Every few years we hear rumblings about possible "school uniforms" .  I really wish the old farts behind the notion would just die off so we can be "real" about our kids and quit beating this dead horse.  You know what the upside of school uniforms is?  You don't have to worry about what your wearing to school, but you are trading that convenience for "is my stuff clean to wear to school tomorrow"?  That's it, one trade and that's all.  I'll rip the rest of this issue apart after the jump.

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One of the best excuse people give FOR having school uniforms is, "it cuts down on discipline problems".  What the hell is that?  The only reason you HAVE discipline problems is because you're more worried about what the kid is wearing than teaching them.  How about you NOT worry that a kid is wearing a heavy metal shirt and focus on the lesson plan.

Probably one of the lamest excuses for a school uniform is that it promotes school spirit.  No, it doesn't. It promotes resentment.  Kids say "my freakin' school makes me wear this crap".   It also promotes gang behavior with students from other schools jumping students in other school colors. This last point is extremely true and extremely serious. School uniforms can be like putting a target on a kid.

School uniforms also often promote sexism, with girls forced to wear skirts or dresses.   Some codes on the other hand require pants on hots days when skirts or dresses would be more comfortable. Comfort is always an issue too, with most uniforms requiring stiff dress shoes, belts and the like.  We have to remember we're in TEXAS, there are tons of days when students should be allowed to wear tank tops and shorts because it's so friggin' hot outside.

Lastly the money issue.  In these days of discount and like new second hand stores, you aren't saving the parents any money. Kids can get brand new t-shirts for $4-5 bucks and even cheaper it they are from a Savers or Goodwill type store (that's not to mention all of the free advertising shirts that are given out by people like this radio station). Also, right now kids can pick up cool cloths from hand-me-down sources in and out of town.

Pretty much all of the "reasons" for school uniforms are part of  a huge fallacy that continues to be perpetuated by lazy school administrators and some teachers who are over the hill and out of touch.

This article was inspired by an original commentary by Dan Jackson, to see his thoughts you can go here.

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