Just to clarify: The point of making kids wear school uniforms is to guarantee they follow a certain dress code, right? I mean, I went to Catholic school for my entire childhood/adolesence and unless things have changed a LOT in the past ... er, bunch of years, that's what the uniform thing is all about. (Of course you can kick that theory up a notch, but we'll talk about methods of breaking young spirits some other time.)
So I don't really understand why parents at St. Bernadette's Catholic School in Connecticut are freaking out over the administration's decision to switch the girls' outfits from the traditional kicky plaid skirt/button-down blouse combo to khaki pants and a polo shirt.
Especially considering the reason WHY the school decided to update the uniform.
Apparently the older girls were pulling the old make-my-skirt-shorter-by-rolling-it-up-at-the-waist trick.
Aha, so things haven't changed since I was in school! Which leads me to believe those uniforms went from hanging somewhere around the knees to about the length of your average stripper's "sexy schoolgirl" skirt.
(Personally, I always felt like the bulging roll of fabric around the waist thing kind of cancelled out the sexy effect, but whatever.)
Anyway, khakis and polos sound like the perfect solution to this problem. Never mind the fact that they're more practical anyway -- Connecticut winters are cold, and I can tell you from bitter experience that bare legs at a bus stop in January are no fun at all.
So what exactly is the issue these parents have with the new uniform? The students will still be following a dress code, which is supposed to be the point. One mother apparently complained: “I would like to carry on with the beautiful tradition that the kids wear their proud uniform.”
Um, really?? Uniforms have never been an aesthetically-influenced choice. Maroon plaid kilts with matching polyester boleros and a white blouse with a Peter Pan collar? Don't forget the knee socks and the little snap-on tie! Come on!
I'm just saying. If my daughter went to that school, I'd be more than fine with the khakis/polo ensemble overhaul. Honestly, to ask students to wear those skirts seems like an unreasonable request in comparison.
Do you think parents should be upset about their daughters' uniforms being switched from skirts to khakis?
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Comments 37
Here's proof that parents will find anything to complain about. Sheesh.
Yeah, they equalize kids but not very well. You can still wear designer jewelry and shoes and bags. And most families would be spending more for the uniform then they would on their kids clothes. It turns kids into robots and crushes their individuality. Also khakis are the worst. It looks like your not wearing pants.
But the catholic school uniform in so stripperish now that I get why they did this. No way a stripper is wearing khakis and a polo any time soon.
And yes ...I was guilty of rolling my skirt at the waist :) Untucking your shirt a tad helps to hide the bulge. Lol
Having gone to a public school with uniforms, I feel qualified to tell you that they are NOT the great equalizer they are made out to be. Because I had grown up in uniforms, I didn't know how to dress when I was done with them. I could go on and on about why they are ridiculous and counterproductive. But that's not the point here.
I'm kinda with the school on this. You have a problem with a certain article of clothing and it being worn inappropriately? Tried regulating it and it didn't work? Ban the article of clothing. It does make sense.
I like TSR's comment. I went to a Catholic School from K-12 and we had to wear the skirt year round...wish we had the option too wear pants in the winter months.... but these parents are being rediculous. There is always something to complain about..... if they kept the skirts and started giving out detention to the girls hiking up the skirts then they'd still have something to complain about!
*to......that was an accident. One of my biggest pet peeves is the misuse of to too and two!