School uniforms
Reading The News-Herald online (I'm a hometown dork, I know) I was utterly irritated by the outrage people continue to show over school uniforms at Central. They've been ranting all summer and--let's face it, folks--the schools of Venango County have bigger issues to deal with than what students are wearing. So I crafted the following letter to the editor. Let me know what you think!
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Editor:
A former Franklin resident, I now teach sixth grade at a Title I public school in Starr County, Texas, just across the border from Mexico. After hearing about the controversy over uniforms at Central Elementary School, I had to write.
Starr County is one of the poorest counties in the country, and the students of Grulla Middle School, where I work, are from some of the poorest communities in Starr County. I--and other teachers I work with--have been on home visits to two-room homes with minimal electricity and plumbing, dirt floors, and five or six children. And yet, every single student at Grulla Middle School shows up in uniform every day. A simple polo shirt and pants isn't too much to ask.
School uniforms are wonderful. They help teachers to identify outsiders or intruders instantly in a crowd, they cut down severely on superficial rivalries over style, and they help elimate the gang violence that is so prevalent in my students' communities. Uniforms do not, contrary to the opinions of some, stifle individuality; all the students at Grulla are free to accessorize as they wish, as long as they comply with the rest of the school's age-appropriate dress code. And I can say from personal experience that school uniforms don't really have long-reaching repurcussions on students' psyches. I wore one for eight years and I think I came out all right.
Here in Starr County, uniforms are not unique to Grulla, either. Every school in our district, from kindergarten through twelfth grade, has uniform requirements, and all students wear them.
And nobody complains. Parents know their kids are getting a solid education, aided in some respects by the uniforms, and after all...isn't what they're learning more important than what they're wearing?
Sincerely,
Emma McCandless
***
Editor:
A former Franklin resident, I now teach sixth grade at a Title I public school in Starr County, Texas, just across the border from Mexico. After hearing about the controversy over uniforms at Central Elementary School, I had to write.
Starr County is one of the poorest counties in the country, and the students of Grulla Middle School, where I work, are from some of the poorest communities in Starr County. I--and other teachers I work with--have been on home visits to two-room homes with minimal electricity and plumbing, dirt floors, and five or six children. And yet, every single student at Grulla Middle School shows up in uniform every day. A simple polo shirt and pants isn't too much to ask.
School uniforms are wonderful. They help teachers to identify outsiders or intruders instantly in a crowd, they cut down severely on superficial rivalries over style, and they help elimate the gang violence that is so prevalent in my students' communities. Uniforms do not, contrary to the opinions of some, stifle individuality; all the students at Grulla are free to accessorize as they wish, as long as they comply with the rest of the school's age-appropriate dress code. And I can say from personal experience that school uniforms don't really have long-reaching repurcussions on students' psyches. I wore one for eight years and I think I came out all right.
Here in Starr County, uniforms are not unique to Grulla, either. Every school in our district, from kindergarten through twelfth grade, has uniform requirements, and all students wear them.
And nobody complains. Parents know their kids are getting a solid education, aided in some respects by the uniforms, and after all...isn't what they're learning more important than what they're wearing?
Sincerely,
Emma McCandless