School uniforms are making a comeback in public schools. The most recent one in the news, Durham, NC, wants students to focus on academics, not clothes.
Distractions
Students face many distractions in school. Noise in the hall, intercoms making endless announcements, student behaviors, and outside noise. Boys in middle school are distracted by girls and middle school girls are distracted by boys. This has been leading to more and more single sex schools popping up in the U.S. Today, there are hundreds of all-girls or all-boys schools.
Clothing
Can clothes that students wear also be a distraction? Many believe that is the case. Students at Neal Middle School in Durham, NC, a public school, will be wearing uniforms in the fall. Students in this middle school are not faring well academically with 43 percent performing below grade level. Minnie Forte-Brown, board chairwoman, says, "The way we look changes the way we feel, and often the way we behave." [Samiha Khanna, newsobserver.com, April 4, 2007]
The Dress Code
Students will be dressed in school colors.
- 6th graders in gray
- 7th graders in green
- 8th graders in yellow
- pants, skirts and shorts are khaki
Parental Reaction
Parents overwhelmingly support the idea. One popular reason is the economics. Instead of buying numerous matching outfits that will soon go out of style, students buy several changes of uniforms and they last all year--never going out of style. An added benefit is students will never spend time in the morning wondering what to wear. They get up, go through their morning routine, and throw on a uniform.
Fewer Distractions
Uniforms eliminate the following:
- competition to be "best dressed"
- social hierarchy
- gang attire
- spaghetti straps, short tops and short shorts
- harassment for dressing poorly
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Read previous articles on Educational Issues.
Copyright article 2007 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.
