School Uniforms- Yes or No?

[Alexanda]

After a recent thread about Skirts for Girls (which went rather wrong,) I decided I would make a thread debating the subject many of us find interesting: School Uniforms.
In the U.K, the majority (if not all,) State Schools have a uniform, which is usually used to determine which pupil comes from which school. Many Headteachers around the country support uniform, as not only does it represent discipline and unity, but it can also prevent class-related bullying, such as poorer children bullying wealthier pupils on account of their expensive clothes and vice versa. Depending upon the school, the uniform can differ depending upon one's sex: Some schools recommend girls to wear skirts, whilst others do not mind if they wear trousers.
The topic up for discussion is wherever you support school uniforms or not, although you can also debate other aspects of wearing a uniform.
My opinion is that I think schoolchildren should wear uniform. Not only does it represent the school, but it also encourages a sense of unity amongst pupils, and can prevent bullying in State Schools. As a Conservative, I find tradition quite important, and therefore I think girls should be encouraged to wear skirts, although wearing trousers should be an option.
But what do you think, NationStates Players?
(An article about the subject:) https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j ... zb7t2jVYZA

[Frazers]

I'm very much in favour of uniforms for much the same reason as yourself. It should be a uniform students feel proud wearing though. Too often lately i've seen ridiculous looking new uniforms for the local kids that are casual to the point of scruffy.

[Pandeeria]

I don't like uniforms.

[Upper America]

The schools with uniforms down here in the states vary. Every school I've gone to had uniforms, even the public schools.

I'm not a fan of them. I think it limits our ability to express our personalities. If someone likes to wear t-shirts with their favorite band on them, why not? I support limits, of course, you shouldn't be able to show up at school in a bikini or tank-top, or in a t-shirt with vulgar language. But still. I'd rather show up in a t-shirt and shorts instead of a polo shirt and pants.

Skirts, shorts, pants, t-shirts, and other accessories should be accepted in schools. While private schools aren't under state control like the public ones are, the public schools shouldn't need uniforms. It just costs more.

And if bullying is a problem, then the school should crack down more on it instead of just putting a uniform on the kids. Besides, a uniform won't stop the majority of it.

[Threlizdun]

Children should be raised to think independently and freely express themselves, not conform solely to the standards of the past, and especially not to conform strictly to past notions of gender roles.

[Shilya]

I like the idea, but never went to any school that has them.

Aside from the more obvious group dynamic reasons, there's another point to it: It drives home that school isn't your happy funtime place, it's a somewhat professional environment where you're expected to do stuff even if you dislike it. In a sense, school is your work.

Oh, and it also protects younger children from their parents stupid decisions.

If you want to express yourself, you can do so in your spare time, or through more subtle means. But you go to school to learn, not to show off yourself.

[Alexanda]

I like the idea, but never went to any school that has them.

Aside from the more obvious group dynamic reasons, there's another point to it: It drives home that school isn't your happy funtime place, it's a somewhat professional environment where you're expected to do stuff even if you dislike it. In a sense, school is your work.

Oh, and it also protects younger children from their parents stupid decisions.

If you want to express yourself, you can do so in your spare time, or through more subtle means. But you go to school to learn, not to show off yourself.

I agree.

[Neo Rome Republic]

Nah, it's unnecessary.

[Threlizdun]

I like the idea, but never went to any school that has them.

Aside from the more obvious group dynamic reasons, there's another point to it: It drives home that school isn't your happy funtime place, it's a somewhat professional environment where you're expected to do stuff even if you dislike it. In a sense, school is your work.

Oh, and it also protects younger children from their parents stupid decisions.

If you want to express yourself, you can do so in your spare time, or through more subtle means. But you go to school to learn, not to show off yourself.

You act like expressing yourself, acting independently, and social interactions have nothing to do with learning.

[Dakini]

It doesn't really prevent class-related bullying though. Kids from richer families can have more and newer uniforms while poorer kids have to buy second hand and re-wear the same ones.


Forcing girls to wear skirts (and precluding boys from wearing them if skirts are a uniform option at all) is just backwards and sexist bullshit.

[Shilya]

I like the idea, but never went to any school that has them.

Aside from the more obvious group dynamic reasons, there's another point to it: It drives home that school isn't your happy funtime place, it's a somewhat professional environment where you're expected to do stuff even if you dislike it. In a sense, school is your work.

Oh, and it also protects younger children from their parents stupid decisions.

If you want to express yourself, you can do so in your spare time, or through more subtle means. But you go to school to learn, not to show off yourself.

You act like expressing yourself, acting independently, and social interactions have nothing to do with learning.

Those are important, but everything has its time and place. The class room is the time where you get a more passive learning experience: You are shown material and are expected to understand and memorize it. You're also sitting among a lot of other people your age who are given the same task and will be tested unindividually. The school isn't an environment for individuality either way. Trying to make it individual while it really isn't only causes trouble.

It's not like you spend your entire life at school. Socializing is important, but it should belong in your spare time. During lessons, you mainly disrupt the learning process by individually expressing yourself, and during recess, your clothing won't matter THAT much.

Also, you'll have to find a way to matter as an individual that isn't dependent on the fabric you buy, and to make your personality known without it being visible at first glance. I can't say that's bad.

[Avenio]

This is the 21st century. I would hope that we're beyond playing silly primate hierarchy games with uniforms. Surely we can find more effective ways of helping kids grow into rounded adults than dressing them up in cast-offs from the local production of Oliver Twist.

