Slog - Comments on The One Form http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form Rational? School uniforms are rational. Why? Because they greatly reduce the class stress caused by teen fashions, by flashy back-to-school items. ELIZABETH, N.J., Aug. 30 — Many public schools are supplying their students with an ever-growing list of essentials that go far beyond textbooks to include scientific calculators, personal laptops and free breakfast. Now they are dressing them, too. The Elizabeth school district has spent more than $2 million since January 2006 to buy navy blazers, khaki pants, polo shirts, gym shorts and even socks as part of a new policy to put all its students in uniforms. The district,... Copyright 2008 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 09:58:36 -0800 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:41:59 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by JC You should have stuck with this picture:

http://slog.thestranger.com/files/2007/09/schooluniformgrp.gif

What, they couldn't get a kid in a wheelchair for that picture? Those prejudice bastards!

]]> JC http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795969 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795969 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:24:17 -0800 Comment by monkey School uniforms only work if they include shoes. If the kids buy their own shoes then all class bets are off.

]]> monkey http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795973 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795973 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:27:59 -0800 Comment by infrequent the history boys!!!

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795976 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795976 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:30:41 -0800 Comment by christopher There's other tells of class, besides clothes. People will still be able to tell, and still be little fuckers. Kids are cruel because not all parents are great, and any inadequacies they have are magnified in the offspring (until said offspring grow up and learn to be less openly officious). Uniforms won't change that.
Though back when I was in elementary school wearing Value Village peach corduroys and everyone else was in blue jeans, I would have appreciated a fuckin' uniform.

]]> christopher http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795984 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795984 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:37:22 -0800 Comment by Andreas everybody buys their identities to varying degrees. it may not turn out exactly as planned, and it's by no means an exclusive way to build your identity, but to pretend it isn't significant doesn't make any sense to me. more to the point, i believe school uniforms make things more easy for both teachers and students. In the end though, you end up just magnifying the problems elsewhere. you might as well deal with the issues where they occur. bubbles of any kind rarely make any sense.

]]> Andreas http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795986 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795986 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:41:08 -0800 Comment by UNPAID BLOGGER Uniforms are a great idea! But why stop with schools? Let's just make EVERYBODY wear uniforms! No more class issues! EVERYBODY WINS!

err, wait... nevermind. Let's just stick to those second-class citizens who can't vote.

]]> UNPAID BLOGGER http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795990 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795990 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:46:59 -0800 Comment by UNPAID BLOGGER People will still find subtle ways to distinguish themselves. Designer uniforms being the most obvious choice, shoes being another good example.

Better yet, why not actually TEACH students about the inequalities in the American class system, and maybe inspire the change from within...?

]]> UNPAID BLOGGER http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795994 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c795994 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:50:03 -0800 Comment by E. Steven If the effect of mandatory school uniforms is to make every school kid in America look like a member of a retro 80's British electro pop band, then I'm all for it.

]]> E. Steven http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796001 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796001 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:02:13 -0800 Comment by poo poo Shoes, hairstyles, designer purses, prada backpacks, iPhones...

]]> poo poo http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796002 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796002 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:02:26 -0800 Comment by matthew fisher wilder As someone who hated wearing even some slight form of uniform in school, I (mostly) agree with Charles here.

I only disagree on the hair-splitting phenomenon of people who only spend money on clothes, which slightly warps the idea that better clothes = richer. But again, hair splitting.

This still won't stop nerds/geeks from being beat up on or anything, but it does some form of neutralization. Better than none.

]]> matthew fisher wilder http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796006 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796006 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:06:32 -0800 Comment by elenchos I think it's funny that the drive for school uniforms mostly comes from conservatives, who claim we live in a classless society. And who further claim that distinctions of wealth are not a form of oppression.

So now are they admitting that class exists, but saying they just want to paper it over so it doesn't show so much? Or do they expect to separate the classes further with 'school choice?' Maybe the power of wealth is so secure that they no longer need to worry that class consciousness is a threat.

