No, school uniforms will not save money for families. Actually, school uniforms will cost more due to students having to change to street clothing for after school activies. Of course, I am against school uniforms. Sherry http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-08-05-uniforms-protest_N.htm As the new school year approaches, more schools are requiring students to wear uniforms or otherwise restricting what they may wear — and parents are objecting. Their complaint: The policies trample students' right of expression and parents' right to raise children without government interference, says Vickie Crager, founder of Asserting Parental Rights — it's Our Duty, a parents rights group that opposes school uniforms. Parents Laura and Scott Bell filed suit over an Anderson, Ind., uniform plan that will begin when students return to school Aug. 20. A hearing was scheduled today in federal court in Indianapolis. The Anderson policy requires black, navy or khaki pants or skirts and a solid-color shirt with a collar. "As a parent, we felt our rights were being violated," says Laura Bell. They have five children, ages 5 to 17. The Bells' suit makes two claims: that the uniform requirement violates their children's constitutional right of free expression and that it violates the guarantee of a free public education. The Bells would have to pay $641 for five sets of pants and shirts required by the policy, Laura Bell says. About one in four public elementary schools and one in eight public middle and high schools in the USA have policies dictating what a student wears to school, says David Brunsma, a sociologist who wrote Uniforms in Public Schools: A Decade of Research and Debate in 2005. Private schools first imported the British tradition of student uniforms to mark a student's social status, Brunsma says. Urban public schools began to adopt uniforms in the late 1980s to reduce social pressure from fashion-savvy students. The idea spread to suburban and rural schools when President Clinton said uniforms make schools more orderly. As the trend grew, so did the opposition, Brunsma says. Charles Rubright, lawyer for the Anderson school district, says the board expects uniforms to improve academic performance by eliminating distracting clothing and creating an orderly atmosphere. Cyndi Regis of Congress, Ariz., says her son, Story Stringfellow, 9, doesn't wear anything inappropriate to Congress Elementary School. He wants to wear his Phoenix Suns T-shirts and jeans, she says, but he'll be required to wear a polo shirt and khaki or navy shorts or pants starting today. "We teach him to be himself and we encourage it," Regis says. "He's not out of line with what he wants to wear." Toni Wayas, principal and superintendent of the Congress school and district, says parents suggested the policy and most families support it. Most lawsuits against school uniforms fail, says David Hudson, a First Amendment scholar at the First Amendment Center in Nashville. Judges usually decide that uniform policies are meant to improve schools and not to suppress student speech, he says. The Supreme Court has not ruled on school uniforms, Hudson says. Other lawsuits are pending: •Bayonne, N.J. A group of parents have appealed a dismissal of their challenge to a uniform requirement of khaki bottoms and navy tops. Their lawyer plans to file a case brief Aug. 13. A judge ruled last year that the suit was not filed in time. School officials have said the uniforms foster school spirit, self-respect and self-discipline. •Napa County, Calif. On July 2, a judge temporarily banned the enforcement of a middle school dress code while a suit challenging its constitutionality heads to trial. Under the code, students may wear only solid-color clothing with no logos or stripes. The code was designed to eliminate gang insignia, says Mike Pearson, principal of Redwood Middle School. Others who object to uniforms and strict dress codes make their case outside the courtroom. Nashville parents created Metro Parents Against Standard School Attire after the school board announced plans for uniforms this spring. "We perceive it as an educational fad," says Ashley Crownover, the group's spokeswoman. She says research does not support claims that uniforms increase safety or improve academic performance. Some members of the group are considering suing or encouraging their children not to wear uniforms when school starts Aug. 13, Crownover says. "We expect our school systems to do a lot, but this is taking it too far," she says. "That's my job — to help my children learn what is and isn't appropriate clothing."
If it's a school related activity why do they have to change? If it is not a school related activity, then most likely they are going to change anyway. Craig
Sherry, I see very valid points in your post, but my point is this. If the schools went to uniforms, the kids, as I said before, have to accept each other for who they are versus what they wear. Unfortunately, this is a problem in the schools and no one seems to be able to come up with a solution to solve it. A uniform would do so. Atleast if one kid did not like another kid and made fun of them, it certainly would not be becuase of the clothes the kid was wearing. To me, freedom of expression is something that can be done at a mall or weekend party. The kids are in the schools to learn, not to be in a fashion show and, IMHO, do not need to be "expressing themselves". They need to be paying attention to the teachers and getting good grades and making more of their education than they are currently. We have students, especially girls, who seem to think that fashion is more important. And then there are the kids who don't have today's latest FASHION statement on and can hardly stand to be there at the school becuase they are made fun of. If you think I'm being over board, come talk to my son who sees it everyday with kids as well as himself cause I cannot afford that expensive bull. And telling a teacher of the problem is not the solution. It's been tried since the days I was in school and it never worked then either. If we get rid of the problem, we'd have grade point averages thru the roof!!
