Too Cool for School?

Dress codes and uniforms in public schools. They're spreading here in Hawaii, but a story today notes how they're now falling out of favor in California — birthplace of the movement only a decade ago. "This year, three elementary schools and the high school are allowing students to wear blue-and-white Hawaiian print shirts instead of the standard polo shirts as incentive to keep them in uniforms." And at one school, 60 percent of the kids went with the tropical option.

Do uniforms and dress codes improve performance, reduce disruption, and erase outward class barriers? Or do they just stifle free speech? More importantly, are they an answer to the premature sexualization of our children? Or is this an age-old battle returning from the '60s that will ultimately be futile, and forgotten?

That second article, "School Dress Codes vs. a Sea of Bare Flesh," was missed by most, published as it was mere hours before our country had bigger things to worry about. But it sure got me thinking.

"Schools are finding it hard to keep up with designers' creativity in finding new ways to expose skin. Just as the new codes banned tube tops and backless shirts, schools are realizing they need rules against the new one- shoulder tops."

It's been a while since I've been in intermediate and high school, but even back then the fickle fashion rules of girls was a pubescent boy's dream. And if the sorts of outfits I see on 11-year-old girls at Pearlridge are any indication, the sexy lolita look has long ago seeped down to the elementary school level. On one hand I figure I'm just getting old... on the other, on a purely sociological level, it just seems so wrong. These kids are being taught to play with a power that they're years away from truly understanding.

So when I was out at Waipahu Intermediate, I was glad to see all the kids in matching shirts and otherwise modest clothes. (Although, of course, I also saw the campus guards scold more than a few girls for showing off their belly buttons.) It's true these kids will get their sex on TV and gang instincts from video games, but why not try to limit their distractions to learning during the few hours a day you can?

Or, um... have I finally become a conservative?

Comments

I don't really know what I think about this topic, so let me work on some ideas and spill out some thoughts.

Uniforms, no. Dress code, yes. And support the dress code with a damn good sex education program - one that doesn't stigmatize sex and sexual expression, but teaches sexual ownership and responsibility. Discussion about how to dress and sexual expression should become part of how we learn about - and embrace - sex.

Others say bare tummies aren't a reflection of "girl power," but a triumph of marketing.

I agree. Kids choose clothes not fully understanding what they put their bodies into. I never did.

Sex is the most natural thing in the world. Wanting it and acting out the need for it, then, should be no mystery.

Growing up, I had such a dichotomous view of sex. I thought that people who wanted sex outside of marriage were perverts or "jerks" and that those who had sex in marriage context were engaging in a most spiritual experience. In the meantime, I didn't quite understand the sexual creature I was suddenly growing into. Yet, I did notice the kind of attention I would receive when wearing a racier outfit. I never quite paired the two as I should've. Being noticed gave me a sense of control and made me feel validated. And yet, I remember being disgusted at girls who dressed "slutty." I remember looking down on their "looseness." And, still, I never got a straight, honest discussion going about sex - all its dynamics and how it was a part of me. All these moving parts - the ideals, the day-to-day feeling of physical attractiveness, not understanding the power of sex, the abhorrence of "horny" boys, the contradictions inside of me - somehow everything was jumbled up.

If I could've chosen how I would've wanted to learn about sex, I would've preferred being taught that sex is natural, that the horniess that surrounded me was part of growing up, that sex in and of itself is not "naughty," that my friends who did end up sleeping with guys weren't bad people. I wish I could fully embrace my sexual self and take ownership of it. It would've prevented me from feeling "good" if I wore something conservative and "bad" if I wore something skimpy. I might have been more in tune with my clothing choices and how that relates to many things, including sexual expression. I might've actually understood why the adults were telling me to cover up just a tad bit more, instead of thinking of them as unattractive prudes. I might've gladly chosen to dress conservatively in a personal act of sexual pride, knowing that I had a treasure inside of me, and I was going to judiciously reveal it. In the meantime, I would've been able to hone in on this sexual force and set it aside to concentrate on other things, like studying.

Or, maybe not. Who knows what kind of path I would've taken had I been taught how I'd have liked to have been taught? Ultimately, parts of me think we learn how we were supposed to have learned. Given the circumstances of my youth, I still think I turned out OK.

Do we ever know what's best?

Uniforms, no. Dress code, yes. And support the dress code with a damn good sex education program...

Ruth, I could never have said it better than you just did. :)

When I was going to elementary school in the Philippines, I had a uniform - and not just a uniform, but one of the ugliest uniforms on earth, complete with sailor collar and unnecessary bow tie. I hated putting that thing on every single day, as much as I hated going to school every single day.

It didn't make me any more sexual, of course, but that was only because everybody else in the Philippines had the same standard uniform.

