Today was “Casual Dress” day at the girls’ school. For those of you who are not familiar with this, it’s basically wearing your own clothes instead of your uniform for a donation. A gold coin donation. Now, don’t get me wrong, I encourage donating to a good cause, and in this case, it was to support the Guide Dogs Victoria. But when you look at it, are we really teaching the kids about philanthropy? To me it is like bartering. “You get to wear your casual clothes, provided you donate”. Seriously, wouldn’t it be a lot better, and more to the point – teaching kids about philanthropy, if we have them wear their uniforms anyway, get them to bring their donation and then explain to the kids in class all about the the charity they were donating to? In kid language of course. As in why the charity needed the donation, how their donation can help. And also other ways they can help the charity besides just by giving money.
Yes, it is fun not having to wear their uniforms – something they probably see as a patriarchal form of control. But, let’s look at casual dress day as another form of exclusion. First, those parents who didn’t get the notice about this day might send their child in their uniforms. Imagine how excluded that child would feel and not to mention confused! Next, those who did wear their casual clothes, most dress to impress. Yes, to impress their friends with the beautiful clothes they have and we know beautiful is subjective. So what happens to those who think they don’t have beautiful clothes, that their clothes were drab. What then? Great for their self esteem I tell you! What are we teaching our kids with casual dress day? We are teaching them to – judge people by what they wear, how they dress and not from what’s on the inside. Ok, so I’m cynical, but that’s what I think. By wearing their uniforms, everyone is seen as an equal, nobody can judge you by what you wear (well highly unlikely). So if schools really would want to raise money for charities, or themselves, the correct way is to EDUCATE the children about what philanthropy really is, NOT having a fashion showcase in what we call SCHOOL. What are your thoughts on Free Dress Day/Casual Dress Day in schools?
It’s our job as parents to build our childrens self esteem, teach them about equality and that beauty comes from within etc etc. Surely one day of allowing our kids to express their individuality in the name of charity is not going to undo all of our hard work?
It is perfectly normal to admire someone elses things/outfit – even to want what they have. I am sure we have all felt a bit “drab” at times as you say. Why should we shelter our children from experiencing these feelings on a small scale that they are bound to come across on a larger scale many times in their lifetime?
Don’t get me wrong – I am all for a strict uniform policy in our schools. But at the same time I believe our kids need to experience some real life feelings to better equip them for the big bad world out there. Otherwise they may well just fall apart at the first obstacle.
I agree with everything you’ve said. I went to a private secondary school in Victoria and we had exactly the same – free dress days for a donation. I dreaded those days. My parents weren’t well off (I was attending the school on a scholarship) and I didn’t have nice clothes to wear like the other kids, who often picked on me for what I wore on those days. I used to wear jeans and a t-shirt but apparently if they weren’t designer label they weren’t good enough. It would have been much nicer to have raised money for charities in ways other than wearing casual clothing!
What a drama casual day was! We started planning the night before to prevent arguments, had them anyway, raced out the door late as usual, forgot the gold coin, didn’t know what the cause was, and wore the school raincoat over the top of everything anyway.
I remember casual day with dread for all the same reasons as others. I didn’t have cool clothes, felt I would be judged, etc etc. There’s plenty other ways to raise money as we know. I’m with you Norlin. Let’s teach our kids about philanthropy in other ways. In defence of the school, there was no pressure to actually donate and the school receptionist was actually surprised that we went after school to give the money not handed over in the morning.