Boomer parents and status children

The dress code at a public school, or school uniform question, is not about children. It has nothing to do with the right to a child's free expression. It's about Baby Boomers, who have discovered that their own children serve as excellent billboards to advertise to the world the type of parents that they are. We've had "tennis moms," "Little League dads," even Mozart mommas; that is, parents who defined their identity -- and their social position -- through the exposition (and often exploitation) of their children's talents. But now there are an alarming number of parents who see their children the way they view Blackberrys or hybrid cars -- as symbols of their position in life. That's why those who are against school uniforms make such strange political bedfellows. "On Lessons for Life" San Franscisco Chronicle