What about schools that have uniforms? I have heard compelling arguments for and against them.
Pros:
They discourage bullying based on what type of clothes you wear.
They make it easy to identify intruders.
They save parents money.
Cons:
They encourage conformity and inhibit individuality.
They can be uncomfortable and distract from learning.
They can be a lot of money.
It's sort of funny that one of the biggest factors on both sides seemed to be money. The pro uniform people believed that it would save parents money not having to buy their kids the latest trends and because you could have just a few uniforms that your kids would always were.
The people who were against uniforms said that for some one who shops at second hand stores, buying uniforms would be a lot of money. Also, the uniforms couldn't be worn on the weekends, so you would still need more clothes. The other point that they had is that even with in uniforms there are designer brands and kids will always notice things like that no matter how much we don't want it to be true.
Personally, I'm against uniforms. I think that even as teenagers we have the right to express ourselves. As for dress codes, some dress codes are a really good thing. I know some schools that didn't have a dress code until male teachers came forward and said that they were being distracted by girls low cut shirts. (Yes that does creep me out a little bit.) However, I personally feel that there is no harm in wearing a tank top. If some one wants to wear short shorts, they should be allowed to.
What is your school dress code? Do you wear a uniform? What is reasonable for a dress code?
14 comments:
we have a super strict uniform at my school. either navy or bright orange (you think i am kidding, i am so not) collared shirts with the school logo on it and khaki or navy bottoms. i hate it so much. the idea behind stopping intruders is ridiculous because we have to wear student ids too. They dont discourage bullying, people still tease others about everything else, shoes, purses, jewelry. And they definitly dont save money, you have to buy them through the school and each shirt is like 30 bucks.
I totally agree. As you said, it doesn't discourage clothing-based bullying because there are the designer/more expensive uniforms and the cheaper ones. As teenagers, it's almost like we have a sixth sense for that type of thing. Second, we're trying to find our own styles at this age, and encouraging conformity isn't what we need. I agree that laying down some ground rules (no belly shirts, no super short shorts, etc.) is important, but I think that we have the right to choose what we want to wear.
My school has a dress code (very much like your middle school code, Emma, but we can't wear sleeveless tops at all), and it's pretty much okay except for the fact that there's a little bit of a double standard. Girls can't wear leggings with a shirt that doesn't go down past finger tip length, but boys can wear the kind of pants that fall down practically to their knees. If the concept of barring these clothes is that it can "distract from learning", then I'd like to know how seeing my guy classmates' boxers makes it easy to concentrate. Ah, well, I'll be in high school soon, and hopefully the dress code will be more relaxed.
For real Hannah? That's crazy. Bright orange and navy. Wow. I feel for you.
Ohmygosh Snowflake, That annoys me so much. It is not right that girls can't show their shoulders because of bra straps but guys can have pants that fall down to their knees. I mean what is up with that? On time last year, a guy in my class had is pants totally falling down and a teacher tells him "Shane, I'm too old for you, you should stop trying to impress me by showing off your boxers."
That made him pull them up pretty fast :)
At my school people do where leggings with just a shirt but like I said it's a high school with a very relaxed dress code.
Oh yeah, Hannah, OUCH about your dress code! Navy is fine... but ORANGE?? I wonder who came up with that... :D
Emma, LOL about the guy in your class. That's a smart tactic for your teacher, and totally embarrassing for the guy :)
yeah, i know. its absolutely hideous. but those are our school colors and the alumni like it, and as long as they like it, they will continue to give us money. so i will wear the orange shirts for new computers.
My high school dress code is pretty similar to Emma's middle school one. Skirts and shorts should be one inch past your fingertips (not that people listen to that one), straps should be as wide as your pointer and middle fingers, etc. It doesn't really make a difference to me...I wear jeans practically every day.
I'm really glad we don't have uniforms for all the reasons you girls said. We're going to start having to wear ID tags next year and everyone's flipping out about it, but I don't see what the big deal is. I just keeps telling people that it'd be worth complaining if we had uniforms, but ID tags? Get over it...
Mags, yeah, my dress code isn't much of a problem for me, either -like you, my standard school outfit is jeans, a T-shirt and my awesome Converse shoes :D
The ID tags don't sound too bad, although it does make you feel a little like a dog that could wander off, y'know? Kind of demeaning. What's the reason? Security?
i am starting to wonder if its just my school that is super paranoid, because they go way over on ids too. when we come in in the morning we have to scan it to show what time we came and then we have to wear them around our necks all day. there is also rumor that there are random scanners hidden all over school so they can tell where you are at all times. thats just a bit creepy, dont you think?
