School Uniforms

School Uniforms, Conformity, and Unity

When I was in high school, I played football. My sophomore year, when practice started in August, one of our team leaders, who would later be our captain, suggested that we cut off all our hair as a sign of unity. We did. It worked. We all felt like a part of one team focused on winning as a team. There was no room for individuality. That year we went 1 and 7. Go Falcons!

Catholic schools have required uniforms for years and years. Catholic school is chosen by and paid for by the children's parents. They know going in that there are restrictions and traditions that must be followed. They even have prayer in school. Duh! It's Catholic school!

Every child is required to go to school until he is 16 years old (in Illinois). Most kids go to public school. Public schools have such a diverse population that control becomes a lot more difficult. You've got all different races and religions. You've got boy scouts and gang-bangers. You've got religious groups and atheists. And you've got a lot of apathy. The system has to be fair to everybody and your activist students never think it's fair.

While I agree that you need some kind of dress code in public schools, where to draw the line is a difficult decision. It is obvious that kids can't be allowed to be naked, but some of the clothes they wear may be distracting. And some clothes with slogans and such cannot be allowed.

My daughter had this cute hat that she wanted to wear to school. She did. When she was told to take it off, she learned about the ban. When she told me, I was mad. We talked about it. I wanted to call the school and protest, but she asked me not to.

Some schools go too far. Not only hats were banned in my daughter's high school, they could not wear clothes with any other school name. They were not allowed to wear certain colors that might be associated with gangs. I think this is going too far. This is a case of school officials trying to help make their school more secure by reducing personal liberty.

My high school tried to make rules against leather jackets and tennis shoes. The protest against that was huge. But back then a more liberal attitude prevailed. Today, public opinion has shifted to the right and attacks on our personal liberties are greater than ever.

Kids under 18 are not protected by freedom of speech and expression guarantees in our Constitution, but their parents are. School uniforms in public schools is an attempt to encourage unity through conformity. I say no. How can we teach our children about freedom and liberty by curtailing their freedom and liberty? Freedom is great. I want more not less. Conformity restricts individuality and freedom! The highest cost of freedom is that we may not always feel as safe and secure as if we were good citizens in a police state. But I don't want to live in a police state. Do you?

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