Should boys be allowed to wear hip hop clothes, a related thread

[Taualumna]

Yes, but school uniforms and very strict dress codes do tone down the peer pressure, even if it is just by a little. In high school, I never really had to worry if my clothes were better or worse than Jenny's or Katie's because I didn't really know what they owned. On grub days (which costs $1 and happens like once a term), we mostly wore sweaters and jeans , if there wasn't a theme (and often there is!). Some people believe that kids should be exploring their interests, trying to find themselves. Well, they can do that after school and on weekends. School is not a place for that. School should be strict, not just in academics, but in what they wear.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Some people believe that kids should be exploring their interests, trying to find themselves. Well, they can do that after school and on weekends. School is not a place for that. School should be strict, not just in academics, but in what they wear.

Why?

I'm sorry, I just think that what was applicable to you isn't necessarily applicable to the rest of the world, and you're still failing to convince me otherwise.

[mu_agd]

remember when west beverly wanted to implement a dress code and the juniors told brandon and andrea that they would go chant "donna martin graduates" with them as long as they help them make sure that never passed? see, kids don't like dress codes!

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Yes, but school uniforms and very strict dress codes do tone down the peer pressure, even if it is just by a little. In high school, I never really had to worry if my clothes were better or worse than Jenny's or Katie's because I didn't really know what they owned. On grub days (which costs $1 and happens like once a term), we mostly wore sweaters and jeans , if there wasn't a theme (and often there is!). Some people believe that kids should be exploring their interests, trying to find themselves. Well, they can do that after school and on weekends. School is not a place for that. School should be strict, not just in academics, but in what they wear.

Did you go to a private or religious school? The dress codes you described sound like private or Catholic school.

I had a dress code at my private school. The teachers made a big deal if you didn't observe the dress code. You had to either sit in the library or go home and change if you violated it. Personally I would have preferred a uniform because there was too much room for interpretation in the dress code.

[Lil' Hannah]

"Of course the great wastage is in the verbs and adjectives, but there are hundreds of nouns that can be got rid of as well... If you have a word like 'good', what need is there for a word like 'bad'? 'Ungood' will do just as well... Or again, if you want a stronger version of 'good', what sense is there in having a whole string of vague useless words like 'excellent' and 'splendid' and all the rest of them? 'Plusgood' covers the meaning, or 'doubleplusgood' if you want something stronger still.... In the end the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words; in reality, only one word."

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Yes, but school uniforms and very strict dress codes do tone down the peer pressure, even if it is just by a little. In high school, I never really had to worry if my clothes were better or worse than Jenny's or Katie's because I didn't really know what they owned. On grub days (which costs $1 and happens like once a term), we mostly wore sweaters and jeans , if there wasn't a theme (and often there is!). Some people believe that kids should be exploring their interests, trying to find themselves. Well, they can do that after school and on weekends. School is not a place for that. School should be strict, not just in academics, but in what they wear.

I went to a high school with almost no dress code at all (you had to wear shoes, pants or shorts, and a shirt), and very little social structure. A kid that was a year older than me became a Rhodes Scholar via Harvard. A fourth of my graduating class got into one of the eight Ivy Leage schools.

Success in school, and successful schools have little to do with dress code. Dress code is sometimes used to compensate for other problems by imposing an order. What makes for a successful learning environment is involved parents, and competent teachers. I'd rather put my children in a school that works and has almost no dress code, as compared to a school that is imposing a dress code to help fight deeper problems.

[norcalchick]

I think it's more about looking decent. My dad will tell my nephews to pull thier pants up if he sees them with thier pants sagging. Just like my dad will tell me to pull up my shirt or cover up if ANY part of my chest is showing. lol. I guess the big deal is that they don't want people to look thuggish or ghetto. (And no, I'm not being racist, cause I know that there are white, mexican, asian, etc wear "hip hop" clothes.)

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by Peaches-n-Cream
Did you go to a private or religious school? The dress codes you described sound like private or Catholic school.

