"Image is Nothing, Obey Your Dress Code," Dan Slife

[Danielle Masters]

While I do tend to be overly sarcastic my closing statement was only sligtly sarcastic as I know that for some people on this board due to my unemployment I am a lesser human being who words are empty but whatever.

In the future though I will try to either keep my sarcasm in check or make use of the sarcasm tag.

[Kristine Pagsuyoin]

Do you have any evidence supporting your "fact" that dress codes do not improve behavior, and thus enhance the educational experience. I ask because almost everything I have seen, other than the complaints of some students, seems to say just the opposite. I believe even the Department of Education says that dress codes promote safety and discipline. I've read of kids being robbed and even killed for their expensive shoes, but I doubt anyone has ever had the type of clothing that dress codes require being stolen, much less being killed for. I recall seeing a group of, I would guess, middle school aged black boys in the art museum, and being impressed with their behaviour; they were all wearing white shirts and dark pants; I don't think any were wearing Air Jordans, or whatever the fashion is now.

Will,

I have posted some articles here that you can review.

That is great that you saw students behaving in the art museum which probably had to do more with their teacher/parents then the uniforms they were wearing. Uniforms in private schools were designed to separate their students from the students who couldn't afford to go to their schools. It is about conformity and a symbol of privilege. Many families decide to send their children to private or charter schools for a variety of reasons and I am glad we all have a choice. However, I think some send their kids to private schools thinking that they are saving their kids from bad influences, crime, drugs, what have you. The eye-opener is that stuff goes on in private schools as much as they do in public schools--the uniform doesn't make a difference. I know of two families retuning to Lakewood Schools after finding that the private school they had sent their kids to was having a negative effect on their child's behavior and attitude. Uniforms are not the answer. The answer is good teachers, good programs, parental involvement, and a community who cares and invests in their district.


Yeung, Ryan. Are School Uniforms a Good Fit? Results from the ECLS-K and the NELS, Educational Policy, v23 n6 p847-874 2009

Tanner, Julian. Making Schools Safer? The Unintended Consequences of Good Intentions, Education Canada, v49 n3 p12-15 Sum 2009

http://www.members.tripod.com/rockqu/uniform.htm

http://www.gate.net/~rwms/UniformDWilliams.html

http://www.usatoday.com/cleanprint/?1282316844547

[Jim O'Bryan]

Uniforms are not the answer. The answer is good teachers, good programs, parental involvement, and a community who cares and invests in their district.

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[Bryan Schwegler]

Will, with all due respect you are lacking perspective. You are coming at the issue from the previous generation. Welcome to the me generation. Where employers are expected to allow creative expression (to a point) in order to obtain the best talent. Lets look at some examples from the high tech field. Google, Apple, Hyland, facebook, digg, redddit. All retain the best talent because to a certain degree there employees are young, smart and want to "do their own thing". I know a bunch of web developers and other tech professionals who probably do not even own a suit. I think they would argue your point about being "productively employed"

Progressive, one of the most successful Fortune 500 companies left here, has figured that out. But there are definitely some people, often small business owners of previous generations, that have difficulty when people want to think, look, or behave differently than they would.

Things change. I often wonder what the bosses of that generation thought about them.

[Mark Mraz]

I believe its rediculous to think that just by changing someones clothes,we are actually changing "their brain". Only thing I can possibly see changing in a student is confidence...but confidence always doesnt change grades. I think I would have graduated my highschool with a 3.6gpa if I wore a uniform,jeans and t shirt,or a damn penguin suit.

[Kate McCarthy]

The throngs of students heading to LHS in the morning is probably most emblematic of our city's wonderful diversity. There is no uniform...period. No overriding style. Lots of individuals expressing their individual style. And no apparent pressure to conform to a latest trend. The thought of slapping uniforms on this scene is upsetting.

Danielle, did you feel the Freshman orientation focused on the dress code too much? Two years ago we walked the schedule with our incoming freshman, this year dress code, dress code, and dress code and no tour for parents which would have alleviated many anxieties about the mods.

[Danielle Masters]

Kate, I agree there was a lot of focus on the dress code. The funny thing is the dress code at the high school is no different from the middle school so I was shaking my head a lot. It's a simple enough dress code and the kids have been following it for 3 years now.

And yes a tour would have been nice. We didn't even go over to the mods. My husband knows his way around the school though so he kind of showed me where various places were but I still have no clue. Honestly it would have been nice for the front office to at least be pointed out but I'm sure I'll figure out where it is.

I do agree though seeing all the various styles is nice, life is about variety and being confident in yourself. I see a lot of great kids expressing themselves through fashion and that is awesome.

[Will Brown]

Will, with all due respect you are lacking perspective. You are coming at the issue from the previous generation. Welcome to the me generation. Where employers are expected to allow creative expression (to a point) in order to obtain the best talent. Lets look at some examples from the high tech field. Google, Apple, Hyland, facebook, digg, redddit. All retain the best talent because to a certain degree there employees are young, smart and want to "do their own thing". I know a bunch of web developers and other tech professionals who probably do not even own a suit. I think they would argue your point about being "productively employed"

At some point you also have to make a choice that will determine your level of conformity to "cooperate boobery". If you want to be in mid to upper management of a super big company staring at spreadsheets crunching the budget all day... more power to you, conform...

