Dressed to Oppress

Whenever the issue of public school uniforms—not to be confused with dress codes—comes up, the two common talking points from uniform supporters are those pertaining to economics and distractions.

In terms of economics, they say, uniforms will be less costly than normal street clothes and therefore poor families will be able to afford them. Not only that, they figure, but poor students will not be picked on by their more affluent classmates who might have the brand-name clothing of the day.

In terms of distractions, they say, a school environment that is free of brand-name clothing will be more conducive to learning as it is less likely to be a fashion show.

Now, logically speaking, the first argument is illogical. If students have to wear uniforms they’ll still most likely have street clothes for home use. How many parents are going to allow their children to wear school uniforms to baseball practice or to play football on the playground after school is out for the day?

That means that in addition to street clothes, the families now have to shell out more money for uniforms. I’m not sure how uniform supporters can figure that spending more money is spending less, but perhaps they have a secret mathematics formula that the rest of the world is unaware of.

As for the second talking point, they have a legitimate point: school isn’t a fashion show. I just hope that these same folks aren’t showing up at their local school board meetings with clothing manufacturer logos on their shirts, jeans, and sneakers. I think we all know that that wouldn’t be the case, however.

Getting back to the first point, it was amusing to see a recent story of a developing situation in the Stroudsburg Area School District in northeast Pennsylvania. The district recently passed a uniform mandate but a problem has come about in their supposed quest for equality: Poor families are having a hard time coming up with enough money to pay for the uniforms.

In response, two mothers have decided to start a charity called “Mounties Closet,” which will help collect donated clothes that satisfy the uniform requirements and distribute them to needy students.

I applaud the moms for their work. I just hope that the uniform supporters are willing to see that the end result of their efforts is 180 degrees from the idea behind their efforts.

Maybe they’ll be too busy working on a new math formula to take notice.

Reference

McNew, Wendy. “Donations Help Fill School Uniform Needs.” WNEP. 30 July 2008.

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