Author: Jacobo Cabrera (Page 3 of 5)

Jacobo Cabrera                

Podcast Idea

During unit 2 I talked about why schools around the United States are starting to implement uniforms, I also talked about the history behind uniforms, how schools implement them, the effects it had on European fashion. I think this is a topic intended for students that attend schools where they have to wear uniforms and they don’t like it or they do not understand why they have to wear that uncomfortable button-up shit. My intention with my research is to let people understand where uniforms come from and explain the reasoning behind it so they can come up with their own conclusions, I want to be impartial so people do not think the same way I do just because they were constantly hearing the bad things about the topic I want them to hear the whole story. So, because this is intended for students in high schools, elementary schools I don’t think just writing is a good idea, I think making a podcast where you can have two people discussing the topic and giving their own points of view can help make the topic less boring and make it a little more interesting. Like I said I plan to do it having a second person also using sound effects like music so it’s not boring and awfully boring.

Jacob Cabrera 10/19/2020

Sources. 

Non-Fiction document

ProCon.org. “Should Students Have to Wear Uniforms?” ProCon.org, 20 Jan. 2020, school-uniforms.procon.org/.

Summary 

In this article the author talked about why uniforms are being implemented in public schools in the U.S. He gives many pros and cons about the topic. He is neither being pro nor against the topic, he is being neutral and letting the reader come up with his own ideas.

 Reflection

I think that this article is very well thought of because before reading this article like the pros and cons I used to be 100% against uniforms. But after reading it I realized that the reason why uniforms are being implemented is very reasonable. Now there are things that I don’t agree with the fact of wearing uniform I share the idea quoted in the text “uniforms infringe upon students’ right to express their individuality, have no positive effect on behavior and academic achievement, and emphasize the socioeconomic disparities they are intended to disguise”, prohibiting people from expressing themselves is something that is totally wrong because it prevents the person from developing their own identities and making them feel like they are just another robot for society, one solution that I thought of was, maybe letting the students influence or design the school uniform, I don’t mean something flashy or anything, I know many students would disagree with this ideas because we don’t all think the same say and don’t like the same ideas as everyone, this is why it could be like a clean design but for example letting students choose between a couple of different colors, so at least this way students could express themselves at a certain level and keeping the idea of everyone wearing the same so there is not economical discriminations. I encountered many mixed ideas in the text in the sense that I think they are right but they should be done in a different way. 

I think the author is trying to inform people about uniforms, he just wants to let know people why uniforms are used he’s not trying to persuade you to think that they are either good or bad, I think this is the best way to make an article because when you give the reader the liberty to come up with their own opinions you can learn even more.

Non-print 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMetDWhU0z4

Summary 

In this video, they talk about how uniforms really don’t do that much in academics. Uniforms supposedly helped in Long Beach some time ago, students had better attendance, less violence, it helped to stop bullying at a certain point, but research has been done on multiple occasions and no other school has ever shown that amount of improvements just because students are wearing uniforms, even England where everything started is trying to back off from uniforms, teachers say that they spend too much time arguing with students because they are not following the uniform code and essentially they are wasting class time and the whole idea of the uniforms is for students to improve academically.

Reflection.

Now in my previous source, I said that my idea about uniforms was changed but once again I feel it may change because I still agree that uniforms can help kids with fewer resources to blend in and not have to worry about wearing nice clothes all the time, but essentially when we really weight the pros and cons the cons are greater because academics are not really improving, attendance is only improving by a small amount, so there are really no reasons why uniforms should be such an important thing. But, on the other hand, I feel uniforms teach students discipline and teach them how to follow the rules. I know that the uniform thing wastes too much time in class because in my school “High School of Computers and Technology” we were required to follow a certain uniform code which was dress pants, a blue button-up shirt, and no hoodies. I don’t like dress pants so I used to wear jeans I think I was lucky that my professors never said anything but other kids tried to wear their own clothes or wear hoodies but teachers would always tell them to take off the hoodies or go get a uniform pass so they could be excused for not wearing a uniform. But at the same time I went to high school in the Bronx and I feel like those uniforms did help to reduce gang violence because my school was like a campus so it was a big building with different schools and the other schools didn’t require uniforms and many times there were fights and the police easily distinguished our students because they would have uniforms and in a way that helped me feel more secure, I have never been really interested into clothing and stuff so having a uniform really helped me save time and not worry about what I was wearing so I am pro and against because it was uncomfortable and besides reducing violence it really didn’t help me improve my grades.

Quote

“Why do we persist with the whole uniform being a beneficial thing? Well, most school districts keep pointing to that long beach experiment from 1995” This quote shows how schools are just being superficial, and just because it worked once they think that it is going to work the same way everywhere.

