Well, it's back to school time, so it's no wonder that a few typical issues poke their heads up at this time of year.  Things like year round schooling.  Or one of my favorites, school uniforms.
      This week, TV and radio stations have been claiming that 73% of those polled are in favour of students being required to wear school uniforms.  Being one of those students who helped stage protests in high school to win students the right to wear shorts, I'm obviously not too fond of that idea.  Let me explain why.
      1. It is part of adolescent psychology for students to want to express their individuality.  Surely there are lots of ways they can do that, but the simplest is through fashion.  Denied that method of self expression, young people will seek out others, some of which may be positive and others probably not so much so.  I feel that mandating uniforms says something about the institution of school, and I wouldn't blame students for feeling that this is yet one more attempt to turn them into drones. 
      2.  Is there a study anywhere comparing public schools with and without uniforms?  Proper studies!  Don't compare students here with those in Australia, or public school students to private school students.  A good study would be comparing Public High Schools to Catholic High Schools.  I don't think this has ever been done to examine a range of criteria that could include behavior, theft and (above all) grades.  While it may not have been done, during my many years as a teacher I've been able to observe and have had colleagues comment on the difference between the two schools, and the Separate system does not out looking very angelic!  One of the main reasons often cited for wanting uniforms is improved behavior or reduced theft.  There is, however, no evidence to indicate that this is true.  (Please feel free to enlighten me if I'm wrong.)
      3.  The timing of this poll is a little suspect.  Why not do it in February or April.  Why do it now, when many parents have just spent a fortune on clothing for their kids.  In the interest of good statistical analysis, it shouldn't be done at a time when parents may have an exposed nerve about the expense and give a knee-jerk reaction.
      4.  Another reason for advocating uniforms is the provocative way in which many teenager (especially girls) dress.  I will readily admit that there is a problem here, but mandating uniforms is not only overkill, but is a cop-out.  Schools and Boards of Education have established dress code standards which are quite capable of dealing with the problem.  Enforcing that code should regulate clothing in a common sense way.  Administrators, though, are often not comfortable dealing with specific issues, and so it may be simpler for them to paint everyone with the same brush.  In addition, regulating what teenagers wear to school is the responsibility of the parents.  Instead of dealing with apparel issues as a parent, are they once again trying to shuffle this responsibility to the schools.  Deal with it!!  Not only is it a parent responsibility, but it may actually lead to some authentic interaction whereby standards and ethics may be communicated.  Mandating fashion totally side steps this.  Do you support the parent who forbids their child to listen to any contemporary music because some of it is bad, or who bans TV totally? Or the parent who completely forbids all sweets or junk food?   Such children, from my experience, never have to make judgments and decisions for themselves, and as a result are much more prone to excess when they become older and independent.   

    Teachers have a unique perspective on people.  No other profession has such intimate contact with a large number and variety of individuals, both students and families.  Plus, the contact tends to be longitudinal, meaning that often you see development over many years.  More than doctors or lawyers, where contact is narrow and fleeting, teachers are in a position to observe, digest and comment on social trends. 

    This week the decline in hockey enrollment by Canadian boys became a news item.  It seems that over the past decade the number of boys actively playing hockey has dropped below 10%, and the Canadian Hockey Association is wondering why.

    As a teacher who has watched families engage and disengage from hockey, I think I can provide a pretty simple answer.  Hockey takes itself too seriously and has become this big mega-production.  Even recreational players have weekends away at tournaments and multiple games per week, some in the early hours of the morning.  This creates both economic and scheduling stress.  Boys who are better players and who graduate to "rep" teams are even under more stress, with elaborate tournaments all over N. America, and the expectation that missing a game is a cardinal offense because the team has to take precenence over family, school and being a kid. 

    The group that we've come to view as "hockey boys" are unable to do anything else in their lives.  I can personally think of several boys I've taught in the past 10 years whose hockey schedules were so stressful that it was hard for them to stay awake in class.  As a youth group leader, trying to get boys invlolved in outdoor wilderness and camping initiatives, more often than not, a boy's participation in hockey will eliminate the possibility of his participating in any other activities.

    In my 30+ years of teaching, I've known many boys who were great hockey players and who had realistic dreams of professional hockey careers.  They put in the time, were seriously scouted, ...and I can't point to one who was successful.  Perhaps if the hockey clubs didn't take the whole thing so seriously, more parents and boys would enjoy getting involved.  Reduce the expense and the time committment, making it a game that can be played just for fun.  That's the way to reach more people!

     If you were looking for a positive example of world politics and human nature, chances are that you would not look to Kenya.  Yet recent developments in that country are a "shining example" to the rest of the world.  (Info from Macleans, Aug 23) 

     Kenya has over 40 diverse ethnic groups with a history of conflict.  But it recently rearranged its political system by way of a new constitution resulting in a new era of peace, -all through non-violent action.  This is not what we normally assume is happening in Africa, or anywhere in the Third World.  If they can do it...

     Possibly the secret has been leaving them alone to develop the solutions to thier own problems.  Ironically, interference from American fundementalist (anti-Islamic) religious groups made an attempt to support the opposition to the new constitution.  Supporters of the new constitution still outvoted the oponents by a margin greater than two to one. 

     http://www.zeleza.com/blogging/african-affairs/birth-kenyas-second-republic