I wasn’t sure if this fit here or in GD, there are some topics that could fit in both.
Anyhow, did you have to wear school uniforms throughout your education? There are some schools around here that are going to that idea. These aren’t uniforms per se but acceptable items of clothing in specific colors.
I didn’t encounter this issue and I am glad but I am torn by it.
On one hand, kids from 1st through 12th grades are learning not only in school but are learning about themselves. Being able to express myself through clothing gave me a sense of independence. The main problem for me was, what the hell was I going to wear.
On the other hand, using uniforms gives everyone, even the poor kids, an even edge while in school. There is less concern about the brands of clothing you wear.
However, I don’t think that non-uniform schools are negatively impacted by a kid’s ability to wear whatever they choose.
So, did you have to wear a uniform or do your kids or what are your opinions on the subject?
Ike, I’m sending you a bill for my dry-cleaning and a new key board. I laughed so hard, I spit juice all over the place. Thanks.
The last year I was in school, the administration was pushing pretty hard for uniforms. We had a very strict dress code. Girls wore skirts that must hit the middle of the knee. The neck of a girl’s blouse could be no lower than two inches below the collar bone (and they would measure it.) Her earrings could be no larger than an inch. Boys had to wear dress pants with a belt, and their shirts must have a collar. Eventually, the administration felt that measuring necklines and earrings, and going around to each student making sure that they wore belts was getting to be a bit too much, and suggested uniforms. Everyone was all for it, until it was announced that the parents would have to pay for them, and then the idea died quckly.
I did, through high school. In grade school (Catholic), we had to wear blue slacks, and a white or blue shirt with a collar. The girls could wear the infamous skirts, if they so pleased.
In high school (Catholic, all boys), we had a less strict dress code. Slacks, no blue jeans, shirt with a collar, socks, belt, no shirts with graphics or writing. Warn’t too bad.
Personally, I’m a big proponent of uniforms. They’re much cheaper for parents (which is why I’m kinda surprised at Lissa’s comment), and much easier on the students as it is much more difficult to tease re: clothing. If someone wants to express themselves, there are many more hours in the day after school to do so. And anyway, students find a way to express themselves even in the confines of a uniform.
Kindergarten through 8th grade: No uniform, and not much of a dress code.
High School: Went to a Jesuit school. No uniform, not even a coat or tie. We had to wear what would now be called “business casual”. They were pretty damn strict about that though- they’d bitch us out for having no belt, or having the wrong kind of shoes, or wrong collar on the shirt, etc…
The no jeans, no t-shirts & no athletic shoes was the hardest part for everyone to get over.
Having gone to a junior high with no uniforms, and coming from a financially strapped home, I was VERY aware that the “cool” clothes were ones that I couldn’t afford. It seemed at that point that the clothes you wore were very important to your social standing as well.
In high school, I found that the dress code definitely did lessen any sort of social-class based discrimination simply because EVERYONE was dressed mostly the same. Sure some of us were wearing cheap Sears or Target slacks, while the richer guys had very expensive ones, but nobody cared- slacks are slacks after all, and the girls across the parking lot had to wear uniforms, so as a result, clothes weren’t much of an issue.
Going to high school gave me a very even edge- clothes weren’t an issue anymore.
I did not wear school uniforms but I know I would have loved the idea. I remember a lot of times being made fun of because of the clothes I did wear were not the latest styles but more what my parents could afford.
My ten year old daughter started wearing uniforms at the beginning of this school year. At first she did not like the idea at all but now she has had a couple of weeks to adjust to wearing uniforms and tells me how much she likes them. The kids have a pretty good variety of what they can wear color wise so that has helped in changing her mind. Luckily the majority of the department stores in our area has a good selection to choose from.
I have heard many people complain about the price of the uniforms how they are so much more expensive than regular clothes, but I found that not to be true. I spent a lot less on uniforms this year than previous years on regular school clothes. For low income families there are programs that offer assistance for uniforms, they did this at my daughter’s school. I also have heard parents complaining that it takes away the kids individuality and they all end up looking alike. I personally do not want my daughter going to school to make a fashion statement but to actually learn what is being taught.
I endured eight horrible years of Catholic elementary school uniforms. I HATED it more than anything. The kids who went to the (devil-worshipping) public school across the street looked so much happier and normal.
