school uniforms or no uniforms

[mygrl2k3]

Today i have to pick 5 schools for my son. I havethree schools i feel really good about. the fourth and fifthi am still going back and forth with.

One of the schools thats not too far and thats important me tome. No sense of direction lol Had mandatoryuniforms. Whats everyones thoughts on this? I dont know how ifeel one way or another. I can see if having its good points and badpoints. It would be my 4th or 5th choice so not tooconcerned over it. By way its kindergarten i amchoosing. My favorite school is a prek through sec and thenit has a sister school thats third through fifth.

Cristy

 

[pamnock]

Having gone to both a public school, then a private Catholic all girls high school, I personally preferred the uniforms.

Pam

 

[Fergi]

My cousin Courtney goes to a uniform only school.At first I was very against because to me how you dress is anexpression of yourself. Upon more careful examination of this Irealized that there are so many other ways to express yourself and atschool your clothes shouldn't have to be an example of who you are. Italso ensures that kids can't pick on one another because of the clothesthey wear. It usually ends up being cheaper as well because you don'thave to worry about all those name brand clothes kids always want.Uniforms are pricey but I still think you save. At this point in time Iwouldn't worry too much one way or another, clothes become more of anissue as children learn the differences between each other.

Fergi's mom

 

[Elf Mommy]

Kids hate them. I agree. (or most) However, I ampro-uniform if it is done without an opt-out policy (allowing parentsto opt their child out and that child wears every-day clothing). Iwatched students at a school change their behavior dramatically when auniform policy was put into place. It was a public school. There is afeeling of pride that goes with uniforms. Even a simple rule such as"you have to keep your shirt tucked in" makes a world of difference. Asa parent and an educator, I am in favor of uniforms. I'd much ratherthe boys be able to concentrate on their studies, than on the girl whodecided to wear the skin tight shirt with her belly peeking out everyten seconds or so. I'd much rather the girls be able to concentrate ontheir studies, instead of spending hours each day gossiping over theoutfits their peers are wearing. (and yes, I know they have otherthings to gab about, but that seems to be very high on the list)

I'm figuring the young ones on the boards will shoot uniforms down.That's to be understood. I'm giving the perspective of someone who hasseen it work...even in an inner-city school.

 

[Carolyn]

School uniforms take the guess work out ofgetting dressed in the morning, it takes a bit of pressure off ofhaving to purchase most expensive clothes in order to keep up with eachother, and you won't have to fight about what they're going off toschool dressed in 'that'.

Plus, there's nothing that feels better than balling up the uniform andtossing it in the back of your closet on the last day of school.



-Carolyn

P.S. They can always express themselves by theirhairstyles.

 

[m.e.]

I'm for them. School and peers place a lot ofpressure on kids, and much of that has to do with their "look", notwearing the right clothes, etc. Like Fergi said, there are a lot ofways to express yourself, clothing doesn't need to be one of them.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

I'm against them! Why? Because they genereally put girls in skirts, can you believe it?! SKIRTS -- ick!

Lol, sorry about that. If they didn't put girls in skirts then I'd be for it.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

UNIFORMS!!!!!!!! No doubt about it!With all the competition and diverse income levels in schools, itreally eliminates a lot of the "status" pressure.

My kids have uniforms and I have always liked it. Nodiscussions of what they will/can wear to school. My sonwouldn't be the biggest problem, but he would have been dressed ascasual as he could if he hadn't had them.

My daughter, however, would have been in at least one item with animalprints, one furry item and one pleather item on any given day!:shock: She's quite the diva, believe me.....

Uniforms are also cost effective. Many places have specificstores to buy from. We have a store called SCHOOLBELLES andthey provide our shirts, pants if we like (and those have guaranteeswith them) and sweaters. Another company supplies our gymuniforms and spiritwear.

I have enough uniforms for my kids to go an entire week without needingwash done. Except my son grew out of a pair of pants thatwere smaller than the rest *sigh*.... it's very nice to have them justget up, and throw on a uniform. I can't stress that enough.

Next year, my son will go to public school. believe it ornot, one of the things that made me consider the Catholic High Schoolswas uniforms. I will miss them for him, but it won't be toobad cause he's pretty conservative anyhow. The worst thingwith him will be his cammo sweats. I think he'd live in themall the time if I allowed it! and shorts..... he had shortson the other day! silly kid. LOL

 

[Bo B Bunny]

m.e. wrote:

I'mfor them. School and peers place a lot of pressure on kids, and much ofthat has to do with their "look", not wearing the right clothes, etc.Like Fergi said, there are a lot of ways to express yourself, clothingdoesn't need to be one of them.

Actually, most schools with a uniform code, will have a strict dresscode. My kids have restrictions on hair (no dyes, boys abovethe collar).....

They cannot wear namebrand logo socks (the nike swoop) and they mustwear certain shoes. All white or mostly white tennis shoeswith gym clothes and with uniforms thru 3rd grade....... the rest ofthe time they must wear a nice leather dress shoe with their uniformsand will dress for gym during that class.

