A really good English teacher once explained it to us this way when students predictably complained about the jackets and ties: “In our country, the jacket and the tie is the uniform of the man and in this school we are training men, not boys.” My experience of the school was that, compared with the public schools I had previously attended, students were more respectful, more focused, and more disciplined.

I don’t know if the uniform was the reason. But, to this day, when I feel like I need that extra bit of self-discipline to finish a project, I put on a jacket and tie.

You did get someone’s attention. As to whether or not you will get the answers you seek is another story.

I agree that uniforms add a security measure as well. A stranger can be quickly identified if they are not in the uniform dress. Uniforms also add a measure of respect and pride in the school if students are required to wear the school colors.

In any event, having a clear uniform code of dress lessens the amount of time teachers have to spend addressing the issue in class, assuming everyone abides by the code. Leaving the issue to “reasonable choice” presents the problem that one person’s idea of reasonable dress may not be mine, and vice-versa.

Quite frankly, this isn’t the job of the school system. Uniforms don’t provide any monetary savings, as it makes it much harder for parents to utilize thrift stores and hand-me-downs. My daughters are required to wear uniforms (not “uniform dress”) and my clothing expenses have never been higher. I spent about 5x as much dressing them in uniforms than I have spent in previous years. If parents believe that uniform dress saves them money, they are free to dress their students that way without imposing it on others.

I posted here since the blog monster ate my post on the other blog

I wanted to ask, do you think it was wrong to “push buttons” until a response was garnered? Now that Maureen has been kind enough to give a response, at least we have a framework to debate, for purposes of this blog, what is and what isn’t a “pressing” educational issue.

Who knows, maybe this well bring back, by popular demand, the Student Advisory Council of Kathy Cox, and how they are a, if not the, seminal influence in shaping educational policy in Georgia.

Maybe they should rename it the “Pressingingly Important” Student Advisory Council.

I think there was a quote in the newspaper today by a parent– “If you come to school in your play clothes, then you are coming to school to play. If you come to school dressed professionally, you are ready to work. So true.

Something to think about. Why do professional, serious people all over the world wear suits? Whether it’s the U.S., Canada, South America, Japan, Africa, Egypt, Russia, etc. They all wear appropriate clothing. I have never seen a president or business man or politician addressing public wearing jeans, t-shirts, shorts, flip-flops, low-cut tops showing clevage. Yet our children and teens wear this everyday. And the behavior matches. I overheard one of my favorite gangbanger students joking with his friend that his mother was up in a tree with a monkey………… oh I digress.

Most parents WANT school uniforms. Public school students in OTHER countries wear uniforms. All over the world!!!!!! Our private school students wear uniforms. Why won’t we let our public schools require uniforms? Funny thing– only suburban, middle class parents fight mandatory school uniforms. Why? Even Clayton County went to uniforms!!!!!!!!!