![[Shelbyville Times-Gazette]](http://www.t-g.com/images/nameplate-small.png){kind=small}
RSS
Print
Email link
Respond to editor
Read comments (26)Unlike a public hearing last month at Liberty School, where opinions were heard both in favor of and against SSA, all of Thursday night's public speakers were opposed to the plan, which is often described as being more than a dress code but less than a uniform.
Parents stated concerns about children not being able to express their individuality through their dress; the costs involved in having to purchase SSA-compliant clothing; and the message SSA will send to children.
"You're sending a message to our children that because one child's father wears jeans to work he is not considered as important in the community as another man who wears a business suit," said Dawn Henderson.
Proponents of SSA claim it improves school atmosphere, but Cory Henderson said his hometown of Austin, Texas, did a trial run with SSA, and that behavior at one school was negatively affected.
"We as a board are mission driven, and our mission is to provide a safe and productive environment where students can learn and become good citizens," school board chairman Barry Cooper said. "So in considering this (SSA) over the next three months, we have to look at whether this would make our schools any safer, or would it make learning any better. How would this effect our mission? So, we are hoping to hear good input tonight and in the future on whether this helps to fulfill our mission or not."
The board will hold another public forum to gather input on SSA on Jan. 17 at Community School prior to its regular monthly board meeting, and tentatively on Feb. 11 at Harris Middle School. Both meetings are open to the public, and residents from anywhere in the county are encouraged to attend any of the meetings, regardless of what school district they reside in.
The draft proposal which the board is using as a working document states that "Bedford County School Attire is an effective strategy to promote enhanced student appearance and behavior, which are key ingredients of a positive learning environment in which student safety and achievement are the highest priorities."
Cascade parent Robin Miller asked the board members whether they had given any thought to a student's individuality, especially if they are a large child and have a problem with tucking in their shirts. Board member Amy Martin assured Miller that they are taking those types of concerns into consideration, and all the information being gathered will help them to make their final decision on SSA.
"The administration here at Cascade has seemed to do a good job at enforcing the policies that are already in place," said grandparent Leo Wilcox. "I think leaving this matter up to the individual administrators would be the best thing to do. I've spent 30 years in law enforcement and 10 years in the education system, and I don't believe a school dress code would have any effect on safety."
Mark Kilpatrick expressed his concern of a child's comfort for better learning.
"If students are comfortable they are going to learn better, and our children need to be learning," Kilpatrick said. "Comfortable clothing works better in corporate America, and I believe it works better in schools too."
The T-G's coverage of Standardized School Attire, along with other relevant links, has now been collected at http://www.t-g.com/topic/ssa .
So what's the next step? Are there plans in place to DICTATE the type of vehicles students can or cannot drive to school?
Recently an advocate of SSA defended his position on the grounds of "class distinction". I understand the argument but I also undersatnd that the problem is not as superficial as clothing. Class distinction is a problem born of the "heart".
Assuming that SSA is implemented, what changes for those children when they step out of school and into the real world? As and adult I see class distinction "at work" on a daily basis. Furthermore who is to say how adversity works in the lives of all peoples? One child may have less of this world's goods than another. Seeing another's good forture might be his or her motivation to rise above their current situation.
However my greatest opposition to SSA is the premise by which we as parents, in a FREE COUNTRY are supposed to sit back and swallow this anti-freedom pill.
The whole concept smacks of communism. If I wanted my children to wear uniforms (don't kid yourselves that's what we're debating) I'd enroll them in private school.
Stand up and be counted!
I am opposed to Standardized School Attire. I do not see any problem with the way the vast majority of students currently dress for school. I don't know when blue jeans became an inappropriate form of clothing! I don't see anything wrong with T-shirts and blue jeans, myself. All of the things that one can find wrong with jeans and T-shirts/Sweatshirts, can also be found wrong with khakis and a polo or button-up shirt, if the school dress code isn't enforced. I don't see what anyone has to gain by enforcing SSA.
