Dressing for Success--on Volunteer Basis : Uniforms for Schoolchildren Is a Good Idea, So Long as Parents Make the Decision

Several years ago, it was an isolated experiment in Orange County. At Pio Pico Elementary School in central Santa Ana, parents were saying that school clothing was expensive and that the dress of their children might result in their being targeted as gang members. The alternative was a practical voluntary program for youngsters to come to school dressed in inexpensive uniforms.

Principal Judith Magsaysay, looking back on the experience to date, offered this rationale as well: “I think the uniforms also offer a sense of purpose. The children understand they are dressed to learn.”

That experience and those reasons for supporting it have obviously proved convincing for others. As school started this year in Orange County, administrators were reporting that some 25% to 30% of children were showing up in uniforms, and about 50 elementary schools this year were trying out a voluntary shift to color-coded uniforms.

The cost of school clothing, the concern about unintended gang association, and the seriousness of purpose that may go along with uniforms all have contributed to a receptive environment.

These reasons for permitting uniforms are compelling. But in public schools it is important that these opportunities not be considered a requirement. Let parents and youngsters, not school administrators, be the ones to decide that it is worth going with the experiment.

At some schools, like the new Woods Canyon School in Aliso Viejo, the administration reports that 65% of pupils are wearing them. It is interesting to see the phenomenon catch on at a new school, not just in the older and more developed parts of the county.

Clearly this is an indication of the appeal of the idea that goes across a spectrum of locations and communities.

Allowing uniforms for public school students is a good idea, provided that they are not made a requirement.