School uniforms - for or against?

Nearly all the schoolchildren here wear uniforms, state and private schools. It represents equality and that is the reason. Sometimes they have ‘free dress’ days but they are not really free because they have pretty strict guidelines. I totally support them, they look smart and you know which school each child attends.

I agree with uniforms, and do remember the girls who 'tweaked' it to show some individuality.

I agree the expense is large. I remember my late husband telling me his Dad walked to work for a month to afford his school blazer - and he lost it

Yes from me for ease of what to wear each day. A good second system for everyone to use, surely by now everyone is onboard with recycling!

I look upon them as a leveller so for that reason I support the idea, I wonder if they weren't in place whether there would be a "shaming" of some by others if what they wear is deemed cheap. I can remember some of the banter from teen years for example "dresses like a tramp" apropos of the individual's "lowly trainers". Some kids of that age can pick on almost anything to victimise and clothes and shoes, I imagine could be used in such a way. Although observations from being in France and the US, I believe only very posh academies subscribe to uniforms there, I think I'd be interested to know whether they think what the have works.

Having said that my memories of my own convent senior school's stricture over uniforms was taken to the enth degree, regulation everything, including straw boaters in the summer white gloves going to and from school and woe betide us if we had any of it missing That left a feeling of load of bollocks! fatuous nonsense for me, but I think a looser approach to some sort of uniform is probably a good thing. When my children were in their infant school, at that time they hadn't adopted a uniform and I still had arguments with one of mine even at that age as to what he wanted to wear everyday, so I welcomed the basic uniform, school sweat shirt, white polo shirt underneath and standard grey trousers when he started in year 3 juniors, relief! I thought that at least made my life easier in the mornings.

When I was at school (and my children) we had uniform at secondary, not primary, schools. Primaries had auniform but most did not wear it. Nowadays all primary children wear uniform.
I think it is much better to wear uniform at secondary. I went with my teen GD last year to buy new uniform at the specialist shop and it was £120, which is not a lot for teen clothes.
Next year she goes to sixth form and all local schools have a policy of formal office wear so a whole new wardrobe of clothes that she would not otherwise wear.

PECS

Gagajo I ws a headteacher in a school with no uniforms & kids used our first names. Behaviour management at that school was no easier or harder than schools I worked in with uniforms. It is not about clothes!

Taking time out of a lesson to explain to a 15 year old boy why his muscle t-shirt (working in a very hot country) was inappropriate because I could see his nipples, or to a girl because her clothing was so scanty I could see her bra would have been avoided with a basic uniform.

Waste of my teaching time.

As for being 'good' for children. If children get labelled for being poor or whatever, the fault lies withtheir arents who brought them up to think poor people should be sneered at

Really Monica?!

Another uniform fan here.
I was a weird child who liked mine so much I used to wear it at weekends...why?
We were quite poor as kids and although Ma managed to scrape enough money together for my grammar school uniform she couldn't afford a coat. Nan, an inveterate market goer, stepped in with a Burberry. Unfortunately, Burberry was a generic term just meaning a mac and in this case it was a large Woman's mac which my well meaning Nan had shortened by the local seamstress. This meant the whole integrity of design of the coat was skewed as the top button and lapels started somewhere around my waist - not a good look for a first day at a new school in a new town and you have to stand in front of the whole class because you're late and your name begins with B and everyone has to shuffle one desk back to accommodate you
And, as we only got two decent outfits a year - one at Christmas and one for Walking Day in the Summer - I would have struggled to keep up without a uniform. That is, until Nan came to the rescue again with a hand operated Singer, Biba brought out patterns and I began to make my own clothes like so many of us on here.

I'm in favour of a basic generic uniform that can be purchased cheaply.

I grew up poor and used to dread the summer term as we could wear mufti and I had very little non-uniform clothing.

As an ex-teacher I agree with the uniform it means equality no one with the flashing trainers or the latest trend.
I do see it from the other point of view as I suffered as a child when I went to Grammar school, people knew whose uniform was from the local Co-op and laughed at us. I could imagine how this would have been far worse if we had been allowed our own clothes.
Most schools have second-hand shops or a box of lost clothes that are eventually given to children who need them. Skirts trousers and blouses can be bought cheaply from supermarkets maybe manufacturers need to look at the price they charge for sweatshirts or blazers.
Uniforms do give cohesion to the school and hopefully a sense of pride, and, ease for parents dressing children in the morning.

Uniform does not mean equality, it means uniformity. Adults trying to make children what they want to be and mould them into little clones so they can be treat as an amorphous mass. All looking exactly the same, without personality and individuality.