I AM STILL AGAINST SSA ITS JUST NOT RIGHT. WE LIVE IN A FREE COUNTRY. FREE IS FREE. YES, IT EVEN MEANS WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBEY THE LAWS OR NOT TO. THAT'S THE PRICE WE PAY TO BE FREE. IF YOU JUST SET BACK AND SHOUT JUST DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD YOU ARE USING YOUR FREEDOMS,CORRECT, BUT THEY ARE YOUR FREEDOMS. SO IN CONSIDERATION OF OTHERS FREEDOMS TAKE YOU OWN ADVICE AND JUST DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD AND SHUT UP. I WILL NOT TELL YOU WHAT TO WEAR - YOU WILL NOT TELL ME WHAT TO WEAR. WE ARE FREE. EVEN THE GOOD LORD GIVES YOU A CHOICE. THERE SHOULD ALWAYS BE A CHOICE OR WE LOSE ALL OUR PROGRESS. SOMEWHERE IN OUR CHILDRENS FUTURES THEY WILL FIGHT TO REGAIN THEIR LOST FREEDOMS. JUST LIKE OUR FOREFATHERS.
when the school system decides to buy these kids clothes then they can start telling them what to wear
...and the last freeloader on welfare that I saw was wearing baggy pants below his underwear with gold teeth and a cap turned sideways.
Learning how to dress comes from the child's homelife just like religion some things need to be taught at home while others should be left to the teachers. Telling a child how to dress is Not the school goal.
"School is not a place to express yourself" Thats a great quote. Be sure to use that to make your case in the future. By the way the last billionaire, yes billionaire I met was wearing a tee shirt and jeans. Like I said, sleep through reality.
The school board was not the law in the 50s and 60s or we would still be wearing dresses and dress shirts,ties, and pants to school. It changed because parents/students protested.
Get the bad kids out and charge the parents with allowing the kids to be that way and we won't have to worry about how a kid looks.
This proposed dress code has become more of a distraction than what the school board says the way they currently dress is.
I cant believe we have gotten to the point where we need the school board to pass this.
Quit dressing or letting your children dress themselves like idiots, and this is not even an issue.
School is not a place to express yourself, it is a place to learn, even how to dress respectfully.
Just follow school rules from 8:00am to 3:00pm Monday thru Friday, and then if you and your parents want to look like low class, uneducated fools, by all means go ahead. Just dont complain in the real world when you are unemployed.
Bamaman has made my point for me. I am biased because I completely agree with him. The problem is you try to fix things that arent broken. The prayer and the pledge of allegiance and the paddle kept your little rear in check and you felt like an idiot walking around defiant in baggy clothes. ACLU .........the DEATH of our society. SO LETS TAKE ONE MORE FREEDOM AWAY AND DICTATE HOW OUR KIDS DRESS! After all it may make someone feel UNCOMFORTABLE if someone wears a shirt that says What would Jesus do. Ill tell you what he would do, he would laugh at this nonsense. Go sniff around your liberal ACLU websites and read all the happy little stories about how prayer offended people, and how clothes make our schools unsafe. Sleep through reality. BUT BE SURE TO MAKE THE SSA STATE THAT TURBANS ARE ALLOWED BECAUSE IT INFRINGES AN IMMIGRANTS RIGHTS!
clarabelle-If you noticed I said---WHY DON'T SOME OF OUR PARENTS help out. I did not say ALL. Please do not hair dress my comment.
I suppose a majority of students are doing the right thing.Yes this is a democratic society, a declining one but still democratic. I have learned over the years, the squeaky wheel gets all the grease, just look at all the radical liberals in our society.
Problem #1 our democracy took the paddle and prayer out of our schools. Even read where some states trying to make it against the law to paddle your child in your own home.
In response to your first paragraph, maybe the last question. Whatever the school or school board said when I was in school was the way it was/the law. You did not question.
bamaman--what exactly did you wear to school? Did you wear specific colors of collared shirts and Khakis? What were your grades? Did what you wore to school affect them? Did the kids who got in fights wear the same clothes you wore? Were you made to wear specific clothes because OTHER kids/parents were breaking the rules?
The same kids will continue to do so and the same parents will allow them to do so.
It's the kids who are already following the rules who will be punished! Why bother to tell our kids to study and make good grades and be respectful if they will not achieve anything from doing so?
The good kids are the ones who are being taught how to act beginning at HOME!! Those of us who are trying to be good parents have a right to oppose anything the school board says because this is a democracy.
Hey I've got an idea, why don't some of our parents help out. Do not send your kids out of the house dressed or looking like they do. When I was growing up in school everything to do with my education started at HOME. I grew up knowing not to question authority or school rules. Sounds like our kids and parents need a little taste of old times.
