this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2024
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Total tosh. Those are the dogmatic points people have been rolling out for years without any basis in fact. The "great leveler" theory was useful post War when the differences were obvious, but they are largely irrelevant today.
The "Sense of community" is always translated by kids as "forced to conform to what their parents did". They don't want that, and frankly most people who want to feel free to express themselves don't want it either. The wardrobe malfunction stuff is true for uniforms as well, especially if you are a 14yo girl (parents of daughters will understand). The same is true for basically all of the points you made. And body image problems are often made a lot worse by NOT having freedom to choose what you want to wear. Also, studies looking at uniform vs educational outcomes have never found statistical meaningful correlations for our against uniforms.
These days schools in the UK only have uniforms due to a tradition introduced for reasons no longer relevant today.
Have you been to both schools that have a uniform and schools that do not? I feel that a lot of people in this thread are speaking from one side of their experiences without regard for the other and then claiming it is some kind of propaganda. I don't know what you want me and others to say other than that we're not paid by Big Uniform to say anything.
I've unfortunately been to more schools than I'd like to, and there is a stark behavioral contrast in ones that do have a uniform, especially for public schools. The only 'individuality' that students are stripped of is the frequency of bullying, knife fights, truancy, and other behavioral problems. People in uniforms are just less of a jerk and more of a member of the school community. I'm not sure what phenomenon in behavioral science this is, but people are easier to discipline in uniform and it shows.
Yes. The junior school my kids went to has uniform. The senior school was not. I realise that is not quite the same thing though. That said I have a mix my friends had a mix of uniform and non-uniform schools, and their kids also are mix. Across the board the opinion from parents and children is uniforms are old fashioned and need to go.
That said there are undoubtedly regional issues, and the areas I, my kids, my friends,, and their kids are in tend towards the middle-class and up, in terms of affluence. That would suggest a degree that affluence dictates behaviour, which is unfair because each school is different and the social background of the students doesn't always tell you if the school is a nice place or not.
The studies around behaviour and uniform have found that uniform does play a part sometimes, but usually there are other route causes and attacks related to the clothes the kids wore was just a symptom of other issues. So the lack of a uniform does not tell you if behaviour is going to be good or bad in a school. Schools have other tools that are more effective at handling behavioural issues, and some schools just have a harder time due to their location.
I worked at a school in Leeds a few years ago. They closed 3 other schools and brought together 3 different racial groups into a new single school. It was a nightmare at first but over time has improved to the point they no longer need a permanent police presence. This school has a uniform, but I highly doubt that had anything to do with their troubles.
Just FYI but studies say that the poorer a kid is the more likely they are to go out of their way to dress in designer clothes and buy expensive things to hide the fact that they are poor to their peers, and this produces poorer outcomes when it comes to their education as they prioritise paid work and other activities aside from their own education to pay for these things. This leads to poorer academic results and dropping out of school to pursue paid work at the expense of their long-term future.
Self-expression and freedom is great but not in every circumstance.