Anyone else had this happrn?

My kids school decided to institute a uniform. My kids dont have to do it next year. They have until the 5th grade to switch over.

Anyone elses town done this and the parents overturned it?

I blogged about it last night, so instead of retype it all I will just copy and paste it here.

And I know that some people love it, but I dont, so please dont try to convince me.

But if you or someone you know did fight the system and get it changed, please let me know. I have done alot of stuff like campaigning, but never had to do something like this. But I am going to do SOMETHING.

an excert from: Come on little sheeps, Get in line now...


I got a phone call from a friend today. She wanted me to look online at the local paper. Seems last night our school board had decided to impliment a uniform for our kids. No warning, no advanced notice, just do it and damn the taxpayers.

they have to wear oxford shirts or collared pullovers. in 6 colors, maroon, grey, black, orange, yellow or green. And they have to wear navy or kahki pants or shorts, or skirts. It starts in 5th grade and goes to 12th.

I am BEYOND pissed. I dont let my kids dress inappropriatly. Their clothes FIT, they dont show their underwear, they are properly groomed (bzz cuts and all). I dont appriciate someone else telling ME that my kids cant dress like they always have. Jeans and boots. The shirts I dont really have a problem with. Except there are no girl colors. (for when Rayley gets up there, not for the boys). My kids do wear those types of shirts. Heck, up until this last semester they only wore a T shirt one day a week, the rest of the week they wore button up shirts. But they outgrew them and all I could find on the clearence racks were T shirts. And that was really just the last few 6 weeks. I dont let them wear anything in public that I wouldnt let them wear to church.

But we are not preppy, and they specifically said ".... a casual buisiness enviroment' My kids are KIDS, in school, they are NOT employees in an office setting.

And they wear JEANS and BOOTS. Matt wont wear ANYTHING other than Jeans and Boots. He wont even wear shorts if its 110* outside. There is NO way he is gona wear dockers, or cheeno's or what ever in the hell you call them. And they sure as HELL wont wear loafers.

And I am NOT going to make them do it. They deserve to be their own people. I pay for them to go to that school with MY tax dollars. They had no right to just decide they were going to take away my childrens individuality.

And the arguments about someone picking on them becuase of teh clothes they wear? well I was poor. I wore jeans and boots or homemade clothes. I NEVER got picked on. This is a country town. Sure there are kids wearing hillfigure, or gap, or what ever. But there are also kids wearing jeans and boots. And Matts boots are ariats, they dont get any more expensive than that.

I dont want to raise sheep. I want them to be themselves. Matt LOVES to wear overalls. Regular jean overalls, pin striped conductor overalls ( those are his sunday go to meetin overalls), it doesnt matter, he LOVES them. All the old timers here wear them. You can go to a funeral and folks have them on. They are clean, they are pressed, but they are what those men wear.

Their daddy has one pair of shorts, and doesnt wear them in public, he sleeps in them. when he gets dressed its jeans, boots and a shirt. you wont see him any other way. They are the same way.

To make them be someone differnt isnt fair to them. If the schools have a problem with people letting their pants droop downa nd showing their underwear, then BY GOD, tell them to pull them up. Dont like the T-shirts with sayings? then dont let them wear them.

But dont try to make them all look like stepford children just because you think it looks more professional. And its not even as much my boys. What about my girl? she has to dress like a boy? look like she works at walmart? (their uniforms are blue shirts and kahki pants). SHe is a girl. SHe loves colors, and skirts, and shoes. She has to look like one of the other drones just to be educated?

THere are some moms that are already online trying to find the uniforms. They say "well whats done is done, we cant change it" uhhhhhh... if they told you right now to bring all your guns and money to the court house square and turn it in would you just do that with out a fight?

We are becoming a society of wimps. Not standing up for ourselves or what we belive in. we are just letting others make our decsions for us and accepting that they know best. Its sad. And scary. Stand up. if something pisses you off, BY GOD say something. Dont just sit there and hope it all gets better. The only thing worse than being a push over is teaching your kids its okay to be a push over. or that they should strive to be like everyone else.

