Description: Marcus Jones reports that Jack E. Robinson (President, National Association of Black Americans) is trying to get a voluntary school uniform program started in the Boston Public Schools. Jones notes that some schools have found that voluntary dress codes have led to better grades and behavior. He adds that opponents of school uniforms believe that they stifle creativity. Jones interviews Robinson about school uniforms. Jones reports that Robinson believes that students are more concerned about their clothes and possessions than they are about their studies. Jones quotes from a Boston Herald newspaper article about a nine-year old drug runner who impresses his friends with his clothes. Jones also interviews John Grady (Boston School Committee), Elizabeth Foley (Boston parent), and a Boston school child about school uniforms. Jones reviews some of the benefits to school uniforms.
1:00:02: Visual: Footage of white elementary students in school uniforms rising to greet their teacher at the St. Columbkille School in Brighton. Shots of students in the classroom. Marcus Jones reports that uniforms are a long-standing tradition in private and parochial schools. Jones notes that supporters of school uniforms believe that uniforms help inspire discipline. Jones notes that opponents of school uniforms believe that they stifle creativity. V: Shots of white uniformed students in classrooms. Shots of African American uniformed students in an elementary school in Washigton DC. Jones reports that an elementary school in Washington DC and five elementary schools in Baltimore have instituted a voluntary dress code; that the schools have found that the dress code has led to better grades and behavior. V: Footage of Jack E. Robinson (President, National Association of Black Americans) being interviewed by Jones. Robinson says that school uniforms lead to a decrease in disciplinary problems. Jones notes that Robinson is trying to get a voluntary uniform program started in the Boston Public Schools. V: Footage of Robinson saying that adults wear uniforms; that business people wear suits; that people in all professions wear uniforms all over the world. Shot of a Boston Herald newspaper article with a headline reading, "He's the littlest pusher." Jones reports that Robinson says that children are more concerned about clothes and stylish possessions than they are about their studies. Jones quotes from the Boston Herald newspaper article; the newspaper article says that a nine-year-old drug runner impresses his friends with his clothes. V: On-screen text quotes from the Boston Herald newspaper article. Footage of John Grady (Boston School Committee) saying that he will support uniforms if they contribute to a good learning environment in the schools. Footage of Jennifer Foley (Boston public school student) saying that she would not want to wear the same colors all year long. Footage of Elizabeth Foley (parent) saying that students are entitled to their own identities. Jones reports that there are some good reasons to institute a school uniform program. Jones notes that parents can save money on clothing bills; that students have one less peer pressure to worry them; that teachers have one less distraction in the classroom. Johnson adds that Robinson has suggested that the community can profit by having the uniforms manufactured in the neighborhoods.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 05/09/1988
Description: Mike Levitt interviews a couple of parents on whether they would send their kids to school if they were assigned to be bussed. Mother says she would send them to help integrate the schools. Reporter standup on children attended schools they weren't assigned to because their parents refuse to bus the.
Collection: WHDH
Date Created: 09/13/1971
Description: Exterior South Boston High, first day of school on staggered opening schedule. Police on steps. Tilt up facade. White students walk up to school. Jerome Wynegar out front. Boston Police bus pulls up. Wynegar comments on insufficient buses to bring black students from distant neighborhoods because of contract dispute and the disruption of the staggered opening schedule. Press photographers. Person on the street interview with white mother, Evelyn Gorhan, who waited with daughter for bus that never came. Black mother, Edna Calhoun from Roxbury says she will not send her son to school until buses are available. Calhoun and another black woman, Frankie MacDonald, report rocks and expletives hurled at them. Shots of the children. “Nigers suck” graffiti on brick housing project.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 09/07/1977
Description: Exteriors of South Boston High School. South Boston environs. Large graffiti in crosswalk “Winegar [sic] we don't want you.” Black students stream off bus, walk toward front entrance. Jerome Wynegar stands by. Plainclothes US marshals with armbands and walkie-talkies. Police keep press photographers behind line.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 09/08/1976
Description: Empty classroom at South Boston High School. Mr. Healey's science class, mostly black students, sparsely attended. Geology principles written on blackboard and other science posters on classroom walls. Boy writes in spiral notebook. Students in the hallway. Boys in mechanical shop class. Black and white boys play basketball in gym. Black teacher works with black student on vocabulary lesson. Students do class work at desks.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 06/08/1978
Description: South Boston High exterior. Parking space designated for press. Graffiti on street: “print the truth.” Two Boston police officers in front of school. Five school buses approach with lights blinking. Mostly black students stream off buses, go up steps to school entrance. Jerome Wynegar walks up. More buses arrive with black students. Long line of buses depart, descend hill. Students enter main hallway, walk through metal detector. Close-up on needle meter. Students in art class draw on large sheets of paper; teacher gives individual attention. Shots of empty classroom, with PA announcements being made in the background. Walking shot down dark hallway with lockers.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 06/08/1978
Description: English class of four white students at South Boston High School. Teacher addresses whole class and works individually with students. Students work on essays at desk. Teacher talks to one student about restructuring his essay. View from second story window onto parking lot and over rooftops of South Boston buildings and houses. Boston Police Tactical Patrol Force cruiser drives off. Three white students in math class.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 06/08/1978
Description: State and Boston police and US marshals outside South Boston High School. Black students get off buses. Headmaster Jerome Wynegar. Girls in parochial school uniforms walk by. More black students get off buses, walk up to school. Police on motorcycles escort empty buses away from school. Mass of white students wait at iron fence. TV cameramen and news photographers stand by. Girl wearing Southie sweatshirt. White students are allowed to enter school.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 09/13/1976
Description: 11 B+W wire service photos of South Boston residents opposing busing. Helmet bearing legend "Southie is my home town." Man with loudspeaker in car. Van with sign flipped upside down "Boston Under Siege." "Forced busing? Never!" under three-leaf clover. South Boston Information Center and Home School Association storefront.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 05/17/1979
Description: South Boston teens on street. Police on motorcycles. Exterior South Boston High School with broken windows. Hill Stop Deli. “White Power” graffiti painted on street.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 10/25/1976