School Uniforms

SeiUsa · Post by **SeiUsa** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 1:42 am

I'm wondering what your opinions are on uniforms in school? Do you think they really make students do better in school, or not?

sailor_serenity33 · Post by **sailor_serenity33** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 2:11 am

I really don't like school uniforms. i think the freedom to express your self through your clothing is very important. I don't think school uniforms would improve a students ability to do better in school.

peachvampiress · Post by **peachvampiress** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 2:58 am

I've been wearing a school uniform since grade five. In high school we really had more of a dress code than a uniform. For both boys and girls, it was a white blouse or dress shirt with black dress pants and black dress shoes. The shirts had to be tucked in at all times and the pants couldn't be low riding. Girls were also allowed to wear one of the school's kilts. The school also sold white shirts with the school's crest on them, but no one really wore them. Lots of people did however wear the schools dark green/ navy blue sweaters.

I think uniforms are great. You don't have to worry about wearing expensive clothing, or what outift you're going to wear for the week. You can consintrate better since the clothing isn't distracting. You don't need clothing to express yourself. Our teachers always pointed out that even though we all wore a uniform, the students still managed to make their appearance unique. How we did our hair, how we did our makeup, what kind of jewelry we wore, what kind of style shoes (heels, boots, dress shoes) what types of belts (plain, classy buckles, or huge ass ACDC buckles). Even how we wore the uniform. Loose, untucked shirts with loose pants, or tight clothes and shined shoes. How low or high the girls wore their kilts (I had to have had the longest kilt in that school's history, but damn it if I didn't look classy in it :P). Wearing a uniform does not mean that a person's personality is stiffled.

As to whether or not it is directly related to a student's academic achievement, I'm not sure. In my experience, the schools with the stricktest uniform policies tended to be the really elite, expensive, and hardest schools. A few months ago one of my classes went to see a play at a school like this and......my God, it was like walking around Mugen. It was a strick uniform, but it was also a very good school. So I'd have to say that a strick uniform doesn't neccesarilly mean a better student, but it does usually mean a better school with students obviously there to learn and achieve.

Sylphiel · Post by **Sylphiel** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 3:08 am

I wish my school had uniforms.

It would have saved me a lot of angst growing up worrying about what to wear to not be made fun of constantly, since I usually was teased over clothing, as were many kids.

But on the other hand I can see why people would not want them, freedom of expression, etc.

Post by **Tiff** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 7:41 am

I work in a school where the kids AND the teachers have to wear a uniform. (Which, by the way, we teachers just found out a few days ago -_-). I was disappointed that I didn't get to wear all the pretty clothes I had bought, but then I realized exactly what peach said...I didn't have to go nuts over what I was going to wear that day, and it wouldn't become a fashion show every morning. Part of the reason they are making us wear themi s because teachers were showing up in shorts, tight and short skirts, shirts that revealed cleavage, etc. Taht's NOT what school is for. You can look nice, but not slutty.

I think it's pretty good for the kids too, for the same reasons. Kids are dressing trashy youngerand younger each year. I was at wal-mart, and was appalled at some of the fashions out for young girls ages 5-9 now...shirts that show middriff, low-riding pants, pants with words written on the ass in glitter (lil' flirt, spoiled brat *shudder*)...and I really don't want my students dressing that way. They're there to learn, not to compare whose glitter is brightest on whose ass.

jupiter23 · Post by **jupiter23** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 11:19 am

I would have to agree with Tiff-san on kids dressing trashier the younger they get. And I hate shopping for clothes anywhere anymore, Wal-mart included. There is no way I would let any child of mine if I had one dress in pants that had words on the ass and shirts that could double as bras.

Yet I'm convinced that uniforms don't make kids perform better academically, and here is why. Where I live, the school administration is more worried about standardized test scores than anything else. A teacher was even recently suspended in some school here in Louisiana because the principal had told her to change some student's grades to make it look like they were doing better, and she refused to do it. She was suspended from her job for six weeks for refusing to follow an order. Now, almost all public schools in Louisiana have moved to using mandatory school uniforms. Just recently, about five or six schools in Baton Rouge alone were ruled academically unacceptable, and were so close to state takeover it isn't even funny. I know for a fact that East Baton Rouge Parish has a mandatory uniform policy, and most of the schools are failing worse than they were before. There is a statistic out that is ruling that even more schools in EBR Parish will be academically unacceptable, or close to it. And standaridized test scores in Louisiana have not gone up at all, even with the uniform policy in place. So that is why I say it doesn't matter whether a kid is forced to wear a uniform to school, it won't necessarily make them perform better in the schools. And I realize that this might not make a lot of sense to some of you, but this is the way it is in Louisiana right now. We have fought for years to improve our schools, and so far nothing the state has come up with has worked.

peachvampiress · Post by **peachvampiress** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 11:35 am

Tiff

pants with words written on the ass in glitter

While that is distugusting, the designer side of me is thinking "Isn't that a bit impractical?" I mean, a five year old is very active, and I would imagine that the ass glitter would rub off right away from all the activity and sitting on a carpet that Kindergradners do. But you're a teacher Tiffu so you'd know. Do five year olds still play and run around in class, or are they too busy talking on their cellphones and telling you to not "Get all up in ma' grill" when you ask them to hand in their macaronie paintings @_@.