I am not sure what can be done, but I am going to try to do something. You can tell me that its easier, its cheaper, its this or that. No, its someone telling me that I cant raise and dress my children they way I see fit. Its someone telling my children that being themselves and having confidence in who they are is NOT valid. That they need to look and act like everyone else. My kids wear a white undershirt. tuck in their outershirts, wear a belt, and have holes in the knees of their jeans. They are KIDS.

As far as being cheaper? No, its more expensive. I would have to shell out for these uniforms. THEN buy them clothes to actually wear. That would mean an extra load of laundry a day. They would have to come in and change out of their clothes for school into jeans and shirts and going out to play.

How in the hell is it easier? because thats all there is in teh closet? or because mommy's dont have to think?

And what the hell are they going to do in the winter? tell me to buy my kids a kahki 'members only' jacket? If they are worried about gangs, then what will keep these kids from wearing a certain team jacket? Mine wear camoflage. its a twofer. they have to have them for hunting and need a jacket for school. So I buy them a camo jacket and they are set.

Can they not wear a dallas cowboys jacket? Or their hoodies? sometimes its not real cold,(or they loose their jackets) they just throw on a hoodie. So they cant wear them anymore?

and as far as if they all look the same they wont pick on each other, are you telling me the rich kids shirts wont have a horse and rider? or an aligator? their pants wont have that little tag that makes them cost 60.00 a peice? Bull crap. They WILL.

I have already bought next years clothes on clearence. thats how I do it. All I have to buy is their jeans. WRANGLES. 14.00.

I am sorry, I am just so pissed about this, I cant belive that someone else is taking it upon themselves to dictate the colors my kids can wear. I am all for a dress code. Dont mind the silly little rules, but a uniform is going above and beyond. I want to know if the teachers have to wear it too? or do they get to wear their cutsie little skirts and appliqued shirts? Do they get to wear the multicolored scarfs and pinks and reds?

or do they have to pick from the drab colors? The lack of fashion and comfort. Are they still going to get to wear jeans all week? while my kids are having to wear those stupid slacks?




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Well since you didn't want any opposition to the idea, then I'll just say, good luck.

Heheh...me too Dee

I know several years ago, our school district wanted to do uniforms, but a lot of parents/students campaigned against it. Not sure what they did tho. I do remember the one example that was used a lot was not all uniforms look good on everyone. So kids could be picked on because they have to wear something that don't suit/look good on them instead of regular clothes that suit and look good on them. I can ask my mother more about the fight (she was one that was campaigning against uniforms for my little sister).

THANK YOU dawn!!

and your right. heck making MY kids who wear boots and jeans wear this would KILL their self esteam. They dont do the preppy thing. EVER. Matt would make himself sick so he didnt have to go to school on PE days because he hated wearing tennis shoes. I would make him go anyway, and solved that problem this year buy buying chukkas.

And Rayley is a PINK gal. PINK, purple, flowers. She lives for that.

If they just had to wear button up shirts that would be fine. They dress like George Strait all the time anyway. But those shirts are plaid, and differnt colors and all that.

But please do, and (((THANK YOU))) for the encouragement!

Girl, I'm in total agreement with you on the uniform thing. I HATE the damn things for all the reasons you listed.

When my son was little (he's 18 now) the school he was in tried to implement the uniform thing. The reasons they gave were that kids wouldn't be distracted by what each other was wearing and everyone would look alike, and we'd save money. That's bullshit, it just makes you have to spend twice the amount of money for clothes. I just ignored the rules and sent my son to school in his regular clothes and when I was contacted I told them I how I felt about the whole thing ( in not such a nice way), and I told them if they wanted my son to wear a uniform then they could provide it. Lot's of the other parents did the same and they finally gave up on the idea.