]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796010 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796010 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:19:45 -0800 Comment by Cale i dont think uniforms are so great. poor people would still be poor and would still find constant reminders of that.

i propose instead that we severely reduce janitorial activity in schools and make the kids take turns engaging in the group activity of cleaning part of the school after classes are over like they do in japan. this teaches kids something essential about being human, which is the physical and hopefully the metaphorical mess we leave behind. it shows us that everyone should be involved in cleaning our acts up, no matter what our position in society.

it brings everybody down to the same level, no one is exempt.

]]> Cale http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796014 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796014 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:22:15 -0800 Comment by tsm I went to schools with and without uniforms, and am in favor of them. The class issues may still exist to some degree, but I'm convinced they're more muted in a uniformed environment. Also, in the uniformed environment, I somehow spent marginally less time distractedly fantasizing about banging senseless the girl sitting next to me, which occupied entirely too much of my adolescent brainspace at other times.

]]> tsm http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796031 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796031 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:33:36 -0800 Comment by gavingourley Let's not forgot the parents. My school uniform was made out of some indestructible polyester fabric. I'd come home all covered in shit and my mom would throw it all in the machine - pants, blazer, tie, everything - and it came out clean and pressed. You couldn't remove the crease from the front of the pants if you ironed it flat.

]]> gavingourley http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796049 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796049 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:04:49 -0800 Comment by christopher elenchos- is it really coming from conservatives? Most times I hear it brought up, it's in the politically neutral topic of trying to ablate the bullying problem. But if you're following the news more closely than I, maybe you know better. Give some examples.
-

]]> christopher http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796073 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796073 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:23:09 -0800 Comment by Gloria No khaki pants! Agh, fuck. All navy is the way to go.

]]> Gloria http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796179 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796179 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:57:27 -0800 Comment by elenchos "Give some examples?"

Well since you asked me so nicely, I have to ask: why? Should I Google it for you because you're my friend? Is it because of how much I like you? Because I want to reciprocate all the examples you gave to support your claim that it's a politically neutral position?

Fuck off.

]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796185 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796185 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:02:44 -0800 Comment by Jason Black > School uniforms are rational. Why? Because they greatly reduce the class stress caused by teen fashions, by flashy back-to-school items.

You meant that sarcastically, right? Please, tell me you did.

I went to a high school with a dress code. I wasn't in the upper class that 95% of the rest of the student body was in.

The rich kids spotted me immediately. Uniforms reduce class stress? What a complete and utter load of festering pig shit.

Who, me? Bitter? Nah...

]]> Jason Black http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796189 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796189 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:07:53 -0800 Comment by Kiru Banzai I went to an American school with no uniforms and my boyfriend went to a Catholic school with uniforms. We both dyed our hair unnatural colors and made a bunch of other sartorial choices to proclaim our individuality. He's in favor of uniforms on the basis that they keep kids from looking down on poor kids for their clothes, where I've always viewed them as a way for The Man to stop students from doing their thing.

Oh, also he's poor and I'm rich.

]]> Kiru Banzai http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796283 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796283 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:00:13 -0800 Comment by Kristin Bell I HATE UNIFORMS! There is nothing like being the fattest kid in the school and having NONE of the preselected uniform sizes fit and trying to squeeze into the largest size available. Meanwhile everyone else looks the same, but you look like a fat freak. Of course, fat kids don't exist in the world, so I'm sure there's no problem with it. WHATEVER! Uniforms aim to make everyone look the same, but the truth is we AREN'T all the same! If I wanted to wear a uniform I would go to Catholic school. I don't want to, so I wear my own clothes. And, as if it would keep kids from knowing whose parents are the richest and poorest. Again: whatever! UNIFORMS SUCK!!!

]]> Kristin Bell http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796365 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796365 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:02:15 -0800 Comment by brie Plus, uniforms somehow make all those cute English History boys all the hotter. Thanks for the pic, Charles.

]]> brie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796424 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/the_one_form#c796424 News Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:41:59 -0800