Lies and Statistics

The Daytona Beach News-Journal ran a story this morning about how much Flagler County parents spend on average per child for back-to-school clothes. This of course included a discussion about the upcoming school uniform policy.

The problem with the article (and the numbers that it contains) is that those numbers are just statistics. No reasoning is given behind those numbers. Why are Flagler parents spending an average of $361 per child per year on clothes, more than almost any other district in the study? It is not like Palm Coast has designer stores on every corner to supply us with the latest designer fashions. We have Walmart and Beall's.

What the statistics don't tell us is how much of that number was discretionary spending and how much of that number was mandatory spending by the families. How much of that money was money that had to be spent and how much of it was money that was spent because someone wanted to?

The study noted that the top geographic areas for clothing spending all shared a common demographic of having high concentrations of seniors. This might account for some of the amount of clothing expenditure being given by doting grandparents as gifts. I know in our family that is certainly the case.

How much of that amount was simply spent because the parents could afford to spend more? That's up to those parents to decide what they want to spend. That is why it is called discretionary spending. People can use their discretion to make their own decisions.

How much of that amount was spent because parents refused to stand up to their kids and draw a line about what was appropriate spending on the child's wardrobe for the family's financial situation and the child's age? That is a more problematic question and possibly at the root of some parents' support for the school uniform policy. Are some parents, unwilling to draw a line of their own with their kids about what they will spend on clothing, looking instead to the school system to do it in the form of a uniform policy? If so, that is sad. Kids need to be taught responsibility by their parents, not see that responsibility abdicated to a school administration. That doesn't teach them anything except how to avoid standing up to kids for their own good.

Schools are here to educate our children. We expect stellar FCAT scores from our schools while also expecting them to take on more and more responsibility for teaching things like responsibility. They can't do it all. They shouldn't have to.

We should do our jobs as parents and teach our children responsibility at home, and leave the schools to educate our kids about math, science and reading. That's their job - not teaching a child what is appropriate to wear to school.