Do Schools Want to Crank Out Little Monochromatic Robots?
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JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
My children's school has no dress code. That's right. None.
We see short skirts, little boys with earrings, mohawk hair cuts, band t-shirts, slippers (flip-flops), knee high boots, colored hair...you name it. It's very lax for an elementary school.
I can remember the dress code for my old high school. For several years we weren't allowed to wear shorts. Later sweat pants were outlawed (to be fair, this was because we were naughty children and anyone who wore sweat pants was pantsed). Sleeveless shirts were out for a while. The guys' hair could not fall past the collar of their shirts. Any t-shirt with words or graphics on it was subject to intense scrutiny (unless it said "Jesus" on it). Guys were absolutely not allowed to wear earrings.
When I was a Junior in high school I dyed my hair purple. Only two streaks were dyed because my parents weren't sure how the school administration would react. They tried to pull the "no unnatural hair colors" card on me, but it wasn't anywhere in the rules.
As a frustrated teen, tweaking my personal appearance was a satisfying outlet for me to express individuality.
When the trend was knee high socks and Mary-Janes, I felt comfortable in Doc Marten style boots, jeans, and a Kurt Cobain t-shirt.
I love that my children's school allows the kids to have the freedom to dress themselves in the way that makes them feel confident and comfortable. Oversight is the responsibility of the parents. Children don't have a say in much of the things in their lives that affect them, and I think that clothing and other appearance choices empower children and allow them to practice making choices without risking lasting harm.
All that freedom at my kids' school will soon be ending. Today I received a Dress Code Survey.
The survey offered three options in regards to clothing and three more for footwear and the instructions given were to discuss the choices with the children and then indicate my (parent) choice and their (children) choice.
For clothing the choice is a) conservative dress code (no midriffs, wide-strapped sleeveless tops, mid-thigh on pants/shorts/skirts),
school t-shirts in either one color for everyone or a choice of 4-5 colors, or c) school t-shirts in a single color per grade.
The conservative dress code is fine with me. I don't think it's too harsh. It enforces modesty, but that's not a bad thing. I really hope that other parents are like-minded, because I think the school t-shirt idea is sad.
For footwear the choice is a) closed toe/closed heel shoes only, allow open toe shoes and sandals only if they have a heel or ankle strap, or c) allow any and all footwear to be worn.
The footwear might not seem like a big deal, but this is freaking Hawaii. Kids wear slippers. Adults wear slippers. We wear them to the park, to the store, to church, to funerals, to the movies, to school...everywhere. It's as much a part of the local culture as Zippys or Chinaman's hat. It's comfortable, it's convenient, and it's cheap.
Slippers can be bought for $2 and they last for a year or longer. The kids come home with grimy little red toes from running in the dirt with their slippers on. I love that. In the mornings, they grab their slippers from the porch by the front door and slip them on and we're good to go. Perhaps I'm being more sentimental than practical, but sneakers just don't seem right.
We'll see what gets approved. This is a pet project being put together by the newly created student council, and I applaud the children for working to shape the type of school environment that they want and for soliciting parent opinion, but I sincerely hope that the school uniform plan won't be implemented.
I want my children to be able to express themselves. They spend so much time complying and being told what to do. The least we can do is allow them to choose between the Darth Vader t-shirt and the Honu tank top.
We see short skirts, little boys with earrings, mohawk hair cuts, band t-shirts, slippers (flip-flops), knee high boots, colored hair...you name it. It's very lax for an elementary school.
I can remember the dress code for my old high school. For several years we weren't allowed to wear shorts. Later sweat pants were outlawed (to be fair, this was because we were naughty children and anyone who wore sweat pants was pantsed). Sleeveless shirts were out for a while. The guys' hair could not fall past the collar of their shirts. Any t-shirt with words or graphics on it was subject to intense scrutiny (unless it said "Jesus" on it). Guys were absolutely not allowed to wear earrings.
When I was a Junior in high school I dyed my hair purple. Only two streaks were dyed because my parents weren't sure how the school administration would react. They tried to pull the "no unnatural hair colors" card on me, but it wasn't anywhere in the rules.
As a frustrated teen, tweaking my personal appearance was a satisfying outlet for me to express individuality.
When the trend was knee high socks and Mary-Janes, I felt comfortable in Doc Marten style boots, jeans, and a Kurt Cobain t-shirt.
I love that my children's school allows the kids to have the freedom to dress themselves in the way that makes them feel confident and comfortable. Oversight is the responsibility of the parents. Children don't have a say in much of the things in their lives that affect them, and I think that clothing and other appearance choices empower children and allow them to practice making choices without risking lasting harm.
All that freedom at my kids' school will soon be ending. Today I received a Dress Code Survey.
The survey offered three options in regards to clothing and three more for footwear and the instructions given were to discuss the choices with the children and then indicate my (parent) choice and their (children) choice.
For clothing the choice is a) conservative dress code (no midriffs, wide-strapped sleeveless tops, mid-thigh on pants/shorts/skirts),
school t-shirts in either one color for everyone or a choice of 4-5 colors, or c) school t-shirts in a single color per grade.The conservative dress code is fine with me. I don't think it's too harsh. It enforces modesty, but that's not a bad thing. I really hope that other parents are like-minded, because I think the school t-shirt idea is sad.
For footwear the choice is a) closed toe/closed heel shoes only,
allow open toe shoes and sandals only if they have a heel or ankle strap, or c) allow any and all footwear to be worn.The footwear might not seem like a big deal, but this is freaking Hawaii. Kids wear slippers. Adults wear slippers. We wear them to the park, to the store, to church, to funerals, to the movies, to school...everywhere. It's as much a part of the local culture as Zippys or Chinaman's hat. It's comfortable, it's convenient, and it's cheap.
Slippers can be bought for $2 and they last for a year or longer. The kids come home with grimy little red toes from running in the dirt with their slippers on. I love that. In the mornings, they grab their slippers from the porch by the front door and slip them on and we're good to go. Perhaps I'm being more sentimental than practical, but sneakers just don't seem right.
We'll see what gets approved. This is a pet project being put together by the newly created student council, and I applaud the children for working to shape the type of school environment that they want and for soliciting parent opinion, but I sincerely hope that the school uniform plan won't be implemented.
I want my children to be able to express themselves. They spend so much time complying and being told what to do. The least we can do is allow them to choose between the Darth Vader t-shirt and the Honu tank top.
It was a pleasant surprise!
I also would like to visit Oahu and the Big Island, too.