When he was in middle school they had a rule that you had to have your shirt tucked in and a belt on. Well my son doesn't tuck his shirt in to go to church and he doesn't wear a belt. I refused to make him tuck his shirt in or wear a belt and I got called to the school one day for a conference. They had my son in the office missing class because he didn't wear a damn belt to school. The school officer had made my son tie a rope around his waist to wear as a belt and had put on a big show about it in front of all the other students. My son got upset about it and told them he wasn't wearing a rope so to call his momma. Needless to say when I walked in that school and saw him like that I raised hell. I told them they needed to worry about educating my son, not what he was wearing. They tried to threaten me with suspending him for not dressing "properly" and I told them to go ahead and try it, because when he returned he'd be dressed the same as he was now. And if they continued to disciminate against my son they would be talking to my lawyer. They shut real fast. What really made me mad about the whole thing is there were LOTS of kids walking around with thier the shirts untucked or no belt on but they weren't done that way. I pointed that out to them as well. After that little scene in the office I was never contacted again nor was my son made to wear a rope around his waist. The resource officer also got a good dressing down by her boss (the county sheriff who happened to be my sons great uncle).

Sorry for the long story but I thought I'd share my experience. I think the school is there to provide them an education PERIOD. Not to tell them ME what my kids can wear. As long as their butt isn't hanging out there pants or the girls aren't showing something that shouldn't be and the clothing doesn't have bad words ect. on them then I feel they No right to dictate what I send my kids to school in. If I wanted them to dress in uniforms I'd send them to private school.

I'm not one to sit by a take it just because someone says it's so.

((((((((THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!))))))))))))))

exactly, if I choose to pay for private school then FINE. I am going in there KNOWIN they require a uniform.

This year they said NOONE (prek-12) could have holes in their pants and had to tuck in their shirts and wear belts.

My kids wear belts everyday, and DO leave the house with their shirts tucked in. it doesnt last, by the time they get home their shirts are HALF tucked in. LOL but its just how they dress. You see the cowboys on TV? my kids dress like that.

I got told by my sons teacher that he would be needing new pants soon, his were getting worn in the knees and she just wanted to remind me about the ruels.

I told her that he was a 8 year old BOY. he spent half his life on his knees. and I was NOT going to buy new pants UNTIL they were outgrown (twice a year, once at Bretts birthday and christmas in Dec. and Matts in april, they have outgrown their jeans and the whole family pitches in to buy them new jeans. they both wear the same size.)

I also toldher that she was MORE than welcome to send him to the office, I would be HAPPY to let them know that he WOULDNT be getting new jeans because he had worn those for a month. I IRON my kids clothes. They have matching belts and boots. They wear undershirts, they are happy like that.

I agree iwth you 100%.

My husband wears a unifrom. Its requriered for his job. He knew that GOIN IN. he has had jobs where he didnt have a uniform. Jobs where he did and I had to wash them, and this job, where they supply it, and THEY wash it. This is by far the best one. he doesnt mess up HIS clothes, he messes up theirs (oil field worker, nasty nsty nasty)

And he is fine iwth it. But the minute he gets home he puts on his wranglers, boots and belt. just to watch TV. LOL That is how he is comfertable.

You are an insperation!!

Your welcome. The school hated me..lol. Before the big showdown in the office I was getting phone calls like twice a week about him not dressing right. It got to the point where when I answered the phone and found out it was about him not dressing right I'd just repeat "Don't call me about what he's wearing unless his butt's hanging out", then I'd hang up.

Sorry hit send too soon..lol

My husband wears uniforms to work too. He knew he'd have to wear them so he's ok with it.

The school tried using the line, "When he grows up he might have to wear a uniform, we are just trying to get them ready for the real world". To which I responded with, "If he has to wear a uniform it will be his choice." I hate when they try to act like they are smarter than you..lol

I love that hubby was to wear a uniform. He works in a milk plant, they provide them and they wash them. I hate milk, can't stand the stuff of it and the last thing I want is him coming in with laundry stinking like rotten milk and cat piss. ( the mixture of rotten milk and peroxide smells very similar to cat piss) I wont even let him near the house with his work boots on if he doesn't leave them at work. Eww. That said I would like it even less if he worked with oil, lol.

I think uniforms are a bad bad idea and I hope you and the other parents are all over that. Not in public school, and I know I wouldn't want to walk around looking exactly like everyone else, why do it to a child developing their own style and identity.

