Monday Teeny Poll
By Glinda
We must have a bunch of ex-cheerleaders as readers, because a full 57% of you said that you think cheerleading is a sport. I have to say I’m torn. I think at a certain level, college or certain high schools, that yes, it can qualify as a sport because they go to competitions. But for the rest of the 90% of the cheerleaders of the world, from four year olds who cheer Pop Warner football to most high school programs, it doesn’t qualify as a sport. And even the athleticism only kicks in at a certain level as well.
Ambiguous enough for you?
Well, there will be no ambiguity allowed in today’s poll, which is partly inspired by a debate at my son’s school to implement school uniforms.
July 27th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
I’d have to say CONDITIONALLY. Forcing poor people to lay out hard-earned money for wool blazers or whatever just isn’t fair. If the uniforms are supplied, then sure.
When I was in Indonesia I met people who could not afford the uniform, so their children could not attend school. Sure, $250 or whatever sounds reasonable to people making a decent income, but since the point of uniforms in public school is at least partly to negate class snobbery, what good does it do if the poor kids can’t afford the uniform?
July 27th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
I think they would serve a useful management goal in middle schools, when clothing becomes an important signaling mechanism for kids (especially, I think, girls) who are trying to define themselves. And they do it by defining others based on what they are wearing.
At the same time, I empathize with parents who could not afford to pay the extra cost of uniforms cuz those puppies are expensive. And, if I were the one who had to wear a uniform, I would bristle at the idea of having to wear what everyone else was wearing. Maybe the in-between solution is one I’ve seen at a few local schools: require basic clothing (e.g., x color shirt, y colored pants or skirt) but not strictly “uniforms.”
July 28th, 2009 at 9:21 am
I went to a uniform private school (a couple of them, actually), and aside from the money considerations, I think that it’s only okay if the uniform is provided entirely through the school so everyone has the same thing. At one school, we had to conform to a dress code, but there was wild competition on the quality of various bits of it, or stylishness, since it only said “grey skirt or trousers, blue blazer, white collared shirt.” At the other, we had to wear a pinafore (later a wrap skirt) which was provisioned through the school, so there was a lot of subtle “my earrings are better than yours” or making fun of people’s shirts.
If the entire thing is only available through the school, then everyone gets exactly the same thing, and it lets there be an easy center for handing things down — return your good uniform pieces to the school when they’re outgrown and they can be used again by someone else (which conveniently reduces the price for uniform scholarships).
July 28th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Like the others, I do think they’re a good idea, as long as the uniforms are affordable to everyone. The expensive blazer and plaid skirt uniform is behind the times. Lots of schools have uniforms that consist of navy or khaki pants or skirt, worn with a white shirt or school polo shirt, and a matching sweater for the winter. Those sort of clothes could be bought anywhere (other than the school polo shirt) at many price points.
My only other issue is that girls should not be forced to wear skirts–I’ve heard of this happening at schools in my area. Girls should have the option of wearing a skirt or dress pants, whichever they prefer.
July 28th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Boo! The poll site is down, which means the poll won’t appear until their site is back up. Hopefully, this will be soon.
For those just viewing, the question was “Do you think school uniforms at public schools are a good idea?”
July 28th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
I know you said no ambiguity, but I am torn on this issue too…
I went to a parochial school with the full on uniform and I don’t think it was very useful. My little sister went to public school with the “khaki or navy pants/ skirt, white polo, maroon school sweater” rule. That was pretty successful in my opinion because it cut down on gang-type dressing since no one got to pick colors, but wasn’t so hard to find that you could only go to one store and have it wind up being very expensive. Target / Walmart / whatever would have everything you needed, and you don’t have to buy more clothes than you normally would.
As far as kids giving each other crap over comparing the quality of garments / earrings / backpacks / other accessories, they will do that no matter what. If it’s not clothes it’ll be haircuts or shoes or what kind of car drops them off. There is no way to prevent that kind of stuff completely.
July 29th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
In my city (New Orleans), the vast majority of public school students wear uniforms, in part because they are so much LESS expensive for families than having to outfit their children with entire wardrobes for school. Typically, a uniform here is a solid color polo shirt with dark pants or skirt, which can be purchased at any major retailer for less than $10 per item. Some schools might have logo shirts or plaid skirts for girls, but even those are no more than $20. I don’t know of any real-life schools that have expensive uniforms. Most families find the uniforms to be money savers, not to mention time savers when you’re getting everyone out the door in the morning.