Uniforms Would Cut Back Our Acceptance Of Diversity Con
Probably my favorite part of the school day is meandering through the hallways. I am always bemused by the various clothing selections. A precarious outfit resembling a bathing suit here, a J-Crew catalog there. A ripped Metallica shirt at one end of the hallway, a tailored suit at the other. Tons of tastes, tons of individuals. The public school in all its glory.
Perhaps the picture I paint for you seems grotesque, but what the myriad styles produce is not skepticism or prejudice, but acceptance. I pass by someone dressed “differently” downtown and I don’t stop to stutter in surprise. I smile just as I would at school (a nice smile, not a churlish one). I’ve seen all forms of dress daily, and gradually accepted them daily, just as others accepted mine.
A proposed bill requiring a uniform for Washington public schools constricts this sense of acceptance. Uniforms are irrelevant to school learning, they wouldn’t erase prejudice and they would cut back on diversity. The article that surfaced in the paper a month ago provides a brief description of why school officials think uniforms are such a great idea. Apparently, the Legislature believes clothing can issue a sense of control.
Right. I’m sure the students wearing the uniforms will instantly stop thinking of partying, sex and ignoring their homework. They’ll sit up in class and won’t drool and will clasp hands and dance around the campus, one big happy family. I doubt it. I also doubt any outcast will suddenly be surrounded by friends if the bill passes.
One argument for the bill promises a cut down on material prejudice, a feeling that everyone’s included. For a week or so, anyway. No doubt exterior judgments will continue in some other form, whether it be the number of facial piercings one has, color of shoe they wear, lipstick shade or type of hair style.
Frivolous biases are eternal, and they don’t necessarily deal with clothes. If someone selects their friends through looks only, I promise you they will continue to do so. Uniforms won’t help a shallow personality one bit.
An argument against the bill arises when you consider the public schools’ new mottoes, most of them declaring us “Diverse and Proud.” Now, with us strutting around in our school outfits, we can be labeled “Matching Red and Silver, and Proud.”
Public schools are so great because they resemble a tiny cosmos of the United States - many different, but equal, individuals. Public schools should continue to expound this point with the acceptance of various styles.
Learning in a visually diverse environment not only pours important facts from books into stubborn-minded teens, it enhances one’s understandings toward different individuals. After listening to a crazily robed individual speak intelligently in class, you admit to yourself, “You know, that person really is cool.”
Over the years, this astonishment fades, and your speculation over one’s looks decreases. You begin to listen before you see. Uniforms may help one listen without judgment toward another’s clothing, but they will not help one listen in a real-life situation when someone dressed differently speaks their mind. I’m afraid uniforms may kill the growth now evident in a diversified environment.
In high school, one learns many lessons, some more important than others. We learn about President Polk’s accomplishments, the ribosome activities in our DNA, and Edith Wharton’s naturalistic views on love. Students, however, uncover larger lessons in their academic process, lessons that embrace an entire lifetime rather than a single semester. Of these, acceptance glows with the greatest of warmth. For this reason, the bill imposing uniforms on all public school students should be blatantly ignored.
xxxx Also see opposing view under the headline: So-called ‘individuals’ all look alike anyway