So what’s my opinion now? I think uniforms are the best idea to come along since the #2 pencil!
Sure I hated them, but not nearly as much as I would’ve hated the taunting and abuse I would surely have gotten from the kids in the latest cool clothes. (Mom had zeeeeroooo fashion sense and was awfully tight with a buck, too – a disasterous combination that, were it not for the uniforms, would have resulted in tens of thousands of dollars spent on therapy later in my life.) Kids have enough pressures and torment from their peers. Why add “Gamour Don’ts” to the list?
Besides, it taught me how to tie a tie long before the other kids in HS.
I went to Catholic School from Kindergarten through High School. Wore a uniform every day of my life.
I think uniforms are a good idea. Besides saving money for the parents and humiliation for the kids, I think there is a definate safety factor involved. Kids get mugged or killed in the subways and on the streets all the time because they have “better” clothes. That puts an end to that. No one is better than anyone else. The rich, the poor, the fashionable, and the tasteless all start on an even playing field.
The little ricepads wear uniforms to school, and I’m all for it. At first, I was against it, mostly because the first thing I associated with uniforms was ‘Catholic school’. Our local school district, however, has a very liberal uniform policy, and there’s a lot of latitude in what the kids are allowed to wear. Dress or polo shirts in about five different colors, navy or tan pants for boys and girls(twill or corduroy), navy or tan jumpers for girls, no logos, no collarless shirts, and clothes may not be more than one size too large.
The school maintains a ‘clothes closet’, so families with a lot of kids (or not a lot of money) can purchase items for about a dollar each.
I like it because clothing ceases to be a distraction for the kids, yet they can still accessorize enough to express some individuality.
Now if we can only get the TEACHERS to adhere to a uniform policy…
I’m glad I didn’t. Why? Cos I am the sweatiest human being on earth. I straight out don’t wear shirts with sleeves. If I do, within about five minutes, I’d get nice round stains under my armpits. So, I wear exclusively sleeveless items or sweaters and jackets that the sweat won’t soak through.
I also go crazy in pants without lots of pockets.
I also wont wear shoes I can’t run in. I like being able to walk through mud or puddles or whatever, and not have to mince around them. That means I wear rather clunky shoes (I think they’re cute) that some uniforms might disagree with.
And, I won’t even consider skirts. Whenever I try them, I end up exposeing myself, and that is never a good thing.
I guess I am trying to say that there are a lot of reasons why people dress like they do, and they are not all issues of vanity. And kids that wore clothes for whatever reasons would stand out even more.
Plus all that self-expression stuff. Kids arnt little dolls to dress up. Especially in High School. Clothing can be a part of people’s identity, and not always in the ways people think about. For example, in High School I had my “protest jacket” and whenever something happened that made me mad, I covered the back of my jacket with strips of masking tape and used a big black marker to air my views. Granted that may not be the most constuctive thing in the world, but it was my thing. I also wore nearly exclusively thrift store clothes. Part of that was I was poor, but another part of that was protesting materilism. I think that was an important part of myself as a whole, as well.
Then again, I went to a very poor high school and there was no “status” clothes, because everyone was just poor and knew everyone else was poor as well. But it seems to me that having nice shoes or bikes or jewelry or whatever continue to be indicators of wealth even if uniforms are instated.
I wore uniforms for nine out of my twelve years of school. They did little, if anything, to cut down on the competition in high school; it simply became a matter of who had the “right” shoes, purse, and backpack, who dared to wear the most make-up, and so on. Plus you still needed to have the “right” clothes for afterschool functions at which uniforms were required, or risk social suicide. I guess I didn’t actually hate wearing the uniform, it was just part of life, but I think many people are fooling themselves about their advantages.
School uniforms are unheard of here in Norway. Our previous education minister briefly proposed them, but found no public support.
No uniform, but a strict dress code. Solid-color polo shirts, had to be tucked in all the time, no bluejeans, no hats, no chains… guys had to be cleanshaven all the time, hair had to be very conservative… that sort of thing.
And it was STILL a blast, so I see no reason why clothing is so important to expressing a person’s individuality. Of course, I also don’t think that uniform clothing is necessary to a healthy High School environment, either.
