The Headmaster from Hell

Precisely David what it did not do is stop anyone from misbehaving.

M0nica

^some boys saw it as a badge of honout to see how often they got caned or slippered in a year.^

One of the reasons I have always opposed corproral pinishment.

Personally on those rare occasions I was sentenced to three wraps of the ruler on my hand, my immediate reaction was 'Do not think you are going to beat me into submission' and it just made me more truculent.

I have always that the best punishments are the boring and tedious ones done under supervision. I really disliked those and would try to avoid getting them.

Not at my school they didn’t, it did take a few 3 or 4 visits to get the message but they all learned the “11th commandment” Thou shalt not get caught

Nobody relished a visit to the Deputy Head on Friday afternoon

Personally on those rare occasions I was sentenced to three wraps of the ruler on my hand, my immediate reaction was 'Do not think you are going to beat me into submission' and it just made me more truculent.
I only endured that once and it still rankles, particularly as the real culprit was so smug!

M0nica

^some boys saw it as a badge of honout to see how often they got caned or slippered in a year.^

One of the reasons I have always opposed corproral pinishment.

Personally on those rare occasions I was sentenced to three wraps of the ruler on my hand, my immediate reaction was 'Do not think you are going to beat me into submission' and it just made me more truculent.

I have always that the best punishments are the boring and tedious ones done under supervision. I really disliked those and would try to avoid getting them.

I can remember detentions, having had two during my school career, and having to spend an hout writing a tedious essay about how to behave in school. It was mind numbing and also you found out writing this tedious essay was in vain as the teacher threw the essays in the bin on the way out. Also litter duty was another one, where you were sent round the school picking up rubbisb, although this wasn't bad in nice weather.

some boys saw it as a badge of honout to see how often they got caned or slippered in a year.

One of the reasons I have always opposed corproral pinishment.

Personally on those rare occasions I was sentenced to three wraps of the ruler on my hand, my immediate reaction was 'Do not think you are going to beat me into submission' and it just made me more truculent.

I have always that the best punishments are the boring and tedious ones done under supervision. I really disliked those and would try to avoid getting them.

We used to get the cane or the plimsoll at school in the early eighties( boys could only be caned, though, girls got the plimsoll from a female deputy head). It was a reasonable deterrent, but, of course, was abused and some boys saw it as a badge of honout to see how often they got caned or slippered in a year.
Changed schools half way through my secondary years and the next school hardly ever used corporal punishment and preferred detentions and dropping grades for bad behaviour. This seemed to work just as well and getting a letter from the head saying your grades could be dropped was probably a bigger issue than a sore backside as your parents could find out.

Very true Anniebach.

Difficult for children if their parents tell then their head is sooo
wrong

Allira

I think you're determined to argue with every post I make at the moment M0nica, whatever I say.

Goodnight.

I often agree with you, but it doesn't follow I always have to or will agree with you, and at times we will differ.

I think school uniforms are a waste of money that put an unnecessary burden on poorer families and at secondary level rarely look smart. I got legally making my uniform a mess down to a fine art.

Nor does it hide differences in children's circumstances. All it does is produce pretty pictures of symmetry that please adult eyes but contribute nothing to children's education.

nanna8

Nearly all the kids wear uniforms here, even the pre schoolers now in some areas. No one thinks about wealth or whatever. Kids are kids.

The uniforms I've seen over there are more casual. However, polo shirts with a school logo are ten times the price of a similar one in Target or similar stores.

Nearly all the kids wear uniforms here, even the pre schoolers now in some areas. No one thinks about wealth or whatever. Kids are kids.

I think you're determined to argue with every post I make at the moment M0nica, whatever I say.

Goodnight.

Allira

Schools are aware of this and many parents donate uniform which is grown out of but still fairly new.
This is then either donated or sold at very low cost to other parents.
DGD, for instance, was only at a school for about three months due to a house move; her uniform was donated to her old school, still in excellent condition.

But that does not stop every child knowing what kind of family eveyr child comes from and whether they are poor or rich.

Schools are aware of this and many parents donate uniform which is grown out of but still fairly new.
This is then either donated or sold at very low cost to other parents.
DGD, for instance, was only at a school for about three months due to a house move; her uniform was donated to her old school, still in excellent condition.

It doesn't matter whether children are in uniform or not it is quite clear who comea from a well off family and who doesn't. Shies are a great give away, those who have clean new uniform which is replaced as soon as starts getting small compared with children who is uniform is clearly worn, faded, too small, inadequate.

