Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments School Restrictions on Dress...a Lamentation.

I remember when certain CA school districts started banning pro sports apparel because gangs were using various teams as an identifier.

And I remember thinking... sure, the Raiders, gangs, that's obvious. But the Cleveland Browns? Really??

When we were children public primary schools didn't have uniforms but intermediates and high schools did. Now most primary schools do too. My son's school is one of the exceptions and a proposed uniform was defeated in a vote last year. People say uniform is cheaper but we simply don't spend much on clothes compared to the uniform prices listed. And the shirts were ugly.

But OP did your son have a problem with the uniform or was it just you? It is not clear to me in your original post.

Sorry. It's me. I don't like the restriction. My DS isn't so artistically inclined and is more than happy to have me put him in whatever isn't too tight, too loose, too itchy, too heavy, too.... (you get the picture).

That's a good point, and when I taught in a different big city there were strict dress code rules, but the kids just kept finding ways around them, like wearing medical masks of all things, etc. They kept adapting the rules, and the kids would adapt around them, over and over. But most of the articles I've read never mention gangs, just that idea of a haircut or streak of color being a "distraction." Maybe the schools don't want to dwell on the gang problem publicly!

Our schools are quite blunt about it. The dress codes that I've seen (several) all say "No gang colors." Don't know about schools outside the Bay area.

white button down and plaid skirt everyday, rinse, repeat.

Personally, I think that the uniform is the great leveler. It makes things way simpler for the parents - most of whom are both working full time jobs. And it removes the competitiveness around wearing the latest designer/expensive whatever's which tends to unfairly stigmatize kids from low SES families.

I am 100 percent in favour myself.

This has nothing to do with gangs, and says nothing about the kids whatsoever. It only speaks to the level to which the people quoted feel the need to exercise control.

When my dd went to public school, and didn't wear a uniform, there were several times I overheard a teacher praising how "cute" one of the girls was dressed. It floored me every time. So wrong, for so many reasons.

Dude, that's how I tend to feel, too. I understand in some places it might be a very real safety issue, and I want kids to feel safe so they can learn, but otherwise I feel kids deserve to express themselves as they like. I think uniforms can be great, it's that random mide ground of controlling kids' very bodies that irks me.