School Clothes Essay -- School Uniforms Clothing Dress Codes Essays

School Clothes I strongly believe that children should come with an instruction manual in different languages, after all, even the most complicated computer system or VCR has a manual in three to four languages, or more. Granted, sometimes we can't understand the instructions, but we have them and sometimes even a toll-free help line. Now some people would say their own parent would be the help-line but not always does that work out. Our own parents advice can be, shall I say, out-dated; for example, many would suggest to us "new" parents to tell our child, "what we say goes," or "stop that crying or I'll give you something to cry about," or "do it because I'm the parent and I said so," not the desired tone for positive interaction with our children. So often parents today are left with either, no instructions at all, or, not the right kind of instructions. The school wardrobe dilemma for parents is void of instructions. The mandatory school uniform-code would be the best instruction manual entry available; and to prove this point I'll explore the instruction manual first and continue with presenting facts about school uniforms and their positive effects on parents and children and schools. Let's take a closer look at a possible entry in the instruction manual for parents: "School Clothes, What's Acceptable And What's Not." First the entry would tell us how the exchange should go with your child: parent, "Time to wake up sweetheart. Here's your freshly pressed shirt and trousers, and your brown belt, some matching socks, and your newly cleaned tennis shoes." Child, "Oh, swell mom, thanks. I'm so grateful you ironed my favorite shirt. I'll be down in a jiffy to have breakfast." Okay, so now for reality. The morning routine probably is similar to mine which sounds more like an episode from Law and Order rather than Leave it to Beaver. I wake my child cheerfully every morning and the usual response, no matter how or when I wake him, is "groan, grunt, whine, and ugh." This barrage of pleasant noises is followed by the sweet melody of "I'm so sleepy" or "I can't get up, I'm tired" or "Not now." Then the fun really starts picking out the day's wardrobe. We start with the usual negotiations which pants, and which shirt. Our negotiations entail which items are clean, my idea of clean is completely different from my son's, and which style... ...antly favor children in a school uniform. I support the school uniform code philosophy, because I favor a focus on academia, and a strong sense of school spirit and unity, a positive scholastic environment, building self-esteem from achievements, cost effective clothing budget, and, of course, a head-ache free morning. Works Cited Atkins, Andrea and Jeremy Scholsberg. "Dressed to Learn." Better Homes and Gardens. Aug. 1996:44+. Forest, Stephanie Anderson. "Dressed to Drill: School Uniforms are HOT - And Merchants Are Cashing In." Business Week. 8 Sep. 1997: 40. Gursky, Daniel. "Uniforms Improvement." Education Digest. 61.7 (Mar. 1996) : 46-48. Japanese Consulate of San Francisco. Personal Interview. 29 April 1998. Mancini, Gail Hinchion. "School Uniforms: Dressing For Success or Conformity?" Education Digest. 63.4 (Dec. 1997) : 62-65. Pushkar, Katherine. "Dressed For Success." Village Voice. 40.,3 (17 Jan. 1995) : 12. "School Uniforms?! : New York. January 26." National Review. 26 Feb. 1996:71. Tachibana, Judy. "School Clothes? All The Same To Some Uniform Policy Isn't Uniform In Region, But Trend Grows." The Sacramento Bee. 21 Aug. 1996: B1+.