By CNB

That's a question to which you may answer, with matching fervor, Yes and No and Maybe.

Let's talk about the pros and cons.

First, the Yeses. Georgia Department of Education figures indicate that discipline problems decline by 40 percent in schools that have uniform dress codes. Now, there's some ambiguity in what constitutes a reportable discipline problem and whether all such problems are reported consistently. But that's still a remarkable statistic.

If you had 10 problems this year with Tommy Hilfiger and Nike and surfer and Goth and various assorted clique “uniforms,” then with a standard uniform for all students, next year you will have only six problems. Pretty amazing.

And there's the presumed cost savings. Buy four or five pairs of khaki pants or skirts and the same number of white shirts or blouses and one pair of nondescript shoes for each kid, and parents will have saved a lot of money, compared to what the kids are demanding in multiple expensive brands otherwise.

And there's the idea of less class-conscious consumer excess in favor of increased esprit d'corps of a uniformed troop. (If only that could extend to the cars the kids drive!)

Now, the negatives. Regimentation. Oppressing their creative spirits. Overreaction to multiple societal problems with no definitive cause-and-effect linkage. Individual rights. Personal tastes (“I hate khaki!”).

We lean toward the Maybes.

Maybe strict dress codes would cut down the competitive one-upmanship nature of many kids, fostered by class-conscious parents, who strive to prove that having expensive clothes makes them better persons. (We've heard tales of Fayette elementary school children arguing in class about whose homes had the most square footage.)

Maybe the extreme cliquishness of middle and high school students could be curbed by a uniform exterior. Youth tends to differentiate itself by its self-defined dress codes of body rings and specialized clothing. Maybe that youthful energy could be channeled from outrageous (and mostly useless) externals into more productive adventures.

Maybe uniforms are a start to teaching kids that politeness, as expressed in dress, is a good thing, not something to be shunned and rebelled against.

Maybe we've worried too much about students' “rights” and not enough about their “responsibilities.” Maybe it's time to change that.

We applaud the parents and staff and leaders of Brooks Elementary School, who, after a poll of parents, decided to institute voluntary uniforms next school year.

And we applaud the openness of the Fayette County Board of Education and Superintendent John DeCotis to these ideas and their willingness to consider this proposal by setting up a task force to study the issue of school uniforms.

Let the study begin.

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