This being Southeast Asia, of course, there was that sort of thinking that if you lowered the hemlines and made the uniform dowdy enough, you can prevent kids from having sex too early. I've seen this happen to both the most proper Catholic schools in Manila to the most conservative Islamic high schools in Indonesia and Malaysia. And, sadly, no matter how dowdy and unfashionable the uniforms get, or how low the hemlines go, it still doesn't stop anyone from having sex at all. (Just ask anyone who has ever gone to high school with me, where there are certain guys who are sure to get all hot at the sight of certain plaid patterns and crests.)

That said, however, while I don't think uniforms are the solution to society's problems with sexuality, there still is much to said about the long-term sartorial value of a dress code. While I personally hated my old elementary school uniform, it hasn't stopped me from aspiring to a high standard of dressing - which helped me a whole lot when I started attending American-style schools with looser dress codes. After a while, wearing whatever you damn well please to school does get tiring, especially when you begin to wonder if people are taking you seriously by the way you dress - so why not stick to a standard? Looking back, I think I was lucky to have come of age in the "grunge" era, because all those flannel shirts and baggy jeans saved me from the pressure of baring my lack of abs (not to mention a bra size that was obviously larger than the regional average) in baby tees.

And I think of this now that I've joined the corporate world, especially since my office recently took me to task for wearing jeans. I'm beginning to feel like I'm trading one uniform for another; while I'm glad that I'm working in a suit-optional workplace, I'm starting to feel like I have to be taken seriously (just to downplay the whole thing about me being "too effable" for my own good) without having to wear something... um, you know, dowdy. So now I'm back to wearing tailored shirts, skirts, and sensible shoes every day. Thank God for that, as well - I find that I work more efficiently when I stick to a standard, anyway.

(Only now, the shirts don't have sailor collars and the skirts are more tailored - and best of all, I don't have to wear socks with my black shoes any more! Bwah!)

You know, this is one of those things I shake my head at, and I wonder why schools don't seem to devote as much energy to more serious problems- like outdated texts, kids coming to school hungry, rampant discipline problems, and teacher qualifications.

Frankly, I believe the "slutty" kids will find a way to be slutty, the snobs will find a way to put the disadvantaged kids down, and all kids will find ways to express themselves whether or not they're in uniform.

The best way to improve performance and reduce distruption is to have parents more involved in their kids' lives, and reduce class size.

That said, if anyone knows how I might be able to get my plan for a charter high school put into action, I'm very curious. I firmly believe that high school, as it exists, does a terrible job of either helping kids into the workforce or preparing them for college. But that's another rant :)

When I was in high school a very long time ago, dress codes were something the educational system was abandoning... It was pretty much dress as you please in those days, though I have to say the clothes were not as revealing as they are now... especially for the young women.

Ryan, as for your statement "have I finally become a conservative?" is more than likely that you are a parent, and will be facing these issues in a few years.

As Stella has pointed out, "uniforms -no, dress codes -yes"... I would go with that, because within the realm of a school imposed code, students still have the freedom to choose what kinds of clothes they want to wear instead of being consigned to a uniform that transforms everyone into Maoist drones.

A school wide dress code pretty much worked for the conservative college I later went to.

Just my 2 cents from a non-fashion freak.

That said, if anyone knows how I might be able to get my plan for a charter high school put into action, I'm very curious.

Well, first you register charterschoolhawaii.com...

(I'm only half kidding. I once imagined building up a portal at homeschoolhawaii.com.)

I like dress codes (save for the argument Lisa makes, and the NYT article, which points out schools should have better things at which to throw resources rather than fashion police), but am still undecided on uniforms. The latter's advantage is that it prevents kids from investing energy in circumventing dress codes in creative ways, and not-too-subtle ways kids could still flaunt affluence or affiliation even within the letter of the law.

Let me put it this way: if Katie's school went to uniforms, I wouldn't decry her loss of "First Amendment rights." (I might help her publish an underground 'zine, though.)

I agree with all points articulated above regarding sexuality, though. Sexuality is natural. I'd take a love scene on network TV over a Steven Segal movie any day, because I know my children will one day have sex. I hope they'll never have to blow up a troop carrier with a shoulder-launched missle or shoot a crooked ambassador in the head. (Europeans have it right. We've got it backwards.)

We can't pretend that sex or sexual messages don't exist - that somehow our kids will never be exposed until they're 14 or something. Instead we should arm them early on with the information needed to process, evaluate, and question those messages.

Slowly but surely, I'm following through on a vow I made to myself at 12 that my kids would know everything about sex before first grade. I would much rather be the parent who gets a note from the teacher about how my child is talking (knowledgably) about sex in school, than be the parent whose kid comes home with apallingly innacurate information from someone else.

I have to agree with Lisa...The family is who has to be more involved and influential about sex education. It is time to stop blaming the education system and the teachers. Children acquire most of their values from what happens at home and from the nurturing that takes place there.

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