They have sweats and stuff they wear for gym.

The good thing is, most uniform codes are a nice polo type shirt onthem now. No ties or anything until High School. Myson would have hated the ties!

 

[m.e.]

MyBunnyBoys wrote:

I'm against them! Why? Because they genereally put girls in skirts, can you believe it?! SKIRTS -- ick!

That is a very good point I would lobby for pants for girls too.

 

[mygrl2k3]

Thanks everyone for your input. I thinkthe school with the uniforms will be my fourthchoice. It will be a while before i knowwhich school he actully gets.

Cristy

 

[Bo B Bunny]

m.e. wrote:

MyBunnyBoys wrote:

I'm against them! Why? Because they genereally put girls in skirts, can you believe it?! SKIRTS -- ick!

That is a very good point I would lobby for pants forgirls too.

All of the private schools here have an option (Ithink they do it because of sexual descrimination or something) theycan wear a skirt or skort or pants as older girls, younger girls have askort, jumper or pants. Believe it or not, most of the girlswear the skirt or skort! Even the older girls!

 

[mygrl2k3]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

m.e. wrote:

MyBunnyBoys wrote:

I'm against them! Why? Because they genereally put girls in skirts, can you believe it?! SKIRTS -- ick!

That is a very good point I would lobby for pants forgirls too.

All of the private schools here have an option (Ithink they do it because of sexual descrimination or something) theycan wear a skirt or skort or pants as older girls, younger girls have askort, jumper or pants. Believe it or not, most of the girlswear the skirt or skort! Even the older girls!

Thats good that they have the option to wear pants though.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

All of the private schools here have an option (I think theydo it because of sexual descrimination or something) they can wear askirt or skort or pants as older girls, younger girls have a skort,jumper or pants. Believe it or not, most of the girls wearthe skirt or skort! Even the older girls!

I would never wear a skirt! I'm some what a tom boy in thay respect. Ido wear skirts for special family occasions like my godson's baptism orto weddings because it's more dressy, but never would I wear oneotherwise!

I would have problems with strict dress codes such as shoes everbecause I have a fallen arch and it causes me great amounts of pain ifI cannot wear my corrective soles whenever I'm walking around (one dayat school is enough to put me in a lot of pain) and those soles justdon't fit in dress shoes!

As for the cost of normal clothes you still have to pay for that. Kidsgo out after school and they wont wear their uniforms, they are goingto want to be up to style and still want to have a variety so you know,it doesn't really eliminate that problem.

 

[Elf Mommy]

I went to a Catholic school and wore uniformsfrom 1st to 5th grade. Even "way back then" we could wear pants insteadof the skirts. I always thought it was a lil unfair to the boys. We hadmore options hehe

 

[gjsara]

uniforms would be better i think my dad always said school isnt a fashion show, and thats kinda what its become.

sara

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Well it wouldn't be a problem if public schoolshad strict dress codes and enforced them! We have a fairly strict dresscode but it's not enforced unless it's a girl showing too much.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

MyBunnyBoys wrote:
I would never wear a skirt! I'm some what a tom boy in thay respect. Ido wear skirts for special family occasions like my godson's baptism orto weddings because it's more dressy, but never would I wear oneotherwise!

I would have problems with strict dress codes such as shoes everbecause I have a fallen arch and it causes me great amounts of pain ifI cannot wear my corrective soles whenever I'm walking around (one dayat school is enough to put me in a lot of pain) and those soles justdon't fit in dress shoes!

As for the cost of normal clothes you still have to pay for that. Kidsgo out after school and they wont wear their uniforms, they are goingto want to be up to style and still want to have a variety so you know,it doesn't really eliminate that problem.



Yes, there are a couple of girls that only want to wear pants, but compared to the rest, it's a very low percentage.

and, yes, there are the other clothes, but it's not as many.Also, the uniforms go year to year.... can be handed down.... resold atuniform sales that most schools have. You only have usually 5sets, which is far less than most kids have changes of clothes forschool. When I was in school I had at least 2 weeks ofdifferent things to wear.

 

[DaisyNBuster]

I am in the process in sorting schools out forAlyssa I have a list of three of them, all have uniforms. I agree withwhat Carolyn first said. Peer pressure for kids is horrible and if theydidn't wear uniforms the children would be pressured by the others toget all the latest expensive gear and get bullied if they didn't haveit. We used to have a non-uniform day at the end of each term and itwas hard enough to choose what to wear for that nevermind everyday. Ivote for uniforms. Its going to be hard to get one to fit Alyssa as sheis still in 2 year old clothes and uniform start in age 4 here!

Vickie

 

[Cinnabun]

i perfer Uniforms... even though i go a publicschool.. its much better there (uniforms) because people are judgingsomeone based on how they dress! i wish my school had uniforms!