As a polite heads up, this post might end up being a bit long. For those who read it and comment anyway, thank you for listening to my opinion and for voicing yours as well. Im 29 years old and a married mother of two beautiful children. My daughter is 6, with a shy (but sweet) and caring personality. My son is 2. Hes quite loud and silly; he definitely thrives off of being outgoing. Though theyre from different ends of the spectrum, I adore the individuality in their personalities. That being being said, I feel that Im doing my job as mommy by nurturing their individuality, alongside respect for others and themselves. Im opposed to the current uniform policy. For myself and my husband, its not about money or the risk of bullying. Its about them learning how to take personal responsibility for their appearance as well as the ability to freely and openly express who they are, even through something as small as a change in clothing. I understand where many parents are coming from by wanting to keep the policy, I really do. The simplicity of it is enticing. However, I personally have no problem with taking that extra step every morning with helping my children choose an outfit. If it means theyll be comfortable and feel good about themselves, its worth an few extra minutes of my time. I graduated in high school in 2002, though I never attended school in Alabama. I began Kindergarten in a private Baptist school, until I started 3rd grade in the Wichita Falls, Texas independent school district. I quickly went from a very strict uniform policy (khakis, polos, belts, dress shoes) to a casual dress code. This was a huge relief to my grandmother, who raised me, because she found it was much cheaper to cloth me in jeans, tshirts and tennis shoes. I was simply relieved to wear my favorite pink tye dye jumper dress. Hideous choice in hindsight, but I loved it. Hey, it was the early 90s. I felt pretty and comfortable. Just to fast forward a bit, and to wrap things up... My district had a fairly simple dress code. No facial piercings. No crazy hair colors. No crop tops. No high heels. No wallet chains. No hats. Theres a few other rules Im missing here, but you get the drift. Casual, but respectful. The most fun rule was the no baggy pants rule. If you were caught sagging... strike one, you received a warning. Strike two, they kept a special kind of rope in the office for this occasion. You were made to tuck your shirt in, pull your pants up, and tie some ugly rope around your waist as a makeshift belt as punishment. Lets just say not many people were sagging simply to avoid rope-wearing embarrassment. Strike three, suspension and a call home. My point is that I would like the opportunity to let my children make some very reasonable personal choices. Its really as simple as that. As someone who graduated from a public school system with no uniforms, Ive seen it work well firsthand.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 06:10:55 +0000
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