The Education Wonks describe a tale of school uniforms that worked.
It was in response to the high-level of violent gang activity that the California elementary school district in which I teach adopted a policy of "mandatory" student uniforms back in 1997...In fairly rapid fashion, the governing board...adopted a "student uniform policy." The policy was implemented during the 98-99 school year.On the first day of school, our junior high campus was a "sea of blue bottoms and white tops." We teachers noticed an immediate (and positive) difference in overall student attitudes and behavior...Even though in California parents can "opt-out" of any uniform policy, a surprising number of our district's parents choose not to do so...
For us, student uniforms worked. There was a significant reduction in the amount of gang-related violence in our district's middle and junior high schools.
Was the addition of a school uniform the only change that was made at the time to combat later gang violence, I wonder?
As the Education Wonks note, some disctricts are having to worry about combating gang recruiting at the elementary school level. That, to me, suggests problems that might not be fixed with a bit of fabric.
(Via Joanne.)
Posted by kswygert at June 27, 2005 11:51 PM