Own source: Government Document

Source 

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED387947.pdf

Summary 

First, the document starts by talking about why uniforms can be an option to reduce violence, theft, and pressure from other students. It explains that violence was increasing among U.S. schools, so the best idea they came up with was creating a uniform code that schools could either make mandatory or suggest students to follow it, so they list things uniforms are supposed to help with when talking about violence. Then the article talks about how to start the implementation, and what guidelines they have to follow like respect religion, get parents involved in the program, protect any kind of self-expression, e.t.c. Then they show examples of how other schools are implementing their uniform policies, some of them punish students if they are not wearing the uniform and some others don’t mind if the students decide to wear the uniform or not.

Reflection

I think the U.S. Government did a good job letting schools decide whether they want students to wear uniforms, like what kind of uniforms, what are the punishments if students don’t wear them, or maybe they are not going to implement punishments, I just feel that if they want to implement uniforms in more schools they should start by middle school or before so students are going to be used to the uniforms and it would not be such a drastic change, for example before going to “High School of Computers and Technology” I used to go to “Floral Park memorial high school” and there I did not have to wear uniforms so when I was changed to HSCT and they told me you have to wear uniform it was a little bit of a shock because I was not used to it but eventually like a year after I got used to it, but I feel if I was required to wear uniforms since I was in middle school I would have minded the uniforms at all. So now I feel this source is gonna help me show how the U.S. planned the implementation of the uniforms like what were the approaches.

Quote

Type: Uniforms are mandatory in all elementary and middle schools. Each school in the district determines the uniform its students will wear. 

Opt-out: Yes, with parental consent Sill of program: SS,SOO elementary and middle school students lmplem1ntation 

date: 1994 

I feel this is the best way to implement it like first getting the parents’ consent since they are kids so they are going to grow used to the uniforms.

Timeline Source.

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/school-uniforms–LWOFKXHI | By: Friesanjames. 

Summary

This article starts by talking about the origins of uniforms, they inform that the first time uniforms were used was in England it was like a charity thing that rich people did for poor families. Then they talk about how England eventually decided to implement uniforms in all schools rather than just being a donation. After that, they explain how the uniforms looked and how they decided to implement those kinds of uniforms because they were like English fashion. Then they talk about how the uniforms also spread throughout Europe eventually making their way to the United States, in Baltimore. After this, they test the uniforms and that’s when the Long Beach Unified School District did a test where they implemented uniforms and apparently, it really worked but that has been the only case where such a big change has been noticed by just implementing uniforms. Then they talk about how uniforms are mandated in many other countries, for example, South America, they also talk about how in the United States more public schools are starting to implement uniforms as well. They also explain “it is believed that school uniforms reduce assaults, thefts, vandalism, and weapon and drug use in schools.” And this is just talking about England and the US. There is also a section that talks about how parents, students, teachers were outraged because of the uniforms. Students said that they did not feel comfortable wearing then and their parents argued that their right to freedom of speech was being compromised because they were technically forced to wear uniforms, it really depends on the school because some require them and if students don’t wear them they are punished but some other schools just make it an option so students can decide whether they want it or not. 

Reflection

I think this timeline really helps understand where the uniforms come from why they started to be implemented in what countries they were implemented, to what countries did it spread to, how governments handled it, how schools decided to implement them, the causes whether if it was a good thing or a bad thing, and finally a reflection that talks about why uniforms?. I think if I tell the storyline of uniforms and then I explain why people like them and why they don’t, I can finally give my stand about the topic.

Quote

The quote states, “It is believed that school uniforms reduce assaults, thefts, vandalism, and weapon and drug use in schools.” This quote comes up every time I try to see articles about uniforms it seems like the most important reason for uniforms are those, it has nothing to do with improving students grades or anything like that, so many times people say well uniforms don’t help me understand better or anything like that, but they don’t know that the true reasons why they are being implemented are to try to protect them from violence and things like that.

A passage that makes me feel curious.

In the reading the quote that says “Thus, for example, the boys and girls who were born during the era of the Third Reich, when educated to the purposes of the Third Reich, became barbarians. The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.” makes me really curious because I never thought about how we are taught that black people were brought here to be put in the fields, farm for white people. But we really never talk about how their culture influenced today’s society, luckily I had a teacher that talked about things that black people introduced to society and now they are part of our everyday lives. I grew up in a different country and my dad always taught me to be my own person have my own thoughts, I was never exposed to this much racism because of the education system we had, we used to know about the history of the world, we knew that Europe enslaved many countries but that was about it, we talked about the cultural changes, but when I came to the United States in high school I was shown all of this situations that I was unaware of, everything always revolves around the United States, racism is like they do not move to a different page it’s like we are still in the same chapter. This sometimes makes me think that being ignorant in some fields would not be that bad, you would be living in a world where you are happy and you don’t know things that would harm you but if you go out in the light you are going to be exposed to things that you did not know, now every day when you wake up and take the bus you are going to think I am being oppressed I am less than the white people, you are not going to enjoy things the way you used to.