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I have two daughters in public school who have been or are victims of this hybrid form of Orwellian group-think.
School uniform policies developed in urban areas of southern California during the 1980s, ostensibly to reduce school-based criminal behavior (think class envy). Subsequent research was inconclusive, although there was some indication that it might be having the desired effect.
More accurately, it was having little effect with regard to student behavior, academic performance or student attendance, but it did absolve the adults in the building from having to make judgment calls regarding the appropriate nature of clothing being worn by students.
Fast forward to 2009. More research reveals that student uniform policies in public schools actually have a negative effect on student achievement, substance use, behavior and attendance. These findings were published, ironically, in the Journal of Educational Research.
I'm tired of having to explain the hypocritical complexities inherent in limp-wristed postmodern philosophy to my kids. Part of the reason I'm tired of it is because it requires critical thinking skills, which public schools appear to avoid teaching (thus leaving it to me). My kids are tired of mindless bureaucratic goose-stepping, which starts with the uniforms.
I'd prefer that schools stick to teaching fundamental academic skill sets and let parents -- with some input from the kids -- determine the clothing in which those skill sets are learned.
Scott D. Reeder
Hilton Head Island