Gawthy · Post by **Gawthy** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 12:22 pm

I think that school uniforms should be required in all schools simply for the fact that kids put way to much emphasis on what clothes others are wearing. I know that I for one was exiled for not being able to afford the clothes that were in style at the time. Heaven forbid I pay 60 dollars on a pair of pants that didn't even fit the way I wanted them to. I think that it presents a far better place for the middle school aged group were what you were makes who you are. If the parents actually took time now a days to raise their kids and teach them basics like "their is more to a person than their looks" and the fundamentals of expressing themselves numerous ways then the whole uniform thing would not be a big deal.

And if you really want to see trashy little kids clothes you should take a look into your local Limited Too.

jupiter23 · Post by **jupiter23** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 1:38 pm

Gawthy wrote: And if you really want to see trashy little kids clothes you should take a look into your local Limited Too.

I believe I'll pass on that, thank you anyway. I'm afraid that if I go in there I'll start yelling at all the parents buying that crap for their daughters that they are making them look like cheap whores and not to be surprised when boys from their school start calling the house in the middle of the night when you have to get up at 4:00 in the morning. But I'll end that rant before I start it.

RoastedTwinkies · Post by **RoastedTwinkies** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 8:22 pm

I agree with what most of you have said. Uniforms should be required in schools everywhere. As a kid, my family didn't have a lot of money, so everything I wore were either hand-me-downs from my cousins or generic clothes from Wal-Mart. Everyone in my class made fun of me for it and I never heard the end of it. But by the time I got to high school, my family was able to afford better stuff and I was no longer teased for the clothes I wore for the most part. Though I remember wearing a studded bracelet one day even though it clashed with everything I own. Then people started calling me a "poser" o_O

It seems like "punk" music is about clothing, the superficial appearance these days. Just because I wore a studded bracelet doesn't mean that I'm "punk". I never claimed to be. But I still got called a "poser" just because I wore a studded bracelet. That doesn't make any sense to me o_O

Another thing my classmates made fun of me for was the fact that I never wore makeup. I still don't. I never use any makeup aside from chap stick, and technically, chap stick isn't makeup. I don't usually do anything special with my hair either. It got so bad to the point where the popular girls wanted to give me a makeover and cut my hair. More specifically, they wanted me to wear those long bangs that were in style during my last year of high school. They kept telling me that "Oh, all the popular girls are doing it, so you should too!" But then I told them "I don't give a shit what the popular girls are doing!" and walked away.

I'm probably making this post longer than it should be, so I'll just get to the point. The point I'm trying to make that our clothes, our appearance says something about us. We do make a statement by the clothes and accessories we wear, intentional or not. Why make kids have to deal with the social crap that most of us had to deal with when we were in grade school?

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 8:39 pm

This is another thing where I think it's a great idea for a private school, since it does remove the complications of making the decision. But I don't think it's fair to demand that public school children wear them. It would be nice to have one offered, at least.

Of course, I'm biased because I just want to wear a sailor suit uniform.

peachvampiress · Post by **peachvampiress** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 9:21 pm

Sailorasteroid

This is another thing where I think it's a great idea for a private school, since it does remove the complications of making the decision. But I don't think it's fair to demand that public school children wear them. It would be nice to have one offered, at least.

Of course, I'm biased because I just want to wear a sailor suit uniform.

Unfortunately, aside from Japanese schools, I've never seen a school's uniform that had the male students wear sailor suits (I'm assuming you mean like the one Umino wore on Sailormoon, not those shitty nautical horrors parents force their little kids to wear for photos). Most male uniforms are just black pants, shirts, ties and sweaters ordered through the school so everyone wears the same type, usually with the school's crest on them. They're really not that special. Although I would be in full support of male Sailor uniforms because they look damn hot.

