Why am I against school uniforms?
My number one value is the freedom my family enjoys in America. School uniforms violate my children's freedom of expression and my right as a parent to choose what clothes they wear. It stinks of Big Brother Government.
Superintendent Marianne Bartley is quoted by the Lebanon Daily News as saying the policy would help by "alleviating peer- and economic-related clothing issues". However she is also quoted saying "The price would be comparable to regular fashions". I'd like her to explain how making a child's current wardrobe obsolete for school and forcing the parent to buy a new set of clothes for virtually the same cost is helping 'economic-related clothing issues'? The average cost for a uniform will $24 to $32.96. I bought my children brand name designer clothes at the V.F. Outlet for much less.
As far as the peer problems, that is also bogus. So, they claim that the answer to a bully mocking another student's fashion is to make all students the same style? Well, if we use that logic then the school could solve all problems by just forcing students to all shave their heads, wear the exact same color contacts, and dye their skin all the identical color! The answer isn't Conformity and control, the answer to teach kids respect for others.
To quote Judge Patrick J. Duggan , "In fact, as [the courts] have emphasized, students benefit when school officials provide an environment where they can openly express their diverging viewpoints and when they learn to tolerate the opinions of others." And that was in a case that a student won the right to wear a "bush is an international terrorist" T-shirt! So, why can't my children simply wear their blue jeans anymore?