[Alexanda]

This is the 21st century. I would hope that we're beyond playing silly primate hierarchy games with uniforms. Surely we can find more effective ways of helping kids grow into rounded adults than dressing them up in cast-offs from the local production of Oliver Twist.

The vast majority of schools in England have uniforms.
So I don't think you can really call wearing a uniform silly!

[Dejanic]

It doesn't really prevent class-related bullying though. Kids from richer families can have more and newer uniforms while poorer kids have to buy second hand and re-wear the same ones.


Forcing girls to wear skirts (and precluding boys from wearing them if skirts are a uniform option at all) is just backwards and sexist bullshit.

Meh, I don't really see that as a legitimate argument, if your family is under a certain income bracket, you're usually given a free school uniform here. And anyway, wealthy kids probably wouldn't be attending a state school.

[Avenio]

This is the 21st century. I would hope that we're beyond playing silly primate hierarchy games with uniforms. Surely we can find more effective ways of helping kids grow into rounded adults than dressing them up in cast-offs from the local production of Oliver Twist.

The vast majority of schools in England have uniforms.
So I don't think you can really call wearing a uniform silly!

Lots of people doing silly things does not make the things less silly.

[Alexanda]

It doesn't really prevent class-related bullying though. Kids from richer families can have more and newer uniforms while poorer kids have to buy second hand and re-wear the same ones.


Forcing girls to wear skirts (and precluding boys from wearing them if skirts are a uniform option at all) is just backwards and sexist bullshit.

Meh, I don't really see that as a legitimate argument, if your family is under a certain income bracket, you're usually given a free school uniform here. And anyway, wealthy kids probably wouldn't be attending a state school.

Some wealthy families send their children to State Schools.
Some disagree with Private Education, whilst some others may work for the government.

[Dakini]

It doesn't really prevent class-related bullying though. Kids from richer families can have more and newer uniforms while poorer kids have to buy second hand and re-wear the same ones.


Forcing girls to wear skirts (and precluding boys from wearing them if skirts are a uniform option at all) is just backwards and sexist bullshit.

Meh, I don't really see that as a legitimate argument, if your family is under a certain income bracket, you're usually given a free school uniform here. And anyway, wealthy kids probably wouldn't be attending a state school.

In Ontario, Canada they don't give out free uniforms to poorer kids in the Catholic schools (which are free to attend other than having to purchase the uniforms). Instead, kids (or their parents, rather) get to shell out upward of $200 for each uniform (which is more than my parents spent on my clothes at the time).

They also had to ban girls wearing skirts in some of the schools because there was a problem with girls wearing thongs and then rolling their skirts.

[Nimzonia]

I'm not a fan of them. I think it limits our ability to express our personalities. If someone likes to wear t-shirts with their favorite band on them, why not?

Actually, I think it does the opposite. If you can't express your personality while wearing a uniform, then you probably don't have one worth expressing anyway.

[Gallade]

As am educator, I'm very pro-uniform. Moving away from the school representation point for a moment, they're very useful on a practical level for keeping tabs on students while they're off school grounds during the school day, such as lunch and group outings. Businesses and locals can come straight to us if somebody is causing trouble, and it's just easier in general to manage groups.

That said, we have the standard skirt/pants option for girls. Forcing girls to wear skirts is just silly.

[Christiaanistan]

Take it up with the older students, and make it into a lesson on the proper application of democratic process. Require them to express their arguments in a prescribed format, which includes a section in which they substantiate their views with appropriate evidence.

[Alexanda]

Uniform is compulsory in most British schools.
It creates a sense of community and unity, and can, in my opinion, teach children the discipline they will need for their adulthood.

[Dejanic]

Meh, I don't really see that as a legitimate argument, if your family is under a certain income bracket, you're usually given a free school uniform here. And anyway, wealthy kids probably wouldn't be attending a state school.

Some wealthy families send their children to State Schools.
Some disagree with Private Education, whilst some others may work for the government.

On what planet? I don't think disagreement with private education even comes into it, not working for the government, look at Diane Abbot.

[Dejanic]

Meh, I don't really see that as a legitimate argument, if your family is under a certain income bracket, you're usually given a free school uniform here. And anyway, wealthy kids probably wouldn't be attending a state school.

In Ontario, Canada they don't give out free uniforms to poorer kids in the Catholic schools (which are free to attend other than having to purchase the uniforms). Instead, kids (or their parents, rather) get to shell out upward of $200 for each uniform (which is more than my parents spent on my clothes at the time).

They also had to ban girls wearing skirts in some of the schools because there was a problem with girls wearing thongs and then rolling their skirts.

Are school uniforms in Canada diamond studded or something? They're like 25 pounds in the uk (and that's a pretty Liberal estimate).

[Brusia]

I've been in schools with uniforms and schools without uniforms, and looking back, I'd say I prefer the uniforms for many of the reasons already outlined. One thing I would like to address is that the uniforms limit students ability to express their individuality. As, I imagine, most anyone who has attended schools with uniforms can tell you, students will always find ways to express their individuality, at most uniforms just force them to be more creative about it. For example, the girls in my old school would often wear different make-up or nail polish, while the guys might wear an additional accessory not prohibited by the uniform code (I always wore a tie-clip with an Air Force insignia).

[Herrebrugh]

I've been to a school with uniform, though, that was a course in tourism.

I find that in some situations school uniforms may be a good idea. In my own case, this involves learning for a profession which generally requires that you wear a uniform. I find it rather unnecessary for "normal" schools (elementary and high school), though.