Hannah, I'm guessing that last one is just a rumor, but yeah, that is a little obsessive...I'm guessing you go to a private school?
The reason for them at my school is that it's a big public school in a small city and in a fairly bad neighborhood. We have an open campus and although only juniors and seniors are allowed to go off campus, the number of freshmen and sophomores who do makes one wonder who else could be going on and off the campus. On a campus as big as mine (it's not huge, but it has at least five buildings and loooots of entrances) it's really hard to secure all the ways to get in and out and stuff, so they're just for added security.
So, you could say that it's demeaning, but it's a stretch. My personal opinion on the matter is that everyone should just suck it up, to be quite frank. Some things are going too far...that's not even close. I'm pretty sure that most of the outrage is because having a tag around one's neck isn't conducive to necklace wearing, and then one must match one's outfit to it blah blah blah. Whoop-de-doo...save it for something that matters. (I'm sorry, can you tell I've been hearing complaints about this almost nonstop?)
Wow. Hannah, that is totally strange. I mean, I guess if you live in an unsafe neighborhood... but still, it seems a little like an invasion of privacy, especially the rumored scanners... I'd prefer not to have my school security guard listening to my private conversations, thanks very much!
Mags, I can see why people would be annoyed about having to wear tags around their necks, but seriously, for fashion reasons? Please.
Aw, I feel sorry for you, Hannah. :[ I mean, navy is a pretty versatile color, but...bright orange? lol
I have a mixed opinion about uniforms. Like Snowflake, I agree that middle and high school students are finding their own style, and uniforms would put more pressure on students to "fit in" different ways -- even if everyone wears the same uniform, different groups will find other ways to identify themselves, like going overboard with accessories or excluding everyone who aren't their friends. But, I think that in some cases, uniforms are reasonable, as long as they aren't too restricting toward peoples' personal style. I could see kids who went to very academic or artistic-oriented private or boarding schools wearing uniforms (that hopefully aren't ugly). Then, there would be less social pressure and more focus on academics.
I go to a public school and we don't have uniforms, and I like it that way. We have a basic dress code, mostly for safety reasons, but it is a lot less lenient in high school than it was in middle school -- in middle school, some girls had to go to the office and call their parents to bring a change of clothes, because their shorts were too short. To me, that's a little too strict. This year, in high school, we have student IDs, but teachers hardly ever check them. And hardly anyone wears them around their neck.
My school doesn't have uniforms, and a pretty open dress code--
No spaghetti straps, shirts have to overlap the pants, shorts have to come down to your knuckles.
In elementary school, shorts had to come down to our fingertips. I hated this rule, because the only shorts I could wear were basketball shorts, or bermudas. By the time I was in sixth grade, the last year of elementary, I wanted to wear shorter shorts.
in my middle school, girls aren't allowed to wear leggings with a long t-shirt or sweatshirt, even if they come down farther than the restriction for shorts. This really bugs everyone, because we had a "everybody dress like the 80's phase" (which was REALLY fun!).
Haha! An 80's dress phase, that's great. We used to have times when we'd all be like "tomorrow we all wear matching shirts and boxers with leggings underneath. Dress up days are awesome.
I go to a private school with a preeeety expensive uniform (at least I think). If you bought everything brand new, it would probably be at least $1000. I really like uniforms, but some are pretty bad (like orange :( ). In Melbourne, I saw a school with this ghastly green uniform with bright yellow trimmings. There was also one which was, (hold your breath...) bright pink and purple! In Sydney, one school has a fitted pinafore with a waistband and there is a boys' school with really nice grounds and it's old and the boys' have these military type outfits with felt jackets with the standing up gold braid on the shoulders. (Oh, if you didn't know, I go to an all girls private school in Australia.
I have two uniforms in the Senior School, striped pinafore in summer, and a blouse with a long tartan woolen skirt with navy tights. There is also a 'straw' hat, jumper and blazer. The uniform differs again in the preschool, primary and in Senior school as a junior and as a senior.
I love school uniforms, which sounds really stupid to a lot of people. I don't know why, but I love how they are so Vintage (a sort of obsession about vintage things). Another thing is, they are easy - you don't need to think about what you wear each day.
I don't think you need to 'express your ''individuality'' ' each day at school through how and what you wear. There are plenty of more important and meaningful ways of doing so. Wearing your top button undone or a low cut top just shows people what you think is important. And personally, I don't think anyone cares. It is just a load of wasted effort.
Wearing ID tags everywhere, oh please. That is the most silly ideas ever, no offence. It is so unnessecsary and it gets in the way, on top of that, it look really messy!
I totally agree about the pants.
I better go, or I will get in even more trouble for spending time doing this and not my homework... Talk later.
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