>Uniform Dissent
>I’m still gagging.
Last night, the school board took a vote on Standard School Attire (i.e., uniforms) for the next school year and I made the mistake of watching the whole thing on live television.
With all the media attention the topic has gotten, there was standing room only at last night’s school board meeting and our local board members were painfully conscious of their moment in the spotlight. Watching them smooth their hair and straighten their Jones New York lapels, you would have thought they were making an appearance on NBC Nightly News rather than Davidson County Channel 3.
This is a new school board, after all; most of its members were only recently voted in. Consequently, they were chomping at the bit to raise their collective leg and make their mark on the fire hydrant that is the Metro Nashville school district. When it was time to discuss the upcoming vote, the board members pulled from their folders speeches that had certainly been agonized over with the same kind of sweat and nail biting that went into Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Apparently, I was watching a future chapter being written in the history books of this great nation.
“I would like for us as a board to come to a unified decision and leave this place hand in hand, a united front,” one board member proclaimed with an air of great importance. Pleased with his analogy, he made the hand-in-hand reference again as soon as he could work it in, slowing down his words to make sure all the print journalists in attendance would have ample time to record them. I giggled, imagining all these bidnessmen and women holding hands as they exited the board room, singing “We Shall Overcome (the Uniform Haters).”
The true piece de resistance, however, came when two separate board members cried as they gave their remarks. Yes. They cried. Over how awesome they were for giving Nashville’s students and teachers the gift of Standard School attire. Watching them, I got choked up, too.
On vomit.
The measure passed handily, with only two board members voting no. As you know, I’m opposed to Standard School Attire, but not in any major, chain-myself-to-the-sale-rack-at-American-Eagle way. I was far more appalled by the grandstanding than by the vote. My stepdaughters are handling the news well, too.
“They passed it,” I said quietly to my 13-year-old when she got home from a friend’s house. This was the girl who’d asked if we could move if they got uniforms next year. Move anywhere, she requested, except Kentucky, where she’s under the impression that the hicks are hickier than they are in Tennessee.
“What does that mean exactly?” she asked.
“It means you have to wear navy, black, white or khaki bottoms and a black, white, or navy collared shirt,” I said.
She thought for a moment. “So I could wear, like, a cute navy skirt and a puffy-sleeved button down white shirt,” she said. “And I can still accessorize…” She thought for a moment. “That’s not so bad,” she decided, before bounding up the stairs to her room.
So much for our revolution.
>I haven’t given it too much thought, but I’m actually pro-uniform… I’d be curious to read why you’re not.Hi!
>It cuts down on laundry, I swear!
>The Man has uniforms he wears to work. He chose to get them, they aren’t mandatory. They really do save my washer…plus, they is always covered in ink or grease. However: HE HATES THEM.He hates not being able to wear clothes that represent HIM. And he’s a 29 year old man with little fashion sense. I’m glad 13 can adapt, though! That says a lot about her future that she quickly found a way to deal with it rather than sulking on it!I totally voted for you!!
>They is? Oops.
>I watched part of the meeting as well and had the same opinion as yourself. I’m surprised they didn’t lock arms in a closed circle and start singing Kum-Ba-Ya during the meeting. Oh the tears…
>All politicians are sanctimonious in front of a camera.I do not have a problem with uniforms either. Indeed, my children will be going to private school when they are old enough to start. Most of our choices have uniforms or a standard dress code. (Except, I think, USN).Based on your posts, I almost suspect that you live close to my hip Bellevue development. The back exit of which leads out into Franklin. Move to the new development down the street, and your kiddos can go to the Williamson County Schools.
>They cried?!? I’m speechless that a dress code could bring adults to tears.
>I come from a nation of school uniform wearers so I admit to being a tad biased about the issue. But adults crying about scraps of clothing? That’s just not right.
>I know you were already nominated for some, but I nominated you for 2 more Blogger’s Choice Awards: Best Blog of All times and Hottest Mommy Blogger (I figure any woman who has recently given birth deserves that one!!!)They should be posted soon…Blessings,Karla(one of your local Nashville fans 😉
>You’re lucky they can wear any collared shirt. Our has to be a polo shirt with a collar and 3 buttons. Period end of questions.While the uniforms are okay I really think they take away from the kids ability to be individuals. Our wacky ISD has uniforms for primary and intermediate but not high school. Now what kind of sense does that make??!!??As for the crying school board members — get a grip!!!!
>I work for a school corp that has uniforms in grades K-12. They wear khaki’s and polo shirts with the school emblem or sweaters with the school emblem in the winter. It’s kind of refreshing to walk into a school and not see 11 year old girls dressing like they work a street corner after school. Or see young men with the waist of their pants dangling off their ass showing revealing the fact they do in fact wear underwear!
>Oh and that school board? Who the hell voted for them??? Sounds like a group of one-termers to me. They are more dramatic than teens!
>Thank you, Karla! :)And Darth Doc, we talk about moving five minutes away to Williamson County ALL THE TIME.
>Oh and Rich, look at last Thursday’s post- I wrote a column on why I’m opposed to uniforms in Metro.
>I really don’t see what problem uniforms are trying to solve. My son wears the same thing to school every day, jeans and an ironic black tee shirt. He gets good grades. I don’t know how making him wear khakis and polo shirts would make him any smarter.
