for the most part, have a uniform policy havn't curbed bullying as much as we'd like to think. Bullying amoung girls has never been out there in the open as much as it has been for boys, which now due to an awful attitude toward physical fights has become almost equal in execution, that is boys too will result to the same tactics as girls, using gossip and words. In other words its a waste of money and unless paid for by the public schools is just a money drain for the families who don't have a choice of where their children go to school.

The only uniforms I wore during my school years were gym uniforms, but those obviously had practical reasons, such as the fact you get dirty and sweaty in them. As for uniforms for the rest of the school period, they probably have no real value other than to identify you as a student at X school.

This is not to say there are no good reasons to have dress codes in school. For one thing, years ago I saw a PBS documentary about how a man became the principal of an "out-of-control" school in a ghetto area of Chicago, and the first thing he did to restore order was to get the students to take off their hats in class. Not an arbitrary rule; hats were gang affiliation symbols in that neighborhood.

[Caoimhin]

As for uniforms for the rest of the school period, they probably have no real value other than to identify you as a student at X school.

This is not to say there are no good reasons to have dress codes in school. For one thing, years ago I saw a PBS documentary about how a man became the principal of an "out-of-control" school in a ghetto area of Chicago, and the first thing he did to restore order was to get the students to take off their hats in class. Not an arbitrary rule; hats were gang affiliation symbols in that neighborhood.

With the plethora of Catholic schools in my state, I understand the identification factor. I was questioning its use as a means of effective bullying prevention, infact, wouldn't it cause inter-school bullying? What better way to identify a kid from a rival school than looking at what amounts to a large target painted on them. But I digress .

Also, one of my contentions against it was that in poorer neighborhoods uniforms can be expensive. In an area you identify as being the ghetto that would suggest that uniforms could be a budget tightener, I'm not even sure if they make the blazers machine washable, you have to pay to get them dry-cleaned.

I think you've got a school dress code and a uniform code confused, even my public middle school disallowed hats indoors, merely because that was considered proper and polite.

Note: I just remembered that some schools don't require uniforms with blazers, infact if its gangs they're worried about its one less place to hide a knife or a small gun (a very good hiding spot at that). Although you could get creative with the pant cuff... Or under the toungue of your shoes...

[Cactus Jack]

If you're in a heavy gang area a uniform can make it harder to identify rival gang members