A Uniform Change : The Label Game Is Passe as Most Dublin Students Opt for Sameness

Yanking another child’s collar back to see what label was tucked inside used to be something of a frequent pastime at Dublin Avenue Fundamental Magnet School in Leimert Park.

If a child had the right label, preferably designer, he was cool. If he sported a plain shirt, he became the tortured target of laughter in the game known as yank-the-collar.

It’s a game played daily in some fashion on hundreds of school campuses. It’s also a game that played out at Dublin in August when the public school switched to uniforms, with the permission of most parents.

“The labels of clothes and the fads and the fashions were divergent to what children really come to school for--to learn,” said Genevieve Shepherd, Dublin’s principal of eight years.

As a public school, Dublin cannot force students to don uniforms. But most children wear them, thanks to the strong encouragement of parents.

At least three other Los Angeles elementary schools in the Crenshaw and Mid-City areas have adopted uniforms: Marvin Avenue, Arlington Heights and Sixth Avenue. A Los Angeles Unified School District spokesman said he did not know how many schools had done so districtwide.

At Dublin, the switch to green plaid jumpers for girls and blue pants with light-colored shirts for boys has helped quell parents’ fears over two colors: red and blue. Gang colors.

Children who wore such colors risked having their intentions questioned by gang members as they walked to school, Shepherd said.

“You go and buy your kid a plain red T-shirt and you’re concerned it might be misconstrued as a gang symbol,” said Helain Hence, whose son, Michael, is a second-grader at Dublin.

The uniforms have also helped to squelch the stigma of not being able to afford the latest fashions. Before uniforms, Nikes were in and regular tennis shoes were out. Designer clothes were in and imitations were hopelessly out. “They wore those big shirts and pants and they had the Cross Colours,” said Shepherd, referring to the popular line of oversized clothing.

“God forbid somebody should come to school in K mart tennis shoes,” said Louise Midget, a sixth-grade teacher at Dublin. “His whole day would be ruined.”

Although there are no rules governing footwear, the uniforms seem to diminish competitiveness in this category as well. The children who wear uniforms generally wear black or white oxfords or conventional tennis shoes.

Shepherd considers the uniform experiment a success.

“They were being judged by what they wore,” she said. “We have to dress up the body, but we have to dress up the mind to teach children that school is for learning. You have to teach them that what’s on the inside is important. They are more settled now.”

Most parents favored the switch to the uniforms, which cost about $40.

But Shepherd acknowledges that there is a bit of a generation gap.

Most of the younger children, she said, accepted them without protest. But the sixth-graders were another matter. “We’re out of here in another year. Why should we have to wear this? This is kids’ stuff,” they protested, Shepherd said.

Midget had two uniform holdouts in her sixth-grade class. The girls would tell her, “My mom’s going to get it.” Not sure if money was a problem or if the kids were stringing her along, she talked to their parents, who were all for the idea. “Now they wear uniforms everyday,” Midget said.

The uniforms “have made a decided change” at the school, she said. “There’s such a new sense of order. They are not spending so much energy on ‘Where did you buy it’ and ‘How much did it cost.’ They’re more focused on academics.”

The children are also finding new ways to express their individuality. She tells them, “You can be a fantastic artist, you can write fantastic stories, those are your stories, you’re the author.”