I had 2 years of uniforms, between the ages of 10-12, and I had to wear short trousers, don’t know the american for them, english grammer schools can be hard places for the young, particularly when you stand out from all the secondary schools, ( the majority ).
Yes, I wore a uniform. For about 3 years out of my school career. It wasn’t so bad. I do think that it is important for people to be able to express themselves through clothing or whatever, but dress code is important. Before the uniforms, we just had a few rules like certain lengths for skirts, couldn’t show your belly button, no chains, hats, and so on. After the uniforms, they went back to normal.
Since I’m going to the same school as Spoofe, I just have to add stuff and make corrections. We are allowed to wear chains (Big whoop de doo). We used to not be allowed to wear hooded sweaters, but that has recently changed. It’s not quite a uniform, but it’s strict enough to be considered a form of imposed uniformity.
I had to wear uniform all the way through school, but that’s pretty common in England
Primary school - Grey skirt, light blue blouse, royal blue cardigan and tie, black shoes.
Middle School - Navy blue skirt and cardigan/jumper and tie, light blue blouse, black shoes
High school - Navy blue skirt and jumper/cardigan, blue or white blouse, black or brown shoes and a really gross tie that was navy blue with pale blue and gold stripes!!
There was also limitations on the amount of jewellery and make up you were allowed to wear and the lads were discouraged from having long hair or goatee beards. I always thought it was stupid to make girls wear ties, we don’t often wear them in the real world do we?
I’m not Catholic, but I went to a Catholic high school. Our uniforms consisted of a white button down shirt, a choice of red plad or grey wool skirt, socks or hose, and shoes. It was pretty lax. Some nuns were more interested in enforcing it than others, but we’d just tuck in our shirts and put on some socks before those classes.
I was on financial aid at that school and had no friends there when I started. The uniform allowed me the freedom of avoiding a label while making friends. I was able to be popular in high school because of my personality, not because I had the right “look.”
Also, it saved my parents a lot of money they needed for more important things than my wardrobe.
I had to wear a uniform the two years that I went to a Baptist school. Why couldn’t I have been born Catholic? Their uniforms inspire lust, Baptist uniforms could be used for birth control. It was this nylonish red blouse with a mock turtleneck. In the collar was a belt loop thing in which we inserted a red,white and blue kerchief thingy. Over the blouse we had a navy blue polyester (double knit, I believe it’s called, the thick, itchy kind) vest that had brass-like buttons. Instead of using button holes, we fastened the vest with a small chain of brass-like links. The skirt was the same blue polyester with a deep pleat on each side. Inside the pleat was a red, white and blue ribbon thing that went all the way down the sides.
For gym we wore t-shirts and culottes. When we went swimming, it had to be girls only in the pool and we still had to wear culottes and a shirt. I am not making this up.
Despite all this trauma, if my kid’s school had uniforms I’d be for it. The uniforms here are either a polo or turtleneck shirt in one of three colors, khaki or navy pants, skirts, jumpers or shorts, and you can wear a sweater or cardigan, too. You still have some choice, it’s not butt ugly and I think it teaches kids that school is a place that for working and certain standards must be met.
Um, if I lived somewhere kids regularly got killed on the subway or in the street, I’d be up in arms about a HELL of a lot more than uniforms…
Never wore one myself (public school grades K-12) and I honestly don’t know whether it’s a good idea. Might spare some kids a bit of teasing, I guess, but then again they’d probably catch hell from the kids who went to other schools. I probably wouldn’t support school uniforms for my own (still hypothetical) young’uns, unless I thought there was solid evidence that the practice had academic or disciplinary advantages.
Iwear uniforms in my school. It consists of polo shirts, oxford shirts, skirts and pants. But unfortunately I cant wear the pants, since their only style they sell are guys pants, and my hips are too big for them!! and we can only wear the pants the school sells, or else we get in trouble.
Uniforms are bad, since I go to a private school, and they charge an arm and a leg for their outfits-$22 for a shirt, $26-$40 for a skirt.
And people still make fun of people but they base it on the car you drive, the jewelry you wear and the brand of sneakers you have.
I went to elementary school and middle school with no uniforms, and I never felt the pressure to compete with clothes. Nobody really did. We all wore the same outfits practically ever other day.