I had a dress code at my private school. The teachers made a big deal if you didn't observe the dress code. You had to either sit in the library or go home and change if you violated it. Personally I would have preferred a uniform because there was too much room for interpretation in the dress code.

Private, girls-only university prep...the VP always had extra uniforms in her office, so if anyone violated uniform code, she'd be sent to the VP to get what she needed.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by PhiPsiRuss

Success in school, and successful schools have little to do with dress code. Dress code is sometimes used to compensate for other problems by imposing an order. What makes for a successful learning environment is involved parents, and competent teachers. I'd rather put my children in a school that works and has almost no dress code, as compared to a school that is imposing a dress code to help fight deeper problems.

I completely agree. Dress codes address the symptom instead of addressing the cause. From what I've seen, they very rarely make any significant changes in the school environment -- they just make a handful of the problems less obvious, but they're still going on there beneath the surface. If you've got a school where class distinction is an issue, uniforms are NOT going to change that one iota.

(This coming from a future educator who has done some reading on what makes schools successful -- and dress codes are never mentioned. Not to mention the fact that chances are that you're not going to get improved results by making school LESS fun than kids already think it is!)

[Taualumna]

It's interesting that people say that dress codes don't really matter, because in Ontario, Catholic school students tend to do better than their public school counterparts. Catholic schools, at least the high schools, have uniforms while public schools don't.

Note: The majority of Catholic schools in Ontario receive full government funding and are run just like public schools.

[valkyrie]

Originally posted by Taualumna
It's interesting that people say that dress codes don't really matter, because in Ontario, Catholic school students tend to do better than their public school counterparts. Catholic schools, at least the high schools, have uniforms while public schools don't.

Note: The majority of Catholic schools in Ontario receive full government funding and are run just like public schools.

Correlation does not imply causation.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by valkyrie
Correlation does not imply causation.

Exactly. There are hundreds of factors that could have to do with that. Maybe Catholic families are more involved in their children's educations than non-Catholics or stress academic achievement more? etc.

I've yet to see a single study that shows that uniforms make a difference in otherwise comparable educational environments.

[wrigley]

Since the birth of rock n roll there were naysayers that predicted the boys who dressed like Elvis or Chuck Berry and wore their hair in pompadour that they would be the downfall of society. The same thing was said when boys emulated the haircuts and dressing styles of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, or Grateful Dead. These babyboomers now are in Congress and running corporations. Somehow they made it through.

[ADqtPiMel]

Originally posted by Lil' Hannah
"Of course the great wastage is in the verbs and adjectives, but there are hundreds of nouns that can be got rid of as well... If you have a word like 'good', what need is there for a word like 'bad'? 'Ungood' will do just as well... Or again, if you want a stronger version of 'good', what sense is there in having a whole string of vague useless words like 'excellent' and 'splendid' and all the rest of them? 'Plusgood' covers the meaning, or 'doubleplusgood' if you want something stronger still.... In the end the whole notion of goodness and badness will be covered by only six words; in reality, only one word."

Um, seriously, I love you.

I'm not sure why people are so concerned about other people's children. If they turn out to be hellions from wearing "hip-hop" clothes, then that's their parents' fault and has nothing to do with you.

[33girl]

Overly baggy pants look effing stupid. I don't care if the people wearing them are white, black, brown, yellow or green or what they are hiding or not hiding in there. I think they should be banned for the same reason dark lipliner/pale lips should be banned - IT LOOKS STUPID!!

The only thing I will say about uniforms is if your school is going to go that route, go all the way. Have a real uniform - don't do this "khakis and a white or blue collared shirt" crap. That only results in kids hating useful clothing (like khakis) and it does nothing to prevent class distinctions, when Susie's shirt is from Lauren and Becky's is from KMart.

I also think some people are forgetting what little bitches junior high girls can be about something as lame as what someone's wearing. I would be more for uniforms for that reason than for the students' "performance."