AF Student’s Complain About Uniform Laws In School

Alexia Williams

As the school year began in August of 2021 in Hartford Connecticut, students from Achievement First Hartford High School started complaining about the school uniforms and how the expectations surrounding them are unfair.

 

Ever since school started, the AF staff has communicated through Student Square that they have been really heavy on enforcing the no jacket with a hoodie and no regular black pants laws in order to have a “professional setting”, on Student Square it shows a picture of school uniforms and what is acceptable and what isn’t. Which shows that the AF staff really wants students to show school spirit and professionalism when being in the building. 

In conversation with several AF students, they have expressed on multiple occsaions that these laws are “frustrating”, “annoying”, and just down right “unfair” since a lot of opinions and real life situations affect how these laws are abided by. We talked to some AF students about their input on the situation and Ms.Osbourne (a 12th grader) said, “The school has been inconsiderate about the whole uniform issue, even during a pandemic they are being so hard on many kids due to a rule they wanted to change so suddenly.”  Mr. Santos (also a 12th grader) said,” The school should not be so hard about the uniform because not everybody has the money to buy it and personally I don’t think I need a uniform to learn”  Students also feel like certain rules contradict themselves. For example,  Rony (12th grader) said, “AF students are able to wear crocs but can’t wear regular black jeans to school. Or students can wear school sweaters and jackets as long as they have current uniform logos on them, which makes me frustrated.”

 

But Mr.Callahan, a 12th grade Jouralism Teacher, stated that, “Over the years, when everyone wears the same things, people are less likely to experience bullying and being jugded due to not having a lot of clothes and/or having a lot of fancy clothes. And plus students should be more focused on classwork than what their wearing because it can become distracing.” 

 

As of now, the AF staff has not changed the situation with the students and are still enforcing these laws. Which continues to leave a rifle between the staff and the students at the school.