School Children

Learning with Dignity

Each year toward the end of August, thousands of children go shopping for new clothes, and on the first day of school, they proudly dress in trendy outfits ranging from designer jeans and graphic tees to tights and appliqué tops.

Thousands more don’t. They instead pull on last year’s too-small shirts and hope no one notices that their pants hems hover above their ankles, or that the ketchup stain isn’t part of the fabric design.

Most of us relish the pride and excitement of new clothing. For children in need, that feeling is rare, and the sense of shame accompanying a lack of appropriate attire can be devastating. It’s hard to feel confident when your clothes don’t fit, and a lack of confidence can dash a child’s motivation for learning.

Dignity U Wear’s goal is simple: to help provide children with the tools they need for success. And some of those tools are as simple as pants and a sweater. 

At Jacksonville, Florida’s Tiger Academy, a free charter school catering to the city’s poorest quadrant, clothing has made the difference between a learning environment fraught with envy and peer pressure and one in which children see each other as equals all striving to achieve. Students there must wear uniforms – khaki pants or skirts and collared white shirts – an outfit that can be purchased for $15. But even that has been a stretch for some parents, according to Tiger Academy Executive Director Susan Golden. Organizations like Dignity U Wear can help level the playing field for students whose parents must choose between buying clothes and buying food. Golden so believes in the value of dress that she has implemented “Dignified Dress Day” once a week: boys wear neckties and girls have ties pinned on their shirts. On those days, she says, the children hold their heads a bit higher and behave with an increased measure of maturity – in other words, they have dignity.

Dignity U Wear has partnered with several agencies that aid children, including school districts, homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters. Many of the families involved have access to public assistance in the form of food stamps or rent subsidies. But though clothing is another basic human need, seldom are clothing allowances included.

In addition, many children belong to a classification known as the working poor. Men and women work to provide for their families – but new clothes and even decent coats are out of the question. For these children, freezing weather doesn’t mean hot chocolate, red cheeks and seeing one’s breath in the chilled air. It means being cold. 

Dignity U Wear invites you to help give needy children the chance to brave the cold without fear, or the chance walk into a classroom without worrying about what they’re wearing. For you, it’s a change of clothes. For them, it’s a change of life.