From Echoes, Sept. 13, 1960
Even though the author of this little column is typed as "Jean," this was really written by Jeanne Cuddy. I came across a March issue of Echoes identifying the author as Jeanne. She had the critic chatter down pat.
It's a little slice of life in 1960.
Every once in a while the 'uniforms in public schools' debate would surface among the students I taught at Mankato East Junior High School. Of course, the idea of giving up their need to go gothic, grunge or garish, in the name of freedom of expression, did not appeal to these adolescents, many of whom changed hair color as often as I change my mind, a lot!
Some were intrigued when I explained that my bed and I had more time to bond in the mornings with no apparel decisions to be made. And, I told them, uniforms leveled the playing field. While we probably had some idea of whose families had money, I don't think it factored much into our relationships with each other.
It may seem like I've got a touch of the Old Fogy Syndrome, but I can't imagine what it would have been like to have the distractions kids face today with respect to what they decide to hang on their bodies. They'd never admit it, but I saw that the pressure was enormous!
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