Rahm Emanuel wants to require acceptance letters for high school graduation

[Mopsus]

This is up there with school uniforms as bad ideas.

What's wrong with school uniforms?

They can be an undue burden on poor students and family's, and they get rid of the individuality that all students should have and need.

There's nothing individualistic about what adolescents wear.

[Mopsus]

There's nothing individualistic about what adolescents wear.

Disagree. But even if we accept your premise, at least they're choosing to wear the same stuff as everyone else, rather than having the school force it upon them.

Exactly: We must teach our children that conforming to legitimate authority is much more important than conforming to peer pressure.

[Mopsus]

I would think that should be a parental issue if anything. But my point is that people, even children, should have the freedom to conform or not conform to peer pressure when it involves something as harmless as clothing, at least insofar as the government goes.

Deciding whether to accept or reject peer pressure is far from an unforced, abstract choice. That's why the state must intervene on the side of reason.

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Kids may be. Not teenagers though.

[Mopsus]

I don't think it's abstract. I just don't see why the state should be involved in something so trivial. It's just clothing. We're not talking about peer pressure to do drugs or perform dangerous stunts or something.

Schools have a responsibility to do more than educate: they have a responsibility to built up. Kids must be taught how to present themselves.

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What I mean is that teenagers don't express themselves through what they wear - they express the group that they identify with.

[Mopsus]

I'm not saying there can't be a dress code, but I thought we were talking about uniforms. Nobody presents themselves (or very few do anyway) through uniforms unless actually required to.

There should be some variation in student uniforms, as different people have different color palettes, body types, etc. Students should be taught these things, because they're unlikely to learn them anywhere else.

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It's in the best interest of schools to suppress subcultures, so that they don't distract from the learning environment. What kids want to do in their free time should be reserved for their free time.