What’s more important?December 9, 2011Dear Sir,When reading the Tuesday December 6 Royal Gazette report on the new blazer policy at Dellwood, I couldn’t help but ask: Why is the school trying to change something that doesn’t need changing? As a student myself, I will say that I didn’t mind wearing a blazer when I was made to, and will admit they make our students look smarter, but I feel middle school students shouldn’t be made to wear blazers. It’s too hot, they don’t keep you warm in the winter, and if you have students that like to cause trouble, they are an easy way to bring drugs and weapons into the school. Children lose their blazers and if they put them down and forget them, they are bound to get taken by another student who has lost theirs; which causes their parents to pay another $75 to buy a new one. Why change the colour of the blazer, do they have to match the colour of the high schools, was there something wrong with the colour? I didn’t think so and I bet most of, if not all the parents, who were forced to go out and purchase a new blazer would agree with me.From reading the article I can see that parents aren’t happy with the change. Blazers are expensive, and in these economic times that money could be better spent on food for their children or school supplies that help with their education which is what really matters. Or has the school forgotten that and are only worried about how the uniform makes the school look? This brings me to the point of a student being prevented from their education, which is the most important thing here, not what they are wearing; the student was told she would not be allowed to attend class because she did not have on the correct colour blazer.I find it appalling that a school could send a child away, one that is entitled to their education, on the grounds that an article of their uniform was the wrong colour. Then people wonder why children are failing school and dropping out; it is because they miss too much school and fall behind, all because their uniform wasn’t exactly correct. At least the child showed up. If you take it from the perspective of a child who may not like school and is turned away and told go home and change they’re not going to come back to school for the rest of the day, missing out on their education.Having not had that much notice on the colour switch, is it understandable that students would be coming to school with both colour blazers. I am mad that the school is starting to turn students away after two weeks of giving the notice. And as for the school being donated 53 blazers for the students to wear, I say that they all should be provided if it is so important for them to wear the new blazers. For the children who are in M3 and have about three months left and are still growing, I feel for the parents who have to waste money on a blazer to fit their child, and then in September buy a new one. Why is the school changing the uniform? There is nothing wrong with the colours. Uniforms should come second to education. The school should focus on the students’ education and then look at uniforms but only if there is a problem. So I ask the question why fix what isn’t broken?RAVEN PEARMANPembroke