I go round and round with the school here almost daily during the school year. They tried to implement a High School uniform 3 years ago ONLY for the High School, my oldest was a senior, and they all decided( themselves) to NOT wear the uniforms on the first day, they all, the entire senior class wore t shirts, shorts and flip flops. All were within the dress code the year before. It took a week or so of noone wearing them, and they gave up.

They finally figured out that I WILL do what it takes for them to follow the laws, and they have stopped picking on my kid. Now, I am waiting for them to tell me again that my nephew needs to cut his hair.........my reply is "But the girls have hair to their butts, make them cut it"

Dh wears a unfiorm at work too, and I WISH they would wash them.......ever smelled a refinery?

I do not have to deal with that yet. I know that if my son was older and going to a CPS, then it would be required for uniforms but here in Rockford, I do not know if that is how they work.

Growing up, I did not have to. There were rumors, sure. The high school I went to implemented a rule that no band shirts were allowed, but it went into effect the year after I left, so I do not know how that panned out.

I would love to not to have to buy a uniform for my son, but with me thinking of putting him in a private school, then I will be prepared. But a public school? BS There can be rules such as no band shirts, skirts must be so much from the knee, no tank tops (I did go to a JR high that said tank tops were okay, but if a bra strap showed, that was a no-no) so on and so forth. But they need to be reasonable. NOT EVERY PARENT HAS THE MONEY TO GO TO AMBERCOMBIE AND FITCH AND BUY CLOTHES EVERY WEEKEND. (sorry, just went with the tone in my head, lol). growing up, I was poor, yes, and I wore hand me downs, yes. Did I care? A little? What did I do? I had my own style. I made it work. i made it look like it was something new.

I wish you luck in dealing with it.

My hubby also has to wear a uniform at work, and I think that is great. He cuts steel with a saw all day and deals with getting dirty. He ends up covered in oil so much that all of his socks are discolored. When he was a temp, he had to wear his own clothing, and there are so many pairs of pants and t-shirts that got ruined. When he got his uniform, we threw them all out. When I did attempt to wash them, I had to do it in a seperate washer and it would leave a weird residue. Eventually we gave up.

Erin,
I WISH the people here had the ..... uh.... GUTS.. yea, to buck. A few will get mad, but there are already some trying to find the stuff online. At least try to do something. And these arnt parents that wanted it. They just heard the news and said "oh well, nothin we can do now"... You have to wonder what else they would give up if they were told to. ??

I LOVE that your daughters class had the guts to do that. we were the same way in school. they told us one year that we couldnt have SR skip day. And they scheduled tests that day. And if we skipped we would not get to walk. So we showed up.
THEN coincidentaly a week later we all got sick.. Boy were they pissed. But what can you do when everyone gets the flu?

The next year the kids were told they couldnt. That if they skipped they wouldnt walk. and they didnt. chicken shits.

I won't oppose you Chelle, but I will say that part of the problem is that the teachers have enough to do without playing dress code police every day. This is gonna happen whether or not there's a dress code. As you pointed out, shirts on little boys do nott stay tucked in. How many times a day will the teachers have to remind them to retuck? It won't be pretty.

My kids did elementary in a private school and every day there were kids in the office having parents called because of dress code violations. Our particular school had a big problem with girls wearing bikers shorts. They didn't think they were appropriate. They did eventually move to a dress code but it took years to get that approved. Parents went ballistic.

Even without the official "dress code" our school had silly rules we had to follow. I saw a girl in the office having her parents called because she wasn't wearing snow pants. This was a 6th grade girl, so she was 11 or 12, pretty much fully grown (physically). The kids were required to wear snow pants on the playground as long as there was snow on the ground. I live in northern Michigan and we have snow on the ground still in May. And if there was one little bitty pile of snow left in the shade that hadn't melted yet, a child could conceivably climb onto it and get wet, so the dreaded snow pants rule applied. Try getting your kids into snow pants on a 65 degree day in May!!!

