Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2017

101 / 202

|
INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS
Back to School Style
A HISTORY OF THE UNIFORM
Back to school: three simple words that have the
power to provoke an immediate sense of dread
and anxiety in parent and child alike. Buying
books, pencils, paper, binders, book bags, and,
of course, finding the perfect outfit are part of
the first day of the brand-new year. Every parent and child
knows the routine rush as summer
comes to a close, but for those who
attend schools with a required school uniform, preparing for
the new semester might not be as daunting.
School uniforms have become a popular phenomenon
in the United States, particularly in the last two decades, but
they are still a controversial topic. Some argue that mandating
all students to dress alike in traditional clothing deprives them
of individuality and self-expression, while others claim that
they provide a level playing ground for all students to thrive,
allowing them to focus on academic success.
Although the first recorded school uniforms were
worn in 13th century England, modern uniforms draw
influence from the 16th century. Contrary to popular
belief, the tradition of the school uniform was born in
charity schools like Christ’s Hospital Boarding School in
Great Britain, which utilized donations from the public to
provide a uniform of blue cloaks and yellow stockings for
their underprivileged students. This sparked the trend of
required school uniforms in all educational institutions, but
the practice became most prominent in the private arena.
Most of the original uniforms, including those at Christ’s
Hospital Boarding School, strongly resembled the attire of
the clergy. Such traditional clothing, still mandatory in most
modern British schools, has been incorporated into our own
scholastic culture.
Until the end of the 1980s, school uniforms in the
United States were traditionally reserved for private
schools. However, in 1987, this all changed when public
school districts in Maryland and Washington, D.C.,
began to experiment with mandatory dress codes. In the
1990s, President Bill Clinton and his administration
enthusiastically promoted the introduction of the school
uniform to all public school districts across the nation as
a means to introduce law and order in the classrooms by
eliminating economic factors and endorsing academics.
In one of his speeches in 1996, the president stated: “If it
BY EMILY PASCHAL
means that the schoolrooms will be more orderly and more
disciplined and that our young people will learn to evaluate
themselves by what they are on the inside, instead of what
they’re wearing on the outside, then our public schools
should be able to require their students to wear uniforms.”
By the end of the 1990s, the Long Beach, California,
school district required by law that all public schools
establish a formal school uniform by which all students
would abide. After its first year with mandated uniforms was
successful, other states began indoctrinating school uniforms
into their own educational systems. School uniforms have
become common in private and public schools alike.
Different schools approach the concept with different
opinions in regards to the importance of a uniform dress
code. Susan Splendido, principal of Christ Our King School
in Mount Pleasant, stated: “Catholic school administrators
feel strongly that wearing a uniform decreases an element
of social pressure, allowing kids to focus academically. We
actually see a difference in the classroom atmosphere on
TAG Days (out of uniform days). We also feel strongly that
wearing uniforms helps the students grow and mature from