Also people robbing and killing for the latest pair of shoes is not a result of not having dress codes. That's just how the "roll" in the "hood".



Anyway let kids be kids. They have the rest of their lives to find out how the man will suck their will to live.

I think you are confusing having a dress code with wearing a suit. You do seem to realize that even in cutting edge industries there are limits on dress and behavior. I've had occasion to visit some of the high tech facilities, and I don't recall seeing any outrageous clothing; they looked like a bunch of suburbanites.

And my feeling is that kids who go through school with no limits will probably not develop the self-control necessary to successful employment, so they need guidance from their parents or their teachers, preferably both.

My impression is that current interest in dress codes did start with the inner city schools, largely to discourage gang uniforms and theft of expensive shoes. I'm reluctant to allow such behaviour to continue because of its high cost to society.

What is "cooperate boobery"?

[Will Brown]

Now I know for some my points are invalidated because I add nothing to this society as a stay at home mother and volunteer but once again those people are the ones with the real problem.

Don't count me among those who minimize the value of a stay-at-home mother. I have always thought that the demands of raising kids and maintaining the home are greater than those of many traditional jobs. You can't turn off a crying baby while you have your morning break, nor call in sick on opening day.

I would credit NOW and their ilk with demeaning the job of the stay-at-home mother to pressure society into putting more women into traditional jobs outside the home. And I fear that we have not yet seen the fruits of this societal change; wait until some generations of daycare kids are adults, and see how they treat each other, and their parents.

[marklingm]

Attached is the current LHS Student Dress Code which has been in place since June 6, 2005, with minor modifications having been made on July 11, 2005, and May 8, 2006. I was not on the Board during those dates so I cannot answer modification questions.

[marklingm]

The issue of "Campus Wear" is currently on the agenda for the regular meeting being held on Tuesday, September 7, 2010, at Horace Mann Elementary Cafetorium.

See Superintendent’s Report in the attached agenda.

[Kate McCarthy]

I had hoped to attend this meeting but had a conflict and listened to the podcast of the meeting. I cannot find the superintendent's report anywhere. Is this information somewhere in the BOE's sections of the Lakewood City School's website? Also, the website indicates meeting minutes are attached to the schedule of meetings. All I see there are the agendas.

I do not understand where the high school and BOE's focus on dress code, campus wear and uniforms is coming from. Children are being sent home throughout the day to empty homes for capricious reasons, teachers are being reprimanded for not calling out students on dress code violations, and good students are really starting to hate school. The reward for demonstrating excellence "every period, every day" is to be treated like garbage. This is my 12th year with children in Lakewood Public schools and the only year I have felt compelled to publicly complain. Somehow the high school consistently managed to achieve an excellent rating without these draconian rules. Enough is enough. Let’s focus improving educational outcomes and stop worrying about window dressing.

[Betsy Voinovich]

Hi Kate,

I don't know if the people that are "in charge" here, from one institution to the next, from city to schools to media, know how to value what is valuable.

I'm not sure what to do about it, as the people in Lakewood who find it the most important are really busy trying to take care of these wide-eyed amazing little souls that have been entrusted to us, and are our future.

I guess we have to be a little more organized.

Thanks. See you soon.

Betsy

[Jim O'Bryan]

I do not understand where the high school and BOE's focus on dress code, campus wear and uniforms is coming from.

Kate

The focus comes from a variety of places. The first is that some on the board really think
this will make a difference, and or close the gap in appeal of private schools. Showing some
form of control.

Others, just have single track minds, a problem here in Lakewood and elsewhere. Thoughts
like "strip malls will save us," "Dress codes will improve."... So once they get started it
becomes some weird contest to win at all costs. No matter what else pops up or is needed,
their focused on that task. So when interrupted and that task is done they fall back to what
"they know."

We certainly have bigger problems to tend to like finding the extra $12 million needed to
rebuild one school after spending and extra $6 million to save one wall in another. It would
be interesting to hear how much it will cost for all the students to switch over, and who
gets that landfall of $$$$$$$. Classrooms, classroom size. Heck I hear they cannot even
move much needed room dividers from the closed McKinley into schools that are opened
and having students attend classes in large rooms and hallways.

FWIW


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[Diane Brinich]

My son, and a number of his peers, are finding the messages confusing. They hear and have seen in print conflicting rules. The principle's office says that it is okay to have your coat with you during the day, as long as it is not on your body, you may even hang it on the back of your chair. Ed Favre has written, to a friend of mine, that the coats must go directly to the locker in the morning to be retrieved after school. An aside to this issue is that many students do not use lockers because of the time and distance between classes. My son has seen security guards confiscate hoodies from students entering the building as they come in from the rain in the morning. So can kids wear hoodies to the door of the school, just not step inside? Another rule that is unclear. Many kids think that they need to purchase new coats to conform. Can someone just alleviate the issue by coming up with one written definitive answer? The kids are tired of worrying whether they will be pulled aside, when they think they are following the rules. There are many rumors flying in the building and this takes focus away from the reason that most kids are at school, learning. Communication, not uniforms, is the answer.