Well, I've not had time to read all the replies since I'm trying to real everything that was posted since I went AWOL for Caly's party, so forgive me if I say what's already been said.

I am adamantly opposed to school uniforms. I have several reasons.

1. They tend to become more expensive since the stores know that you have to buy them.
2. Some kids will naturally look better in the approved styles, so the ones who don't will still be targeted.
3. The kids are not adults in a business environment, so they shouldn't be required to dress like it.
4. They clothes are not suitable for gym classes, recess, or any sort of physical activity, and childhood obesity is at an all time high.

But most importantly, school uniforms do not allow freedom of expression. They limit the ways a child has to express who he or she is. They do not allow for individuality. They stiffle creativity. They imply that they school body is more important the the children which make it up. They imply that you are nothing more than a part of the whole, not important, not unique, not special. They are EXACTLY the same as gang colors. They are an attempt to define who a child is by what he wears.

Thank you Karen.
May I quote you in my letter to the school newpaper? Actually you have repeated everything I said. And arent one of the main 'clothing styles' for gang members the dickie pants?
what are they? what colors do they come in?
Kahki and Navy.

and serioulsy, where is the girly stuff?? no pink, no purple, no polka dots, stripes, butterflies and bows?

Not to mention you are targeting the kids that are obese. They look the WORST in tucked in shirts and slacks. They have no camoflague.

My kids are skinny, they dont have that problem. But my husband isnt. And he does.

Lori, I agree that being the fashion police isnt the teachers job. But when I was in HS the principals used to stand in front of the doors ( and they do this at each school to this day, its policy. like a walmart greeter) If your skirt was questionable, your shirt showed your bra, you had a blue mohawk, or your shoes were 8 inches tall, you were pulled into the office.

Our teachers always stood outside the doors during class changes, partly to make you feel more welcome, partly to remind you to go back and get your book, and mostly to keep the PDA and fights to a minimum. If the principals missed you, the teachers would. Noone ever made it past 2nd period.

Plus there was always that snitch who would say your skirt was too short.

If you violated the rules you were sent down to the office, where they got out the ruler, or gave you safety pins, or told you to call your mom.

ANd our schools instituted the tuck in rule this year. The teachers cared less than the kids did.

They DO constantly tell the kids to pull up their pants. I hear it constantly. but that wont change with a uniform.

You can buy uniform pants 2 sizes too big same as blue jeans. They will still be showing their underwear.

I don't mind in the least, Chelle. The uniforms are a real problem for me. Feel free to quote me anytime you like.

*looking for that quote that says "your so smart chelle, I want to be just like you when I grow up*

I seemed to have missed that one, but I'm sure it must be in there somewhere!

Yeah, dh looks ridiculous when he tucks, only for weddings and funerals, but ridiculous still. DD is chunky, does not tuck and I ain't gonna make her.

Another thing about dress codes... those in favor often make the arguements that students will be less distracted and also that less teasing will occur. But aren't those BS arguements? Because if your kid is too distracted by someone's clothes to pay attention to his teacher or to do his classwork... if your kid is unable to see a poorly dressed classmate and resist teasing her... then the problem with your kid is not the clothes he is wearing or the clothes his classmates are wearing. The problem is a rather stunning lack of self-discipline. I'm reminded of a story in The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. When describing how simple-minded a group of dwarfs were, he told of how they found a cat in the cow barn so set about moving all the milk to safety. They never considered that the problem could be more easily addressed by moving the cat.

hmmmmm.. very interesting. I had never heard that, but it sure fits.

I do belive this is a PC thing. THey are afraid to tell the ones that are dressing like gang members to stop. So they will just punish the collective whole. The ones showing their underwear are STILL showing their underwear. The ones wearing blue and red bandanas are STILL wearing them.

SO if it boils down to a gang thing ( the week before school was out there was a huge fight between the 2 'gangs' that identify themselves with the two differnt sets of goverment housing here. ) then why punish those that are NOT in a 'gang'. Why not work to STOP the gangs. ??

This is a whole lot of time and energy wasted to screw with the majority of the population because you have a few idiots who could give a rats ass about an education.