This is why children are so creative in subverting uniform by messing it around.

As for the poor child/rich child thing. That is entirely in the minds of the adults. If they didn't constantly harp on it, the children wouldn't notice.

I have noticed in recent years that supermarkets have really “stepped up” to fill the gap left by the demise of childrens stores (remember Adams, Ladybird, Mothercare shops?) You can buy a gingham Summer school dress for around £5, which is what I used to pay in the 1990’s for my girls. And I’ve bought some lovely outfits and basics for my new Grandson in Morrisons and Asda, at very reasonable prices. I always appreciated school uniforms, made life so much easier (especially as one DD was soooo fussy about what she wore - and is to this day!)

Agree with biglouise.

Uniforms do suppress individuality and are, frankly, ugly. They don't make children look smart, quite the opposite.

When there are lots of different uniforms in an area, they don't show belonging to a particular community, but promote inter-school antagonism.

I always have hated them, and moaned long and hard about my children having to wear them. My daughter, however, doesn't mind dressing her girls in uniforms, although does criticise the expense.

As for the poor child/rich child thing. That is entirely in the minds of the adults. If they didn't constantly harp on it, the children wouldn't notice.

Well I certainly noticed Monica - as a young teen how could I not notice that I had so few clothes?

You obviously didn't grow up poor.

I am all for uniform specially for teenagers there are enough problems with what they are doing with their hair in the morning let alone ages spent discussing what they might wear, what somebody else has etc. I think blazers look very smart but would agree they are one of the most expensive pieces of the uniform. Sports gear for both sexes could be looked at, specially at the start when they are trying new sports which they might not keep going with.

A vote for uniforms from me.
My school blazer was second-hand and I hated it, and I would have struggled to have enough 'ordinary' clothes to wear every day.

Uniforms are great if they are readily available from supermarkets etc. There's no point having expensive clothes for children who grow out of them so quickly.

MOnica I, too, totally disagree with your rich child/poor child comment. Teenagers can be very bitchy quite of their own accord and perfectly capable of sniffing out disadvantaged "differences" in financial status.

We didn’t wear uniform until high school my mum found it a struggle I always got hand me downs. We didn’t have many clothes either looking back at photos we always had the same clothes on.
My twin grandchildren’s uniforms cost nearly £500 that’s only for primary school. Because they have edging and badgers on the blazers and jumpers it’s expensive. I think uniform is a good idea but the cost of them needs to come down considerably.

I'm for uniform, but not as it currently is at schools, where the cost is more than for designer clothes, and they have to wear socks that cost as much as jumper.

Monica, I most certainly did notice when friends at school had mothers who’d often buy nice new clothes for them, whereas anything new I had - even including bras - after about 13 (before that it was hand me down) was bought with my Christmas/birthday/babysitting money.

We weren’t exactly poor, either, but most of any spare cash went to pay boarding school fees for the one boy out of four of us. Funnily enough I never thought to resent it at the time!

Children learn snobbery from the people they spend time with... parents, peer groups etc. I am glad I was able to leave my boarding school aged 12/13 & go to the local comp. I think I might have had a different outlook on life if I had stayed. Children brought up to be critical of others clothes, homes etc. & to judge people on their socio economic status will do that..uniforms or not!

I am also a big fan of uniforms, particularly now that trainers can cost £180 pounds a pair and are worn as status symbols!

I was always amazed when I worked in a school how many parents moaned about the cost of the uniform yet couldn’t be bothered to sew name tapes in!

Children make up their own, varying reasons to judge, I think, just the same as adults.
It's very much in evidence on here at times.
Daytime tv.
Tattoos.
Not cooking "from scratch".
Mask wearing.
False nails.
Latest phones.
Holiday choices.
Perceived hygiene standards.
Daily mail usage.
So on,.

None of the schools in my area have that kind of uniform biglouis. Only private schools. All the schools have is teeshirts or polos, sweatshirt and trousers or skirts. You can have the logo or not. Schools have uniforms for people who cannot afford it and Sainsburys do a collection of school uniforms for those who can't afford - seen the box in the store. All the teeshirts, sweats and trousers skirts can be bought in any stores - Primark, Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys, M&S, Next etc. My DGC come home filthy every day from nursery and school - school has all weather pitch, climbing frames, tyres and huge muddy puddles. Nursery has lots of outdoor play including mud kitchens - children are encouraged to be outside as much as possible these days. White socks and white blouses are a definite no no ?

I don't know where you all live but I live in Midlothian and 2 DGC in East Lothian and this is what they wear at primary. High School is different but not got there yet.