Parents vs Teachers: Round one - Fight!!

In recent school issues, the headmaster of the Garrison secondary school send a reported more than 200 children home for wearing the incorrect uniform. This caused a HUGE to do in Barbados and sent parents of the children flocking to the school in droves.

I don't know if the parents were issued a letter stating what was wrong with the uniforms that they were in violation of the school dress code or not - but if not, any concerned parent would go to find out just what the issue with the uniform was...however, it seems many of the parents were not concerned about the fact that their offspring were in actual violation of the dress code more than they cared about giving the poor headteacher a piece of their minds.

Let me state clearly which side I take in this dispute.
Team Headteacher!!

The dress and not to mention behavior of school children in this country has become downright disgraceful. Young people have lost, or perhaps never had, respect for themselves, and obviously cannot hold respect for a uniform.
The young men cannot keep their shirts in their pants, while the women hang their belts around their necks rather than their middles, with uniform hems in blatant violation of the rule of most schools, which states uniforms are to be three inches below the knee.

Three inches below the knee may seem like grandma's skirt to you, and while it is true that even an ankle length uniform will not stop hormonal teenage boys (and grown men) from gawking at a round rear end or ample bosoms and making cat calls, the fact remains - That is the RULE, regardless of how you feel about it and therefore it should be followed. It is not to make young people feel stifled in their uniform, but to teach them a sense of self respect and the principle of a time and place for everything, including a way of dress.

Too many parents, because of how they feel about the rules themselves, allow their children to bend them, even if ever so slightly and assure themselves - and young ones - that it is okay to deviate from the rules, if the deviation is minor. So to wear incorrect socks, shoes, pants, or cheat on your hemline, is acceptable if it is not obviously outstanding. Obviously, these parents do not understand the concept of being "uniformed".

I saw this photo where parents tried to show the females in correct uniform as a ploy to demean the authority of the headmaster, but anyone falling for this is dumb as dirt. If the ladies had indeed been dressed in the correct uniform as shown in the picture, why would he have dismissed them? Is he blind? or crazy? I'm sure the man was neither bored nor seeking attention.

Many of the parents used the excuse that they have more than one offspring and some of the female uniforms were short due to the fact that they were forced to wear old uniforms that they were steadily growing out of. Others claimed they could not find correct shoes, socks, etc.
I am certain a simple letter, phone call or visit to the school explaining any of the above mentioned situations to headmaster, deputy or another prominent person would have sufficed. The parents are making excuses for their own lazy, don't carish behavior. HOWEVER, many of them DO SEND their children to school dressed correctly and are unwilling to believe that their angel daughters and sons would willingly adjust their uniforms to breech the school rules claiming the teacher is lying on the child. (Because teachers have nothing better to do, naturally).

Rules are made for a reason, sometimes, we don't agree with them, but they are measures to go about changing things. I wish more parents would encourage their children to FOLLOW rules instead of trying to find ways to bop and weave between the lines. As children go into society they will encounter rules and restrictions everywhere, it is imperative that they understand HOW to deal with rules, and situations that they may not find fair.

Parents only have to deal with one child who may variate from the rules, teachers have to deal with hundreds. It is within the teachers right (and sanity) to maintain discipline in the school setting. The headteacher did not ask for a pint of blood. Only that the young men and women of his school adhere to the simple rule of the dress code. Comon parents, it really isn't that hard.

Food for thought.
Bisous!!xoxo