It is a fallacy that uniform hides differences of wealth between children. It doesn't. They all know each others family circumstances and it is the basis of most bullying.

Polo shirts, trousers or skirts and jumpers or cardigans all in a specified colour, plus plain black shoes.

Indigo8

I think a dress code rather than uniform is best.

There was a time in the 1980s when our local school abandoned uniform and the result was the children started wearing things like saggy jogging bottoms and slogan tee-shirts, some of the girls wore boob tubes and cropped leggings. They went back to full uniform after a couple of years but I felt that if they had had a proper dress code it could have worked.

I agree.

No uniform results in pressure on those who can't afford the latest fashions, sportswear and trainers and consequently bullying.

Informal, inexpensive uniforms are best.

I think a dress code rather than uniform is best.

There was a time in the 1980s when our local school abandoned uniform and the result was the children started wearing things like saggy jogging bottoms and slogan tee-shirts, some of the girls wore boob tubes and cropped leggings. They went back to full uniform after a couple of years but I felt that if they had had a proper dress code it could have worked.

I have always had my doubts about uniform. When I was at school I became an expert in undermining the uniform code, based on statements made by our headmistress. She was always preaching economy and austerity, so I made a big thing of repairing my uniform to make it last longer, so my uniform always had repairs and buttons, not entirely straight. And of course, once off school premises, hitched the skirt up and loosened the tie.

At one point we lived near two schools one with uniform and one without and I always commented on how scruffy those in uniform looked compared with those from the school without uniform.

Back in the 1970s, my children's school did not have a uniform but had a dress code. No T shirts with logos, pictures or texts, no jeans and no trainers. That code wouldn't be appropriate in the 2020s, but I am sure something similar could be drawn up, so that children learn about dressing appropriately, all nowadays, it seems, anything goes.

Two of my children went to schools with no uniform with nil detriment to their educational achievement.
They all went to the local sixth form college ... no uniform, no problem.
They then went on to universities ... no uniform, no problem.
Uniforms just become a focus for pupil rebelliousness and for teacher frustration ... they would much rather be teaching than policing this nonsense.
I think uniforms are a red herring when it comes to the current problems in school which are linked to the much wider problem of social deprivation.

I’m not convinced uniforms improve behaviour though it’s clear new heads who get very strict about uniform, amongst other things, achieve results]
Children pour out of high schools in other European countries wearing jeans, sweat shirts, trainers, much more comfortable and easy to replace than our uniforms. They behave like other teens, chatting as they walk. It seems to me it’s more about social expectations and acceptance of codes of decent behaviour. We have more of a maverick independence. Look at British tourists in many holiday resorts, men with no shirt on, people in beach wear thinking it’s ok to wander the streets, get served in restaurants. Noisy excessive alcohol consumption. These are the adult role models the teens with false nails, eyelashes and pink hair whose parents insist they have to wear them ‘for their mental health’

Lahlah65, why should it be important for young girls to have things like gel manicures? We should be looking at the way girls feel they have to change their looks to conform to so called modern styles. Uniforms could be a great leveller if there was a uniform stockist that the parents had to adhere to. Deals could be done with cheaper outlets rather than the expensive ones you get when you get the embroidered wear. We used to buy a badge you sew on when I were a lass!
If you are going to be joining a profession you very often have to adhere to a code of dress. Why should that be different with young people? It is a simple way of teaching them we can't always do what we want, when we want it. Like it or not, there are rules throughout society which you have to follow whether you like it or not. It has to start somewhere.

Agree with Luckygirl13.
Truthfully, I just don’t get the UK obsession with school uniform. You don’t see it so much in Europe or the US, where kids mostly just go to school in their regular clothes. The type of clothes that children and young people wear at school are rarely seen in the modern workplace. And it seems to me that girls are more often in breach of these rules, which makes me feel that there’s a gendered element - which is out of step with modern styles (eg gel manicures, which are not designed to be removed on Monday before school!)
I can’t help thinking it gets in the way of developing better, mutually respectful relationships in schools, and it seems to absorb a lot of time and energy that should be focused on how people behave rather than how they look.
There was always an argument that it was some kind of leveler - so that everyone looked the same. That definitely wasn’t the case in my school where I was laughed at for my cheap shoes by the girls in their posh leather brogues, and I don’t doubt it’s the same now.

Me too!

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