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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1996)
VIEWPOINTS rrmnRiii * rtPiNintic i iitiik in thi inunn School uniforms will not eliminate self-expression ■ OUR OPINION: Students need lo learn thai they are not what they wear Individuality it mil. Conformity i* In. Oon*t panic, It’# only on the surf«.e In a iprh about the stain of the nation's schools last week, President Clinton res urrected an idea that has teem circulating for year# but has never taken off. In an effort to minimise gang violence in public schools, he said, the country should consider mandatory school uniforms. Ever since children start mi gelling knifed and shot by classmate* am) metal deiectora replai «*d bookish hall monitor*, concerned adult* have considered removing Ihe blue and red clothing symbol* that mark gang affiliations and also create an atmosphere of rivalry anti hate. To date, these idea* have been tabled alter student* revolted again*! the attack on individual expression. They say uniforms violate their Find Amendment right Of free expression, I lowever. the U S, Supreme Gout! has often restricted constitutional freedoms for minor* ( n g drug-testing, bearing arms, age of-consent, etc J At issue, then, is whether the good of school uniforms will outweigh the harm Yes. they will. Aside from the rediu lion in gang violence in cities such as LA., school uni forms eliminate the socioe conomic Indicators that prevent children from get ting to know each other as people. Walk into any school in the country , and it t* easy to distinguish Ih# rich (rum the poor. the prep* from ih# geek*. and ih# punka from ih# popular The*# visual differences not only keep children and iwn sgsn front socialiring with people outside their established clique*. bu! they teach ««ch generation that who they are is defined by how they look. They learn that they can loll who some one is on the inside by look* mg only at what's on the outside Critic* contend that thl* superficial self-identifka lion reflect* the real world Once they leave school, these kids will be judged by how they look, litis argu ment misses the point If we teach children to learn about and like people for their senses of humor, their intelligence and com passion. their artistic or musical skills, or their lead ership abilities, we will lie producing a generation of people who do not judge others solely on their appearance YVe begin to ft* the problem rather than con tributing to it In addition, school uni forms eliminate the econom ic pressure placed on parents to wry SlOCl shoes and name brand clothing so their children will lie accepted Teen-agers with sparkling personalities and brilliant minds scramble through the nation's malls each August In a prolonged anxiety attack, trying to find the perfect clothes that will assure them of Fitting in for another term All of this is unnecessary. School uniforms won't eradicate individual expres sion. They will simply shift the emphasis toward ihe dif ferences and similarities that matter. THL fXfiPLi RAVE SPOKEN. f 0%CMNt&St ANNU?»CAN C«T|ZEnIS HAVf Delivered a VERY SIMPLE HESSA€>£ ONLV People WNO mil SEEM IN WASHINGTON TOO LONC, DON 'T CWOCftSTAWD u/NAT 7W€VPe l ASKING *OP. A*t> W«Mt TO ftftw LIMITS > Current system can’t stop the violence In 1994, two l*ny*. ages 10 <ml ll. threw 5 w»r«Ui Km Mnrw from the 14th fkxw of a t .1n< ago public housing pron* t hi* auw Mot** refused to steal candy for them Two year* later, the hoy* are headed for a maximum w» urtty juvenile prison Both wUJ be released when theylunt 21 At the time of the murder. children younger than 13 could not ha amt to prison But the fill* not* legislature quickly responded lo the killing by lowering the age limit to 10 year* old The legislator who pushed through the lower age limit late* said tie considered these killers to be more like "predator*" and "hardened criminals" than children "If you do an adult crime, you should be treat ed like an adult criminal," he said. "That's my sense of what the public very IB util wants “ i/tegpsfer.Guard 1/31/961 That legislator was right, to a degree I grew up and went lo school in the middle of those housing project*. They an*, essentially, vertical slums in the meanest of neighborhood* lust walking down the street required a tough ness that lew who road this column can ini.ig me Even the homeless of Eugene live in a far less threatening environment than the children liv ing in the projects. And those projects have got ten meaner attic* the dope and gun* flooded in after 1 left When children are foned lo live lurruumlnl by Ilf# threatening violence, it become* easy, almost natural, for thorn to u» violence to got what they need or want If they see that their live* are not valued by other*, it becomes easy for them to hold the live* of others equally worthies* It Is easy for them to turn into “predators4' trying to avoid being “ prey.” None of this is an excuse feu killing a 5-year old boy It is only a recognition that his death is unique only because of the age of the killers. Thousand# of children are killed or crippled in those inner city war xones each year and often with less provocation And “what the public very much wants" is punishment Lock them up in hell holes even worse than the ones they come from For a time It s an American cultural value that keeps more than 2 million men behind bar* For a time American prisons today are school* of hard knocks for the advanced study of crime and vio lence. and the inmates are the captive students. Uke it or not. the prisoners become hardened against every on* around them They are exjwisod to advanced prac titioners o* every criminal activity and learn to survive by “net working" with criminals more violent than themselves I* it any wonder that most of these people leave prison more witling to use violence and mom aware of criminal possibilities than they were when they wore locked up? And most will be turned loose on society again. It’s the law Under our current penal system, criminals are punished by being sent to hell. Yet. we ignore the fact that w« are punished whan the criminal* complete their sentences. In our rush to punish, we sow seeds of fur ther violence. Don't misunderstand me I am not opposed to locking up people who commit violent crimes. Nor am I opposed to eventually letting them loose What I am opposed to is the foolishness of a system that not only fail* to rehabilitate criminal*, but actually promotes the increase of violence The root* of criminal behavior are deep, com pie* and personal Tin* solutions to dealing with criminal Iwhavior are just a* deep, just as com plex and just as personal Our current solution of locking criminals up for a given pen tel of time is not only too simplistic, but also one of the worst Let me suggest three alternatives First, tire "salvage or scrap" option: luck criminals up in a facility where they can be rehabilitated They remain in this facility until society can lie reasonably sure they no longer pose a threat Prisoners who prove io be incorri gible are transferred to maximum-security fa* ill ties where they sjenid the rest of their live*. Costly, but relatively humane Second, simply "scrap” all violent criminals Every sentence is a life sentence, luck them up and throw away the key luss costly and less humane, hut it does solve the problem of releas ing professional predators into an unprepared society. Or finally, execute them Far less costly and humane than the other choice*, hut effective It also destroys much of our culture As hideous as it Is. it seems more rational than our current practice* In nine years, the two boy* who killed Eric Morse will be returned to society They are sup posed io receive psychiatric treatment in prison, oui regardless of their condition, they will lie back As long as we continue to punish and release instead ol rehabilitate. incar*»rate or exterminate, we will continue to create an ever more violent society, Catch-and-release* keeps a fish population thriving When used as a penal system, only criminals thrive Larry Haftf, a senior motoring in journalism, is a columnist for the Emerald E-Mail: lahftNtglad stow uorognn cdu