All the research not sponsored by uniform companies comes to the same result: uniforms do no good in terms of either behavior or academic achievement. Nashville as lost tens of thousands of student-hours to SSA; many of its lower-achieving schools barely enforce it because they have bigger concerns. It has fostered resentment between schools, among teachers and students. Here, though, is a recent study on the issue, again confirming the uselessness of SSA:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_ed...
What you need to ask yourselves is why, when the evidence is compelling, you still have school administrators trying to waste time on the issue. In nashville, the reason was clear--the Administration needed a distraction from its other failures and wanted to be able to claim to be innovative, since they realized they could not claim to be successful. Follow along if you like...at least Nashville parents can say, well, at least we weren't the only ones hoodwinked.
TO Living in the County--You are VERY RIGHT in one part and VERY WRONG in another part of your post. Enforcing the present dress code IS INDEED the solution; and of COURSE clothes should not be so over-sized as to droop and show skin or underwear. BUT WHAT does this have to do with RADICAL ideas you have like banning Tee shirts and shorts which kids have woren for 50 years in public schools??? Polo shirts are nice---but WHY did you need a COLLAR to be able to learn and behave??? And the fed courts will NOT let you ban shirt message-logos just because they are "provocative"---free speech demands that only vulgar ones or those promoting drugs or other illegal activities can be banned.
SSA is not needed---just ENFORCE a regular dress code---require APPROPRIATE clothing, but allow unlimited diversity within that guideline. Clothing decisions are for FAMILIES---NOT the GOVERNMENT!!!
Oh, and before I forget; The prime arguement given on the safety issue is that baggy clothes can conceal weapons easily. A clever youtube.com video was even quoted. Lets forget to mention that khaki pants and sweaters will conceal a freaking gun just as easily. But what is going to be taken away next, BACKPACKS? If someone trys with all of their might and intuition that can fit...oh a bomb a few grenades or even a wee little gun in a backpack................
John, piont is taken. Youre quite correct. I do want to clear up though, not that they should stop it now but if they pass this I still feel it is wrong. At this point, even on this comment section it is clear that the majority clearly opposes this (after Cascade where the ONLY people there were opposers), and there is even more of a majority that is undecided over the supporters. So , Im sorry but that cannot be argued. Either the supporters are silent or it is clear how the voters of this county feel as a majority. I just wish that people would do research, and I will just tell you what you will find is the ones claiming it is beneficial to unrelated things such as safety and productivity have no proof of such, or they are the MANUFACTURERS of the school uniforms. The ones that oppose it have much more factual evidence to support not only the fact that it is not as productive as all of the propoganda suggests but that it is in fact COUNTER PRODUCTIVE in several cases. Point in case, research the statistics for in school and out of school suspensions before and after uniforms or the cleverly worded SSA... Then tell me how you can justify a child missing out on is education for 3 days, a week whatever because his shirt wasnt tucked in!
This is silly!
Let me put it like this. If you give your child a pile of dirt for Christmas. Will that child appreciate it more if you wrap it in a gold box with a diamond ribbon?
Clothes improving safety and productivity is LUDACRIS.
I don't understand we had dress codes when I was in school in the late 50's and early 60's
We could not wear just anything we wanted to we had standared even back then. Even then we didn't like it but we had to obey the rules that set for us to dress and act by.
Man, oh man!!! There are so many concerns in school these days than ever before. I for one see many problems that have nothing to do with what they wear. They need to be dealing with issues that go far beyond your dress. For one instance, the majority of students have no respect for authority. That needs to be taught at HOME. Second, we have become so pressured in life that there is not quality time spent with students in teaching when there needs to be a one on one case. This no child left behind has a negative effect. If a child doesn't havi it learned within a certain amount of weeks, they have to move on and teach the next thing. THAT STINKS! I knoe this doesn't have anything to do with SSA, but it has do do with why it is leading up to it. I know this for a fact, I would say a great percentage of high school kids can not even spell correctly. Yes, we all have that problem, but I am saying simple words sometimes that they struggle with. If the dress code was highly enforced now and dealt with, with some kind of measure, then we wouldn't be having the issue now on SSA. That is a bunch of hog wash if you think SSA will cut down on violence!!!! In closing, this is what will cut down on violence, GOD BACK WHERE HE BELONGS: HOME, SCHOOL, NATION, AND CAN I SAY THIS, OUR CHURCHES!!!!!!!!!!! AMEN, AND AMEN!!!!!
Just be sure to note which board members vote for/against and keep it in mind at election time.
