Opinions from a high school dropout
I'm thinking this new law is targeted at ethnic minorities, mostly at the blacks and hispanics, as an effort by the government to make them look a little bit less ghetto-y (lol I just came up with a new word!). Well, it is true that I don't want to see some wannabe gangbanger expose the top half of his ass in public, but I have doubts that this is really going to stop teenagers from dressing like urban street punks. Nobody wants to appear among their peers as if they had no fashion sense. Also the practice of wearing uniforms only applies if someone ends up working for minimum wage, like the kids you see working at your local burger joint or at the supermarket. One workaround I can see with this law that it doesn't apply to students outside or after school time. So as soon as the last bell rings, all those pants will start to slide down. About the girls, does the new law try to prevent teenage boys with raging hormones from checking out girls in the hallways? Why not force all girls to wear an unappealing nun's outfit? Trust me, teens will ALWAYS try to find loopholes in something.
Can you explain why the "ethnic angle" is an interesting objection?
Much objection here seems to amount to "isn't it terrible that children aren't being allowed to do what they want to in school", to which the natural answer is that children are in school to prepare for life, and how to be presentable is something they'll need to learn in order to get a job. And then there are possible answers to that answer, and so on. Which is a worthwhile discussion to have, don't get me wrong, but I find the ethnic angle interesting because it's distinct from that discussion.
Ethnic minorities aren't the only people who sag their pants. I bet you've seen whites do it, too.
You are correct that teens will find a loophole, like they always do. I went to a private high school that required us to wear uniforms. Boys had to wear neckties, button-down shirts, khakis, and dress shoes. Girls had to wear button-down blouses, skirts, tights, and dress shoes. Having this dress code instilled in us this sense that we were in an institution that had to be respected. We were there to learn, not have fun and do whatever we wanted. Indeed, whenever we had dress-down or jeans days, the entire atmosphere did get a bit rowdier.
Of course, we didn't always take the dress code that seriously. Some boys would often sag their khakis a bit, but since the dress shirts are a bit longer than they need to be, no underwear showed. The leather shoes we were supposed to wear didn't always look polished — a few guys even tried wearing black sneakers!
The dress code violations were rarely egregious, however. The faculty weren't sticklers on how we looked, mostly because everyone looked "decent enough". The point is to instill a sense of respect, not to enforce a particular fashion. Indeed, no faculty member in their right mind ever required a girl to tuck in their shirt, since the skirts' waistlines were too high. Girls rolling instead of tucking their shirts may have been bad, but having 500 girls that looked like they were wearing kilts would have been worse. =P
I'm 53 years old and I had to wear a school uniform, my daughter is 18 and in grade 12 and will be wearing her last uniform this year. In the schools here in South Africa uniforms are still mandatory, tie and blazer, it instills pride in your school. No makeup allowed, no long nails and no long hair for boys. No cell phones either.156.8.251.250 (talk) 13:09, 5 September 2011 (UTC)