Re: [SchoolUniformsDebate] When uniforms are 'voluntary'
Sam Carana
school committee that Sam Carana is present, in spirit, with the
following position:
In research on school uniforms, time and again, one thing is
unequivocably clear, uniforms do NOT contribute to better education,
unless - as said - education is being confused with bootcamp drill
sergeant bullshit. The best education is often given by homeschooling,
not by sending children to school, whether public or private school.
Such homeschooling can take place in many settings other than school
and is typically assisted by parents without formal schoolteacher
training or qualifications. The evidence of the success of
homeschooling has been found in research dating back many years. Yet,
there are public school teachers who demand high salaries from society
for giving a second-rate education and - to throw salt into the wounds
- they seek to deny these obvious facts in their teachings, thus
engaging in indoctrination with falsifications of the truth.
If in education it was a matter of choice between discipline and
rights, then it should be obvious that educating people (students,
parents and school staff) about our rights is vastly more important
than enforcing disciplinary rules and regulations, the more so when
such disciplinary rules are imposed unnecessarily or - as happens all
too often - for the sake of invoking protests and subsequent
stigmatisation of specific students into scapegoats in an effort to
hide the failure of school management to properly educate students.
When school becomes a selection mechanism to expel the disobedient and
to mould the other (more gullible) students at impressionable age into
robots while nurturing a "befehl ist befehl" mentality, then school
has failed to educate. School should not pretend to educate, unless
the basis of school is to teach something good.
The overriding essence of rights is that they are not subject to
balancing or negotiation. Teachers who believes there is balance
between discipline and rights are not fit to educate, because there is
no such choice. By wearing normal clothes, one does not violate the
rights of others. On the other hand, imposing uniforms does violate
the rights of those who want to wear normal clothes and who want to
decide on a daily basis what to wear. That is the essence of the
matter! To suggest that people's rights could be taken away by
"consensus" decisions of public school committees is sickening. It is
our duty - students, parents, staff and all other people alike - to
stand up against such a perversion of our rights and of education by
implication. When the rights of one are taken, we are all violated!
School should resist being turned into an instrument of indoctrination
of dictatorial values. Rejecting uniforms in principle is a good way
to maintain good educational values. For what have we taught, if
students fail to respect even their own rights and if they parot a
denial of their own identity? The prior right to choose what education
their children should get is with their families, not with teachers
who fail to educate and instead bully everyone around them in their
lust to trample what is rightfully a decision for families to take.
Education should not take a student's identity away, but should
nurture students to develop their talents and their personality. If
students object against suppression of their identity, then expelling
a student for such an objection is nothing less than criminal when the
student have nowhere else to go. A school that does not embrace and
embed respect for our rights gives no education, since our rights
constitute the profound quintessence of education itself.
Given these obvious truths, parents who have children at schools with
optional uniforms should reconsider dressing their children in
uniform. They should stand up against the intrinsic suppression of
identity and the violation of rights that is so inherent in uniforms.
They should rise against this kind of bullying and ban uniforms from
school altogether. They should object against school turning into an
institute of evil that teaches the very opposite of what constitutes
education.
Cheers!
Sam Carana
On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 7:12 AM, Name Suppressed
<namesup...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks for your reply. I did take the time to look at the available research on this subject and as I observed in my blog post, this is not a clearcut issue based on available statistics, no matter how strongly one has an opinion about it one way or another. I was also careful to point out that my observations about the parents who oppose uniforms are mine alone in one school - and certainly do not reflect all parents in the U.S. of the same mind.
>
> It is an emotional issue for some parents and when we discuss it in our PTO meetings our goal is to try to come at the subject from an educated, open-minded point of view and try to find win/win solutions. This is incumbent on us as our school district has made this policy voluntary so we must reach a consensus. Whether or not you agree (studies and stats aside) there is a clearcut division among parents about the value of uniforms and this discussion cannot be swept away simply because someone feels its wrong.
>
> You've given me your opinion, thanks again.
>
> All the best,
>
>
>
> --- On Tue, 1/20/09, Sam Carana <> wrote:
>
>> From: Sam Carana <sam.c...@gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [SchoolUniformsDebate] When uniforms are 'voluntary'
>> To: SchoolUnif...@yahoogroups.com
>> Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 11:00 PM
>>
>> Hi there,
>>
>> You definitively need to study this topic more closely.