>Good for 13! How cool of her to be willing to adapt. I went to a snooty private school for junior high where we had to wear uniforms–plaid skirt, white shirt. All standard issue, no variation. And honestly? It wasn’t so bad. But once I got to high school and was liberated from said snootiness, I was thrilled to be “me” and wear the things that represented me (which, looking back, were super high-waisted, tapered leg jeans and really REALLY ugly shoes…).But truly, your district needs help. If not for the uniforms themselves, for this particular bundle of psychos running the school board and instigating the uniforms. Sigh. Good luck with that.
>My son’s school is going to a uniform dress code next year and frankly I’m for it. Not for the boys so much but for the strife the clothes bring between the girls. And it’ll make it easier for my fashion challenged son to mix and match what he can wear to school… Everyone knows professional attire gives you IQ points, right?? (sorry, couldn’t resist – I work for a large beaureaucratic organization…)
>So I am curious what do they do if you as a parent refuse to follow the dress code regulations? Obviously,if your chid attends public school they are legally required to provide them with an education aren’t they.
>I kinda liked uniforms when I was required to wear them. But then, I’ve never really been one to think about my clothes that much. I realize that this is not normal girl behavior. Also not normal: the fact that when I switched to a non-uniform school I wore sweatpants to school that year each and every day. Yes, that was when I was 12 and was supposed to care about my appearance. (Rolls eyes at self)
>That kind of trash already passed here in our city (in Texas) and our high schoolers are just a hair’s breadth away from the navy and beige. It makes me sick.
>Very funny recap of the meeting…. hand-in-hand… Gag!Love 13’s reaction too.I gave you an award the other day Lindsay… come & see! 😉
>Seeing the way that the girls dress these days (oh, my I sound like a grandma!), I think it’s better for everyone if they are all in uniforms. I do not think that girls hanging their behinds out of miniskirts, bikini/thong sides pulled up out of the tops of their (already low-cut) pants, and showing all the cleavage with which they were endowed is conducive to a good learning environment. I’m just saying. Kids under 18 need to be taught what’s appropriate, not to mention safe. I’ll never understand why girls so young are alowed to dress like skanks on the street corner when date rape is so prevalent. Honestly, it’s like hanging a t-bone in front of a starving dog. I think the uniforms are there for their safety just as much as anything else.Good for 13 for adapting!
>But the tears? Oh, that’s rich!
>In response to your daugher’s thought about hicks…I was born and raised in Nashville, lived in KY, GA, and PA. Trust me…hicks are hicks no matter where you go. ;-)As for the uniforms..I just don’t get why schools never enforce the dresscode they already had before having uniforms…but then again, we are talking about people that think they are doing right for the kids…or at least try to make everyone else think that is what they are doing.
>I’m glad 13 will be honing her accessorizing skills. God knows that an eye for handbags and bangles can really give a girl a leg up once out in the real world. School board drama aside, I think uniforms are the great equalizer. Allowing kids to shine regardless of how much they paid for their jeans. I hate myself for saying that, I sound like my mother.
>When my school adopted uniforms in seventh grade, I was relieved. All of my clothes were hideously out of fashion (from a cousin 10 years older and a slightly different size). I thought FINALLY, I wouldn’t be an outcast because of my clothes.Not so.Mom bought me these navy pants that were pleated at the waist and I swear the waistband was cutting into my underarms. When they faded and got thin at the knees or I grew taller, I still wore them because the store where the school demanded the uniforms be purchased was too expensive. I had boys’ polo shirts instead of something cute because they were cheaper and more durable.Uniforms do not eliminate the fashion caste system in schools.I think that if a school board is going to pass a uniform mandate, they should also have to follow it. Teachers, principals, school board members – ALL of them should have to abide by whatever resolution they pass for the students.That’ll give them something to cry about.
>im pro uniforms. it seems the only way to enforce a dress code. I do think that “free dress fridays” would be a nice touch though. kids can be “individuals” on the weekends.
>Ok, I can see I’m coming to this late, but I had to respond to sweethomealagirl’s comment. She makes it sound like girls, innocently enamored with their new bodies, mindlessly follow the fashion lead of Britney Spears and wind up asking to be raped. Pul-lease. Newsflash: women like sex too! Men can be held accountable for their actions, particularly the sexually violent variety!–token feminist response
>The beauty of uniforms really comes out during back to school shopping. You buy the uniform skirts/pants and the uniform shirts and voila you still have enough time to walk through the shoe department and buy yourself a nice pairs of slingbacks. And yes, right now it is fun to dress young ones in cute clothes but when they get older and wish to dress in early 70s streetwalker sans pimp, you can smile and hand them their uniform and silently whisper a prayer of thanks to St. Uniforma who made all the novices in her convent wear plaid habits and button-down blouses.
>If we were talking button down shirts and plaid skirts, I’d be all for it. But the SSA stuff is just fugly.For the younger ones, I’m disappointed too because I buy all and I mean ALL their clothes at consignment sales. I can’t imagine the selection of navy, black and khaki will be high, particularly now that everyone will be looking for it. So it’s actually going to end up costing me more money during the early years.
>i think 13 years of schooling in australia and having a military father has ingrained the uniform logic so deep i cant get out of the habit. now, at 30 years of age i still wear a black skirt, plain coloured top and a black knit sweater to work most days with simple black shoes. i’m glad i had uniforms at school. i didnt have fashionable clothes (still dont) and i was singled out enough as it was being the new girl every 6-12 months.i find it interesting that they have started introducing it in more american schools just as our school regulations are becoming more relaxed. my school uniforms were generally a tartan cotton dress or skirt and a button down shirt. now its more like the one you mentioned, plain coloured pants or skirts and a shirt. and we used to get notes sent home and detention if we were out of uniform!**new reader btw. hi 🙂