|
I do understand both sides of the uniform issue. As a culture we take our civil rights very seriously. I've personally gone to school and raised hell because the Principal made a friend of my daughter's take a nose ring out because "this is not the image our school would like to project". If I as a parent allow my child to get her nose pierced, who is the Principal to tell her she cannot wear it? He has no clue what our religious or cultural beliefs are.
But on the other hand, as late as the 70s boys were required to keep their hair cut short and wear slacks and white shirts. Girls still had to kneel on the ground to check if their skirt length was too short. In the 80s when I went to school, shorts were only acceptable in gym class.
There was a show on MTV or VH1 about how different schools deal with different discipline issues. There was a marathon on one day and I watched a few episodes. In one southern school a boy in HS had his hair touching his ears, eyebrows and collar. This violated their dress code so he had a choice: either he could leave school at that moment get a hair cut and have 6 Saturday schools or he could allow a teacher to cut his hair right then and have detention for that day. The teacher cut his hair in school. I would absolutely have flipped out if they did this to my child! This is a PUBLIC school! I wondered how they address Native American culture!
But our schools have drastically changed in the last 40 years. In elementary schools our children are somewhere in the top 15 worldwide, but by the time they reach Jr. High we are very near the bottom and yet it still costs us nearly twice as much to educate them. One of the most glaring differences between our children and their European cousins is our attitude in what is acceptable in school.
On another note, our school district extended the day to 8 hours a few years ago, when my daughter was a senior. Last year they cut it back again last year because they discovered that that additional 30 minutes a day translated into thousands of additional dollars in energy costs that they could not afford.
We (student + parent) have to sign a "contract" with the school every year. The three hours a night of homework must be a standard set somewhere, because the student agrees to dedicate three hours to homework a night and the parent agrees to enter into a "partnership" with the school to educate their child.
Another thing that I found astonishing is that a neighboring community started charging a registration fee every year for a PUBLIC school 10 years ago. At that time it was $25 per child. I had four kids in school, after spending literally thousands to outfit (have to have three pairs of shoes each) and supply these kids for school, I do not have an extra $100 to enroll my kids in school!
__________________
I've been married for 24 years and have four wonderful children.
|