I would want to know what each of them were required to wear when they were in school--not what they chose to wear. Not all of us are polos and khakis people even if we are quite able to buy the same as them. Are they trying to mold everyone to fit their ideas?
I may have been required not to wear specific items, but the only place I knew that wore uniforms were Catholic schools.
Kids will be uncomfortable and self-conscious and I don't see how that will improve learning. There is already much resentment building against the rule-breakers for forcing this issue. How will these feelings improve the learning enviroment?
Why can't we just get the bad kids out?
One thing I would like to point out is that it will not cut down on costs for school clothes. Think about it, if your child has to wear a uniform to school is that child going to want to wear that uniform out of school? ... I think it will increase costs if not double then close to it. Funny when they say this is to even the playing field for lower income families dont you think. But it doesnt matter, they already have made up their mind. This will pass, even though the consensus at every meeting with the public is negative, these elected officials do not care about your opinion, if they do pass it in essence what they are saying to you , the citizens of this county is " We know more, and better than you do about your childs well being. We have heard your opposition, but we have decided to go ahead anyway. The people on this board view our opinions as superior to yours, and lets face it theres nothing you can do" Think about it, if all they have faced is opposition at the public forums on this issue then WHAT RIGHT do they have even considering this any further. Its your vote people.
I agree with "Living in the Country" but apparently our administrators are not up to the job, or they would see this and act appropriately to the situation, instead of passing off to some "other" authority. I say if they would quit worrying about stepping on somebodies feelings, or posssibly making somebody "uncomfortable" and get R done, we'd be better off! Did our Daddy's and our GrandDaddy's pussy foot around? These are the rules and this is the way it will be. No problem. EVERYTHING now days is up for discussion! No wonder they can't get anything done. (politicians)
I was at last nights open forum to address the SSA issue and I came away with more questions and an "undecided" attitude.
First, let me commend Barry Cooper and the other board members for allowing the public the time to speak out and voice their opinions. Not all elected officials take the time or interest in their constituent's voice to do that.
I went to the meeting with the idea that I was all for the SSA proposal, but now I believe there needs to be more clarification. So I hope some or all of the board members read this and can shed more light on these questions.
The reoccurring theme that I picked up on last night was that Bedford County Schools already have a dress code for the school system, but it is left up to the individual administrators to enforce it. From what I gather it is not being consistently enforced from school to school. The reason for this was not explained. It seems to me that this would be the easiest means to resolve the issue if the current codes were enforced. Some of the proposed items of the SSA could be implemented to help organize the codes. Some examples would be…
1. Pants and skirts (jeans and kakis) must be of a proportional size to the wearer (no more than one size smaller or larger) and must be worn on the waist. No baggie or oversized pants. Skirt length must be worn no higher than 3 inches above the knee.
2. No shorts during regular school hours except during school sponsored activities (i.e. PE or athletic events)
3. Shirts must be collared and worn tucked in at the waist. If the shirt can not be tucked in, a tee shirt style garment must be worn under the shirt to prevent midriff exposure. There are no color restrictions for the shirts.
4. No shirts with explicit, suggestive or provocative logos or statements. School logos and emblems are allowed.
5. No saddles, flip flops or house shoes.
6. No hats, toboggans, do-rags, hairnets, scarves or other head cover during regular school hours. Exceptions would include athletic gear (i.e. caps, helmets, etc.) worn during school sponsored activities.
To me this would promote a more consistent dress code while still allowing the "individuality" that some think the SSA would prevent. I, personally, do not see how wearing your pants loosely down below your waist is expressing anything but rebellion and defiance to authority. I would never endorse or allow such behavior in my children.
IF there are issues more serious than this in the city schools, then it has not been made public in these forums. A common sense approach to a set of values and a consistent enforcement of a dress code at every system wide facility would resolve this once and for all.
I haven't been out of school so long that I don't remember. I didn't care then if SSA passed or not. If clothes are the only way you know how to be "individual" then your parents haven't done that great a job. ALSO, I was made to tuck my shirt in during my high school days. We (at Central) were all made to do so. I thought that was the norm!
I am undecided.
If this were happening while I was in High School, I would be opposed. I'm not sure I am sold on the idea of it cutting down on school violence. They would have to do more convincing in that aspect.
Now that I have my own children, SSA doesn't sound so bad, as long as they, the children, are comfortable. It would cut down on my spending for school clothes (when they reach the age to attend school).
It's a huge debate!