Fight the Borg!

Today my oldest son brought home a questionnaire from his school's Parent Advisory Committee indicating that they are looking into school uniforms and asking what we, the parents, thought. Here is my response:

I would like to express my vehement opposition to the idea of school uniforms!

School, by its very nature, is already an institution of conformity where individuality is at odds with the need for order and process. A student’s need for self-expression, while valued, often must be put aside to ensure we are: lined up straight, colouring within the lines, not pushing or shoving, not running in the halls, quiet when working, not looking out the window, putting our hand up, using blue ink not purple and sitting quietly (unless it is discussion time then you must have something to say). While we accept the many rules and processes of school as necessary in providing a safe and functional learning environment for our children I have to ask what is the purpose of school uniforms.

If the reason is that parents are feeling pressured by their children to buy them the latest in-style fashions? I say don’t put in a school uniform because you can’t, or won’t, say no to your children. If the reason is that some children feel left out because they can’t afford, or their parents won’t buy them, the latest LuLu Lemon hoodie or Nike shoes? I say we should be educating our children to look past the superficial while acknowledging that we live in a world that some people will have more material goods than others. We don’t teach students to value what is on the inside by pretending that everybody is equal on the outside.

I work at a school which has the most diverse student populations in our city. We have students who can’t afford food and their clothing reflects that poverty to some of the wealthiest and most affluent children who have never wanted for anything in life. One of the things you learn quickly in our school is that there is an understanding, tolerance and respect for one another that comes not from all dressing alike but from working together and looking past the clothing on each other’s back to the person inside.

Clothing is a basic human right and one of the most important methods of self-expression for youth and you are asking me to allow an arbitrary group the right to dictate how my children dress. I am sorry but to this I must say NO! Diversity is a great thing and something which our children should grow to honour, respect and appreciate. The world, our city, our province does not all look alike, dress alike or act alike so how do we expect our children to look beyond the superficial if we take the easy road and hide our differences. In addition, if this does go forward to an open meeting I will be organizing a formal opposition to this motion.