Let's say it is swim practice. They not only swim for three hours but they do dry land. They run five miles, they do push ups, etc. If my teen can just switch shoes for the dry land then I am not paying for two sets of clothes. Some sports have uniforms and others do not. I know when the teen did track she pretty much did the same as with swimming dry land. Came home afterwards took a shower and changed again. So, to me if I pay for uniforms and then after school wear it is costing me twice what it would normally. Sherry
AMEN. That said, if it is a cost thing, we pay enough in taxes around here in this county that the gov't should have no problem paying for them. MHO only.
I told you not to put a picture of my child on the internet........oops.......I see it is me not her. :jester: Sherry
I know I'm quoting myself but........who cares. I just wanted to add to my rant above that we can consider uniforms as investment in our future generations.
I say no to uniforms also.....my youngest son likes wearing skulls, black, camo, and anything he calls "cool". While my oldest son likes to wear jeans,t-shirts (mostly referring to some kind of sport), and polo shirts. I guess you can say one dresses kind-of Goth and the other preppy. I like the fact my kids have a choice in what they wear. As long as it is not crude or distrubing, let them be their own individual...............
Here's the way I think about it. My teen never has had a Coach purse and does not drive a Jaguar. I was brought up to go to the back of a store because that is where the sales are and that is what I have taught my child. We do not shop at most name brand stores and we've never had a problem with the teen getting teased or bullied. We pass her clothes on to other children and we take clothes from kids older than her. Basically, we pass around the clothing until it is worn out. A while back she wanted a pair of Rainbow sandals. I saw the price and went balistic. Fourty bucks for a thirteen year old to wear sandals that will not fit her in six months....heck no. We buy clothes twice a year, once for the onset of school and once for the onset of spring/summer. We do buy some items in between but not like we do the other two times. I don't care what the name brand is but I do care if the clothing is going to last throughout that school year and are we going to be able to stick to the budget set aside. The teen is in high school now and I caved in on Ugg Boots. Well, you will not see me do that again because she doesn't wear them so I took them and now I wear them. Sure, some kids are going to have expensive stuff and others not but I just wonder who has bills to pay and who does not. Trying to teach mine to dress appropriate and on a budget. As Liberal as I am, I am way Conservative when it comes to how our family dresses. I don't find seeing a thong appropriate, I don't find seeing boobs appropriate, I don't find seeing one's belly appropriate (unless at the pool or beach) and I sure don't want to see butt checks. I go to the school all the time and I see how kids dress. No big deal to me as I dressed worse when I was a teenager. Actually when I started high school the dress code was that girls had to wear dresses and they must touch the middle of the knee. Dear ole' daddy thought that was ridiculous and sent me to school in jeans, a blouse and a vest. Needless to say I was sent home and we wound up going to the School Board and dear ole' daddy, who had just gotten back from Vietnam, stood up and told them that he would be the judge of how I dressed and after some negotiating the school board ammended the dress code. Nope, we could not wear mini skirts or halter tops but we could wear jeans and just plain old pants and tops. I just don't think that the clothing is the problem. The problem is the attitude and that starts at home! Sherry
:iagree: While my teen has friends who are skater boys, jocks and nerds I have only found one or two tee shirts not to my liking. Expression is wonderful and once they get older and have jobs they will conform to whatever the code is at the workplace but let them be kids and teens for a little while. Sherry
Sherry, the way I see it right now is that we all pay enough taxes that schools could go through a uniform company and have them ordered to fit. I know we do here at work, and it costs our employees a whooping $4 a week to which they don't have to worry about a thing. The uniform company takes care of all the cleaning and sizing and eveything else. Now I'm not saying that they should be changed out weekly like we do here at work, but the school could manage it that maybe once a semester that the uniforms are changed out. Also as mentioned it takes the "keeping up with the Jones fashion show syndrome" out of our schools where it doesn't belong anyway. Craig
I'd rather see kids in some type of uniform than their crack showing or girls in short shorts or mini skirts or their belly hanging out. :ack::ack::ack: But then again, I don't have kids. THANK GOD! Carry on...
Craig, is there a reason why you go to TeamSugar.com????? This site is like the Spice Girls meet Cosmo Magazine? All the members combined have enough air between their ears to plug the ozone hole. EX... "FabSugarUK posted Fab Flash: Aretha Starts Hat Trend" "YumSugar posted US and France at War Over Food Tariffs" "FitSugar posted 5 Foods That May Prevent Regularity" "Burning Question: Does Soymilk Need Refrigeration or Not?" "Labeling Won't Be Required For Genetically Engineered Animals"
