Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 1 November 2007 — Page 2

Page 2 • The Muncie Times • November 1, 2007

EDITORIAL

School uniforms would be a good thing for Muncie

This fall, Anderson and Indianapolis Public School Systems took steps to regulate student dress, they joined a movement that has ebbed and flowed over the years. It is a movement that is controversial. Some have argued that mandatory school uniforms raise morale, promote school spirit, improve discipline, reduce crime and improve test scores. The opposed side has been equally vehement in arguing that school uniforms violate students' inalienable rights, can be expensive and deny students the right to freely

and creatively express themselves. Muncie Community Schools may become a new battleground in the school uniforms debate. And it will have chance to learn from how the Anderson and Indianapolis experiments work out. We favor school uniforms because they level the playing field. They make it possible for children from poor or lowincome households to be on an even field with their classmates and schoolmates who come from middle class, upper middle class or wealthy households.

Because all children at the same school would wear the same types of clothes (uniforms) it means it would be harder to make social or economic distinctions based on how students dress. Schools would be transformed from fashion centers to learning centers. Those whose parents can afford designer clothes or can afford Jordans or other expensive tennis shoes would no longer be able to embarrass and humiliate their counterparts who are not so fortunate. We like the idea of uniforms because they eliminate artificial distinc-

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tions which have nothing to do with whether a student can handle the academic load. School uniforms mean students will concentrate more on academic pursuits, not on who was wearing what kinds of clothes or who changes clothes and shoes how many times a week. Some students end up skipping class or dropping out because they get tired of being the butt of cruel and tasteless jokes because of the clothes they wear or the fact that their parents have to shop in consignment or secondhand stores. Others may sometimes resort to antisocial behavior to try to raise the money to buy the types of clothes favored by the "in" crowd. When students wear uniforms, that creates a spirit of togetherness, of oneness within the school system. They tend to identify with each other and with their particular school. They tend to identify with what unites them, rather than what divides them. We do not buy into the myth that students who wear school uniforms are being forced to lose their ability to express themselves creatively. They are certainly free to dress as they wish as soon as they leave school grounds. We find fault with

some of the other excuses offered by the anti-uni-form protagonists. Some claim that uniforms take away the children's inalienable rights. Inalienable rights to dress provocatively or inappropriately? Students who attend parochial schools, where uniforms are mandatory, don't seem to think that their inalienable rights are being tampered with. Many schools around the world have a school uniform policy. It does not seem to hurt them or their academic success. We have yet to be persuaded that students who wear uniforms suffer from slow development of creative talents, independent thinking, personality, robotism or related behaviors. It is our hope that Muncie Community Schools will take a leaf from what Indianapolis, Anderson and in schools scattered from California to Pennsylvania, Maryland to South Carolina have adopted school uniform policies or at least have begun regulating school attire. It is time for Muncie to fall in line. There is nothing sacred about allowing children to dress at will. We hope the Muncie School board will have the courage to take steps to make school uniforms a Muncie reality.