TO WEAR OR NOT TO WEAR UNIFORMS

Students at Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School do not wear uniforms but wear a variety of clothes. Among them, from left, are James Lyerla sporting a distinctive T-shirt, Juan Romero, Rusty Dailey and Willie Long.

School uniforms can enhance students' self-esteem and eliminate social barriers between students.

Recently President Clinton has called for all schools to adopt school uniforms. In both his recent State of the Union address and while campaigning in California, Clinton cited instances in which children have been shot for their designer shoes and jackets.

The president commended the Long Beach Unified School District in California. In 1994, the district was the first school district in the nation to require uniforms for elementary and middle schools. In the academic year since, the number of fights was down by half and suspensions decreased by 32 percent.

St. Vincent de Paul Grade School is the only school in this area with uniforms. This is the first year that uniforms have been worn at St. Vincent's.

It is hard to find uniforms anywhere between Perryville and Memphis, said Sharon Thompson, principal of St. Vincent's. The change in dress code was prompted by the number of families moving into the area that had grown up with uniforms in their schools, she said.

The change to uniforms was very controversial, she said, and the school is slowly working the uniforms into the grades.

Currently only kindergarten through second grade wear uniforms. Next school year the uniforms will be extended through the fifth grade. These students will then continue to wear uniforms until they graduate. So, eventually kindergarten through eighth grade will all wear uniforms.

"Some people questioned the whole idea of the uniform," Thompson said. "This opposition was because of their lack of input into the decision, the expense of uniforms and the idea that children would not be able to express themselves in the uniforms."

As the school year progressed, most parents who opposed the idea have changed their mind, said Thompson. The students look really sharp, she said, and it brings a feeling of school pride to the students and parents.

Since students have started wearing the uniforms, the teachers have seen better behavior, said Thompson. "It goes back to the basic theory," she said, "that children will act the way they are dressed. For instance if a women is dressed up, she will act more lady-like than if she were wearing jeans and a T-shirt."

The uniforms also eliminate time teachers spend on dress code violations, Thompson said. However, she said, the main focus of the uniforms is to equalize. "With uniforms there are no comparisons," said Thompson, "that deal with economics or brands."

Gerald Richards, principal of Cape Central Junior High School, thinks there is a lot of pluses to uniforms. The junior high students do not wear uniforms.

"With uniforms you don't have to deal with students coming to school with inappropriate clothing," said Richards. "Also differences of opinion, between school and home, on what is appropriate clothing would be eliminated. However, in our community most parents are conservative and tend to agree on what is appropriate."

Currently, Richards said, the biggest problem regarding student's clothes is sagging pants. The sagging pants make up 95 percent of the inappropriate clothing issues dealt with at the junior high. T-shirts with unacceptable words or pictures are some of the other clothing problems.

The pants represent a gang style, Richards said, and are seen often in MTV music videos. "The pants are prohibited on the basis that they are gang related," said Richards. "Teachers have donated belts, and we have twine to hold the pants up, if they are worn to school."

School uniforms would eliminate the status that comes with clothes. "Groups like geek, nerds, redneck are based on how students are dressed and appear," Richards said. "School uniforms would help eliminate some of these labels."

Studies of schools that have uniforms, said Richards, indicate they improve behavior, eliminate social barriers caused by clothes and help enhance self-esteem.

Richards said it is not likely that public schools will require uniforms in the future. However, he said, he thinks a majority of parents would support the idea of uniforms. One of the advantages of uniforms would be the diminished cost of a student's wardrobe.

Uniforms for St. Vincent's students can be purchased at Fashion Designs in the Town Plaza in Cape Girardeau. The cost to outfit students for a year is about $100 for boys, $150 for girls. These prices include two pants, two polos, a sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. The girl's uniform also includes an additional jumper and blouse. The clothes can be worn in a variety of combinations, so students do not have to wear the same thing from day to day.

Some students are receptive to the idea of school uniforms. Jimmy Seabaugh, a ninth-grader at Central Junior High School, said that uniforms would eliminate the need for students to keep up with popular trends. "I think it's dumb that people put so much importance on clothes," Seabaugh said. "That really isn't what school is all about."

Elizabeth Hooker, also a ninth-grader at Central Junior High School, said a majority of clothing is restricted already, so students might as well have uniforms. "We can't wear anything that is cool," she said, "so uniforms wouldn't be all that big of a deal."

Since St. Vincent's has started wearing uniforms, Thompson said, two area schools have called for more information regarding the uniforms. "Obviously," she said, "there are other schools that are looking into getting uniforms."