Students want to choose their own clothes
By LEE TANT, T&D Staff Writer Monday, April 20, 20099 comment(s) | Default | Large
Felton Laboratory School student Taylor Reynolds has been wearing a uniform to school since kindergarten.
Next year, she will attend Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. Reynolds was looking forward to finally being able to showcase her own style.
Reynolds is "not really excited" that the Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five Board of Trustees voted last week to require high school students to wear uniforms.
"I don't really feel good about it because it I don't get to wear my regular clothes at school like I want to," she said. She does like that uniforms prepare students for the business world, but feels it stifles students' freedom of expression.
The board voted 5-1 last week to require uniforms in district high schools, just as it does in lower grades. The Rev. Nate McMillan was the only trustee to vote against the change. The details will be developed in coming weeks.
OCSD 5 trustee Bo Gathers said high school uniforms will "create an enhanced climate for learning by eliminating daily distractions."
He believes the uniforms will increase school safety and boost student achievement, in addition to reducing peer pressure to keep up with the latest fashion trends.
"The uniforms cost significantly less than most parents pay for unregulated school clothing," Gathers said.
Like Gathers, Hawanya Thompson thinks uniforms will help kids concentrate more on their studies.
Thompson has a daughter who attends Robert E. Howard Middle School in OCSD 5, where uniforms have been in place for several years.
"It also helps you save money," she said.
Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School sophomore Shaquea Guinyard said students are "very angry."
She dismisses the board's logic that uniforms will increase security and reduce discipline problems.
"I think the uniform idea is ridiculous! ... Making us wear uniforms is going to cause a bigger distraction than regular clothes. This is a public school and we should not be told what to wear," Guinyard said.
Guinyard said the school is getting by just fine with the current dress code.
"Everyone is against the policy except the board," she said.
Two high schools in OCSD 4 are also considering implementing a uniform policy. Edisto High School and Cope Area Career Center officials are gauging support from stakeholders.
OCSD 4 Superintendent Dr. Darrell Johnson said uniforms shouldn't be mandated without majority support. He's asking the two high schools to hold a series of meetings before asking for board approval.
Johnson said he sees both sides of the issue.
He thinks uniforms would improve school safety. But for high school students, he notes it's important for them to learn how to dress properly.
"I think there are pros and cons. It really becomes a community issue," he said.
He believes the uniform issue should be decided by individual schools.
That's what the Charleston School District did with its approach to uniforms in high school. Half of the district's high schools require uniforms, according to Lou Martin, associate superintendent for high schools.
"It's working out very well," Martin said.
The district also has a waiver policy for families that can't afford uniforms, Martin said.
Lacreashia Seckal said uniforms have improved student behavior at Dover Elementary School, which her daughter attends. But she thinks the policy is better for younger kids than high school kids.
Seckal said high school students "should be able to dress the way they want."
Dorothy Shell is a retired OCSD 5 teacher and has a grandson who attends Sheridan Elementary School.
She argues that uniforms actually cost parents more money to clothe their children. She says many parents won't be able to afford them since they still have to buy their children everyday clothes.
"You're not in private school. It serves no purpose other than to annoy the child," Shell said.
She feels uniforms won't meet their intended goal of minimizing distractions and raising student achievement.
"It's going to create problems," she said
North Middle/High School senior Terry McFadden predicts the policy will likely cause some rebellion from students next year, but he thinks things will eventually settle down.
McFadden is happy he's graduating just in time to avoid having to wear a uniform. They do save money, but most students don't want to wear them, he said.
He said all teachers at North like the idea, while his fellow students "don't like it."
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T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached by e-mail at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-534-1060. Discuss this and other stories at TheTandD.com.
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traveler wrote on Apr 27, 2009 2:43 PM:
And Cooperdog, the real kids who suffer in the district are not the SPED kids because EVERYTHING is geared around them but the kids who are average, not gifted and talented, but just the average kids...they are the ones who get kicked to the curb! There is nothing for them because they don't qualify on either end of the spectrum. Why don't you ask the district how much of their budget goes to the SPED program and the Gifted and Talented Program ?? There are even separate Federal monies for these two categories of students so which students are truly the victims of discrimination ?? I think a dress code is a fantastic idea! I am tired of kids wasting class time primping over outfits that are for the most part indecent and totally inappropriate in a school setting. Parents are apparently buying these clothes so maybe someone does need to step in and control how the parents spend their money on their children's school wardrobe!If they want their children to dress like thugs and whores, they can dress like that on their own time, not the taxpayers time !!! "
cooperdog wrote on Apr 26, 2009 8:54 AM:
prettybrown wrote on Apr 25, 2009 8:19 PM:
alliemiller29 wrote on Apr 24, 2009 12:30 PM:
whatwhyhow wrote on Apr 22, 2009 6:43 AM:
CenterCity wrote on Apr 20, 2009 9:24 PM:
At one time, the uniform at old Orangeburg High School was white skin. The uniform at the old Wilkinson High School was black skin. Would the current school board go so far as to mandate white skin at O-W. I really doubt it. Wasn't the civil rights movement partly about respecting diversity and individual differences? First it was IDs, then shirttails and now uniforms. How far will our power-hungry board go? "
prshirl wrote on Apr 20, 2009 3:41 PM:
Furthermore, with two students at O-W, I will confirm that the current dress code is no where near followed, so why would we believe that a new one will be followed. Additionally, with a student at Howard, I will also confirm that though the students do wear the khaki pants and navy shirts many of the females will wear their pants so tight that it should be illegal, many of the males are still sagging, etc. The difference as to why it mostly works at Howard is because the students are met at the door and immediately written up for non-dress or no badge. "
CenterCity wrote on Apr 20, 2009 8:50 AM:
about 75% of the O-W student body. If they
are serious about enforcing this policy,
that is probably what they will have to do.
This year, I do not think any student has
been suspended for untucked shirttails or
for not wearing their ID around their neck. "
fhsmct wrote on Apr 20, 2009 6:26 AM:
The cost of school cloths decreases, the BS of social pressure to own and wear the latest, expensive fashions decreases, etc, etc.
AND, as a cost saving measure, many systems have instituted programs where people can donate uniforms, new and servicably used, so that those less fortunate may avail themselves thereof.
The argument that the clothing cost for parents more is unsupportable. If anything, thier clothing expenditures should decrease.
With approx 1678 students buying uniforms, the sheer volumn of uniform sales should hold the cost down. "