BY ERIKA ANDERSON

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Our Lady of Lourdes School sixth-grader LaVarne Cobb said he does not mind wearing a uniform to school every day.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I like it because it represents our school.”

Though Cobb’s opinion may not be shared by every student, school uniforms have been the signature of Catholic education for many years.

John Evers, principal of St. Anthony’s School in the West End and Our Lady of Lourdes, said that he does not hear many complaints from his students regarding uniforms.

“It’s just not an option,” he said. “You’re here, you do it. There’s no debate.”

This is the first year at Our Lady of Lourdes for Shameka Clair, also a sixth-grade student. After spending several years in public school, Clair said that she enjoys wearing a uniform.

“It’s fun because when you get up in the morning, you don’t have to worry about what you’re wearing,” she said. “People are also not picking on you because of what you’re wearing because you are wearing the same thing they are.”

Many students, parents and teachers believe that uniforms help alleviate the need for students to have the right clothes according to their peers.

“It takes away the whole clothes distraction and the issue of whether or not a kid has a name brand on is just gone,” Evers said.

Sister Teresa Ballisty, IHM, principal of St. Joseph’s School in Athens, agrees.

“Because of our wide economic range, uniforms take away the whole stigma of being able or not being able to buy name brands,” she said. “The emphasis is not on worrying about fitting in anymore, it’s on academics. The values are coming from within and not based on what a person wears.”

Most school uniforms are purchased at the Buckhead Uniform Shop in Atlanta and Judith Frasure, stepmother of Thomas, a second-grader at St. Mary’s School in Rome, said that the employees of the store were very helpful.

“The woman who helped us was just as nice as can be,” she said. “She was patient and she really knew what she was doing.”

Frasure said that as a first time buyer she was surprised by how easy it was.

“I didn’t have to rush around. Everything is in one location and they had everything that we needed,” she said. “We stayed still and she went and got everything.”

Frasure said she appreciates the durability of the uniforms.

“There is a guarantee on the uniforms that they aren’t going to wear out before the end of the school year,” she said. “There is also room to grow and the shirts are Scotch-guarded....It’s all very reasonably priced.”

Will Smithwick, owner of Uniforms for America, the store that supplies uniforms to the children at St. Joseph’s in Athens, said most parents will spend approximately $150 a year on uniforms. Though some schools offer uniform swaps and used uniforms, the majority are newly purchased and Smithwick said the biggest question from parents is how many to buy.

“I always tell them to purchase four of everything,” he said. “Little kids destroy things, but the washing machine is one of the biggest culprits in tearing clothes up...It’s good to have one more set to cycle in.”

Smithwick, whose son, Zachary, is a third-grader at St. Joseph’s, said that in addition to uniforms being more economical, they also save time. At his store, parents made appointments and he and his employees fitted two children every 15 minutes.

“You cannot tell me that you can go into the Gap and outfit your child for the entire year in 15 minutes,” he said. “You go from spending a day or a weekend shopping for your child to just 15 minutes. It’s a huge benefit.”

Frasure said that when Thomas gets dressed in the morning to go to St. Mary’s, wearing a uniform causes less of a hassle.

“He has one drawer with his uniforms in it....He throws his clothes on and comes down to breakfast,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine it being any easier.”

Sister Ballisty said most problems in enforcing the uniform code come from students trying to push the limits, but she said the uniform policy is also for safety. Girls are not permitted to wear make-up or jewelry, with the exception of religious jewelry or small earrings.

“When playing in gym class, if a girl has on dangling earrings, it could get caught, or if they were to wear an expensive ring, it could go down the drain if they were washing their hands. It’s really for their safety,” she said. “We also want to emphasize the importance of simplicity so they know it’s important who they are, not what they wear.”

Khaki Person, 14, an eighth-grader at St. Joseph’s, said that although she does not mind wearing a uniform, there are times when she wishes she did not have to.

“I kind of wish that I could wear more jewelry and sometimes with nail polish. I don’t wear it very often, but if I put it on and forget to take it off, it gets on my nerves when I get in trouble for it,” she said.

Person, who has attended St. Joseph’s since kindergarten, said wearing a uniform is something that she has grown accustomed to.

“Some girls come up to me sometimes and say, ‘I cannot believe you have to wear a uniform. You must hate that,’” she said. “I just tell them that I don’t really mind it. You get used to it after 10 years of wearing it.”

Many students, like Person, look forward to free dress days, when they do not have to wear their uniform, but, according to Evers, it is something that students must work toward.

“It’s a big privilege to go for a day without wearing a uniform, but it’s something that is earned,” he said.

Frasure said that she thinks it is a privilege for her stepson to wear a uniform. In addition to being less of a hassle in the mornings, she enjoys seeing the kids dressed for school when she drops off Thomas. “They just look so cute in their little uniforms,” she said.