By
Cathy Elliott
Publisher
In the matter of education, what is really the most important thing
to consider--what our kids wear, or what they learn?
--->
How do you feel about Darlington High School going to mandatory school
uniforms? Vote here.<-------
No results from the “parents’ poll” recently conducted
by the administration of Darlington High School regarding the possible
institution of a mandated uniform policy have been released, but the
topic has certainly turned out to be a heated one so far.
Would it really be such a bad thing if DHS did decide to require students
to wear uniforms during school hours? I don’t believe it would.
Seriously, we’re not talking about prison-type jumpsuits here.
No specifics have been outlined, but other schools in the area have
uniform dress requirements and they do include some flexibility as far
as color choices and styles.
What they do not include is inappropriate fit or content or particular
color combinations, some of which signify gang activity, which is indisputably
an ongoing problem in Darlington.
The primary argument against mandated school uniforms is that they “take
away the child’s individuality.”
Nonsense. Every person reading this editorial knows someone -- an adult
someone-- who is required to wear some type of uniform to their job,
whether they work as a policeman or a plumber.
This does not leech away their individuality, their personal sense of
humor ans style or the way they interact with others. It simply makes
them easier to identify.
Be honest. When you need something from The Home Depot and don’t
know where to search, don’t you instinctively start looking around
for one of those orange aprons? Don’t you do the same thing in
restaurants and other types of businesses?
Obviously, we should all encourage our children’s unique attributes,
and allow them to be themselves. But the old adage that “Clothes
make the man” couldn’t be more false. Character makes the
man. You can dress a felon in Ferragamo, but it won’t change his
nature.
On the flip side of that same coin, Anne Klein won’t help your
child with algebra; the same applies to Ralph Lauren and literature.
We would all do well to remember that even though they are beginning
to make life and career choices and are in the process of evolving into
the adults they will eventually become, these high school kids are,
at least for the moment, just that – kids.
As parents and authority figures, are we truly serving their needs by
allowing them to place more emphasis on the clothes on their backs than
on the textbooks in their backpacks?
Let’s not lose sight of the real issue here, for it is what we
all really want – a proper and productive educational environment
for the future leaders of our community, region and state.
Let them wear what they want after school and on weekends, as if we
could stop them anyway, but requiring kids to wear a certain combination
of clothing in which to learn isn’t stifling their creative voices.
Quite the opposite; it makes the ultimate fashion statement.
______________________________
Read Editor
Neil Hopwood's editorial against school uniforms here.
Read the
complete story of how the controversy began here.
|