Post by **Tiff** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 9:51 pm

peachvampiress wrote:Tiff
pants with words written on the ass in glitter
While that is distugusting, the designer side of me is thinking "Isn't that a bit impractical?" I mean, a five year old is very active, and I would imagine that the ass glitter would rub off right away from all the activity and sitting on a carpet that Kindergradners do. But you're a teacher Tiffu so you'd know. Do five year olds still play and run around in class, or are they too busy talking on their cellphones and telling you to not "Get all up in ma' grill" when you ask them to hand in their macaronie paintings @_@.

LMAO.

*ahem* Yes, the ass glitter DOES rub off sometimes. Sometimes it's so bad it showers glitter everywhere, and then sometimes it's glued pretty well. And no, half of the little girls from kindergarten and up CAN'T play and run, becuase their SHOES ARE 3-INCH HEELS OR CLOGS.

...Idiots. Buy your fucking five year old some sneakers and let her play.

Cardcaptor Takato · Post by **Cardcaptor Takato** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 7:45 am

Sailorasteroid wrote:This is another thing where I think it's a great idea for a private school, since it does remove the complications of making the decision. But I don't think it's fair to demand that public school children wear them. It would be nice to have one offered, at least.

Of course, I'm biased because I just want to wear a sailor suit uniform.

I wouldn't mind school uniforms so much if we had them as nice as the Japanese sailor uniforms look, either. Actually, looking back at all my years in high school, I think I would have prefered having school uniforms. I don't know if it would have helped students perform better in school or not, but it definetly would have saved me from a lot of teasing from the other kids who used to always pick on on me because my clothes weren't "cool" enough. Most of the kids in high school were in ROTC and had to wear uniforms once a week anyway, so I don't see what the big deal would be for everyone to wear uniforms all the time since most everybody there would have been used to a uniform anyway.

RoastedTwinkies · Post by **RoastedTwinkies** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 9:13 pm

Tiff wrote:I think it's pretty good for the kids too, for the same reasons. Kids are dressing trashy youngerand younger each year. I was at wal-mart, and was appalled at some of the fashions out for young girls ages 5-9 now...shirts that show middriff, low-riding pants, pants with words written on the ass in glitter (lil' flirt, spoiled brat *shudder*)...and I really don't want my students dressing that way. They're there to learn, not to compare whose glitter is brightest on whose ass.

To top that off, now they're selling thongs in children's sizes. I can't remember specifically where, but I'm still appalled by that. I would never let my kid wear those things!

SeiUsa · Post by **SeiUsa** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 11:37 pm

*shudder* OK, now we've hit rock bottom if there's children's thongs on the line. God, I don't even wear those things, why would I want my kids to wear them?! And I don't understand why people like them at all. Please, someone tell me what's so great about a piece of string up your ass? If I want that I'll consult my sewing kit, not blow a good $15 on it.
*sigh* Sorry if I'm ranting too much. >.<

jupiter23 · Post by **jupiter23** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 5:03 pm

No, it's okay. Because I can't believe it either. Thongs for kids? All I have to say to that is Hell No.

RoastedTwinkies · Post by **RoastedTwinkies** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:29 pm

jupiter23 wrote:No, it's okay. Because I can't believe it either. Thongs for kids? All I have to say to that is Hell No.

I remember this from a few years ago when I was in high school. There was a huge kerfuffle about some store selling thongs in children's sizes. The whole thing got pretty heated, with both sides of the situation were at each other's throats over it. I can't remember the name of the store for the life of me though.

EternalSailorMoon · Post by **EternalSailorMoon** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 6:25 pm

Unfortunately, aside from Japanese schools, I've never seen a school's uniform that had the male students wear sailor suits (I'm assuming you mean like the one Umino wore on Sailormoon, not those shitty nautical horrors parents force their little kids to wear for photos). Most male uniforms are just black pants, shirts, ties and sweaters ordered through the school so everyone wears the same type, usually with the school's crest on them. They're really not that special. Although I would be in full support of male Sailor uniforms because they look damn hot.

I seen anime shows that male students wear sailor suit! for example in cardcaptor sakura the male student wear sailor uniforms, but i dont know if real schools in japan have males were sailor suits!

DistantMemory · Post by **DistantMemory** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:52 pm

RoastedTwinkies wrote:
jupiter23 wrote:No, it's okay. Because I can't believe it either. Thongs for kids? All I have to say to that is Hell No.
I remember this from a few years ago when I was in high school. There was a huge kerfuffle about some store selling thongs in children's sizes. The whole thing got pretty heated, with both sides of the situation were at each other's throats over it. I can't remember the name of the store for the life of me though.

It was Abercrombie & Fitch. And I'm surprised about the whole thongs for kids thing. Are these 5-year-olds wearing them? What if they don't know how to wipe themselves after taking a dump!?! >o<;; Ewwwwww~~~!