>> To get a better understanding of the issues, I suggest that
>> you
>> 1. stop confusing bootcamp drill sergeant bullshit with
>> education;
>> 2. read about rights; and
>> 3. read the many earlier studies and conclusions on this
>> topic.
>>
>> Cheers!
>> Sam Carana
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 11:42 AM, namesuppressed
>> <no_r...@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>> > My (name suppressed) school
>> district has a
>> > voluntary uniform
>> > policy. Charter, private, and some magnet schools have
>> mandatory policies.
>> >
>> > It appears the arguments put forth in the opening
>> statement of this
>> > discussion group are
>> > opposed to uniforms but I'd like to make a few
>> observations.
>> >
>> > Optional enrollment in charter and magnet schools in
>> our school district are
>> > indicative of
>> > higher parent involvement in their child's
>> education and represent higher
>> > score on
>> > standardized tests (generally, not 100%). The uniform
>> policy is not
>> > contested as it is in
>> > the mainstream school track.
>> >
>> > In our school I see the children who
>> score well in tests and
>> > receive recognition
>> > at monthly assemblies are more likely (about 82%) to
>> be the few who do wear
>> > uniforms as
>> > opposed to the majority, who do not.
>> >
>> > I have read as much of the available research on this
>> subject as I can find
>> > and while there
>> > is little evidence to support the contention that
>> uniforms solve behavioral
>> > problems or
>> > boost academic scores, when I read the objections,
>> both from parents and
>> > teenagers, they
>> > seem the same to me: adolescent backlash against a
>> supposition of conformity
>> > that a
>> > uniform represents to them. As a parent of a
>> five-year-old I find this quite
>> > sad coming
>> > from an adult.
>> >
>> > [namesuppressed] wears a uniform and is a thoughtful,
>> individualistic child who
>> > spends the
>> > majority of her free time in creative, expressive
>> activities and social
>> > free-play rather than
>> > in front of a television set. S/he doesn't need to
>> wear a Hanna Montana shirt
>> > or X-treme
>> > sports T-shirt in school to express her individuality.
>> As parents we provide
>> > ample
>> > opportunities for this outside school and as a result
>> the uniform has no
>> > power during
>> > school hours to dictate her sense of individuality.
>> >
>> > I've heard the all the anti-uniform arguments
>> (mostly emotional rather than
>> > researched)
>> > and here's another observation - the parents in
>> our school who are
>> > pro-uniform and
>> > those that are anti-uniform are so stereotypical as to
>> make it impossible
>> > not to negatively
>> > judge the anti-group, starting with the lineup before
>> the bell. The
>> > anti-uniform group is
>> > much more likely not to have a parent waiting with
>> their children, and
>> > overall spend less
>> > time with their kids; they don't volunteer in
>> school activities (before,
>> > during, or after
>> > hours), their daughters in particular are wearing
>> inappropriately mature
>> > clothing for their
>> > age group (Kinder), and they have no basis for their
>> uniform opinion other
>> > than they don't
>> > want to be told what to do - and their kids have the
>> same attitude.
>> >
>> > Whether or not the uniforms are going to become
>> standard in our schools is
>> > less the issue
>> > but how we can identify those children who are less
>> engaged in the
>> > educational process
>> > because of attitudes that confuse individual freedoms
>> with focus on the
>> > business and
>> > value of learning. Our school scores reflect a major
>> problem in how they are
>> > run and how
>> > parents view their role in the process.
>> >
>> > That's what makes this discussion so interesting
>> because the uniform as a
>> > concept has
>> > become in many ways a metaphor for the educational
>> culture in general. The
>> > uniform
>> > policy has simply illuminated the schism.
>> >
>> > I wish I heard more positive focus from those parents
>> who get caught up in
>> > denegrating
>> > the uniform policy on how they take responsibility for
>> shepherding,
>> > supporting, and
>> > inspiring their children to become responsible,
>> thoughtful, energetic,
>> > focused, and
>> > aspirational adults.