Student Handbook from 1965 Broward School Contrasts With Today

BY BUDDY NEVINS

Society has changed dramatically since 1965 and nowhere is it felt more than in the public schools.

Take a look below at two pages of the student handbook from South Broward Senior High in Hollywood, 1965-66.  That’s 46 years ago.

Can any one imagine a public school student dress code today that required boys to “wear shirts properly buttoned and long trousers”?  Or mandated shirt tails to be tucked in?

Many my age fondly recall the time when students had to follow such rules.

What a joke!

Regimenting kids into some bureaucrat’s idea of what we should look like has thankfully gone the way of bobby socks.

Yes, I believe in many ways the school system has become the repository of slobs. I can’t stand boys who walk around with their pants hanging down below their rear ends.

But what I dislike at 63, others believe is proper attire.  Who should decide what is proper attire?  Me?  You?

Who decided which students had the “unusual haircuts” that were forbidden under the 1965 rule book? The cracker teachers, many who were openly bigoted? The segregationist racists who ran the Broward schools back then?

Long pants and tucked in shirt tails were required.  I recall that the classrooms were largely not air conditioned, so wouldn’t it have made sense to allow shorts?  What harm would it have done?

Even then the future was on the horizon.  The rules stipulate “bare mid-riffs are not allowed” for girls, which was not something even considered five years earlier.

Schools are a reflection of our values and styles.  Change society and you will change the way kids dress in the classroom.

Trying to regulate how school students dress reminds me of Iran.

Check out two pages of the 1965 student rules below.  In addition to the dress code, the other rules are interesting, too.

Click on it to make it more readable.

 


 

 



7 Responses to “Student Handbook from 1965 Broward School Contrasts With Today”

  1. Death Frog 3 says:

    Buddy,

    Schools like Cardinal Gibbons, St Thomas, and Pinecrest have similar dress code requirements.

    I understand your fear of “indoctrination” through clothing requirements.

    That said, every business has a uniform…. Some uniforms (even if not specifically a uniform there are dress code standards) are suits and some are shorts and t-shirts…

    Kids need to learn the world doesn’t revolve around them and their desires.

    The shirt or pants or skirt a kid wears has nothing to does nothing to the education they receive. Try to dress like some kids at a high school do and get a job, go to court, etc…

    We are not doing kids any favors by letting them dress AT SCHOOL however they want and they learn pretty quickly that their sense of style doesnt mesh well when they try to get a job.

    FROM BUDDY:

    The schools you mentioned are private or religious schools.

    I very much agree with most of your comments.

  2. GOPapa says:

    One of the problems of modern society is deteriorating standards in dress, manners and art. I don’t know how we reverse that. I agree with Buddy that it can not be forced.

  3. Death Frog 3 says:

    Buddy,

    Yes they are private schools. They mandate strict adherence to dress codes and the kids generally have better graduation rates, better test scores etc.

    Obviously the dress code doesnt mean the kids will have better test scores but it doesnt impede them either

  4. What? says:

    I don’t know for a fact what the correlation is between dress code at private schools and their higher graduation rates and test scores, but I seriously doubt there is one. The higher rates at private schools are most probably due to these schools being able to self select their students. Private schools don’t have to take in every kid who shows up.

  5. Kevin says:

    Cleaning out your attic, Buddy? You might find some newspapers….. remember those?

    Kevin

    FROM BUDDY: I have way too many newspapers and flyers from all types of Florida campaigns dating back four decades.

  6. S only says:

    Get with the program Buddy! Most Broward public schools require uniforms, even if the parents of those children did NOT vote for them. Do uniformed children learn better? It’s doubtful, but people are willing to believe anything, just so it doesn’t cost them anymore in taxes for a good education for our FUTURE.

    I can tell you this: The “education” you got in 1965 was probably better than the one students get today.

    FROM BUDDY:
    Many public schools require uniform, but not high schools. Uniforms have not improved the education of our students.

  7. pbm says:

    Pro-Uniforms Arguments:
    Save money on clothing.
    Uniforms will cut down on teasing and cliques.
    Schools will be safer from outside intruders.l
    Parents will no longer have to buy expensive and silly designer labels.
    Uniforms will separate the public schools from the private/charter schools.
    Wearing a uniform will get kids ready for 85% of jobs, where a dress code or uniform is required if you want to be employed.
    Wearing a uniform gets you mentally ready to do a better job than going to school dressed like a total slob, because it motivates you to act the way you dress.

    Anti-Uniform Arguments:
    Uniforms ultimately cost more.
    Uniforms do not teach children how to deal with people who are different then themselves.
    Cliques will still form.
    It is impossible to prevent all outside intrusion.
    Children will still ask for designer labels for outside of school clothing. (Uniforms will not make this issue go away.)
    Uniforms teach children that in order to get along everyone must conform to the same standards.

    You decide what you think for yourself. As for me, I sold on uniforms!