In the UK I think it's mainly about control, behaviour and the school's reputation. Control and behaviour because it's a very visible way that the school has of policing the way you present yourself e.g. 'tuck that shirt in', 'take those trainers off and put on formal black shoes' and having to ask permission to remove a blazer when you're in a hot classroom in summer. I can't think of any situation in adult life where I've seen that except in prison. In terms of reputation, in my experience schools are very, very good at PR to the point where they ignore any criticism (even going as far as changing the subject when I've sat face-to-face with a teacher in a meeting) and they flood all their communications with how successful they are and how happy their pupils are. Having immaculately dressed, easily recognisable pupils is part of this.
In some ways they don't have much choice because the penalties of not falling in line, especially with Ofsted, are so high. But that doesn't excuse the damage this is doing to many children.
Uniform is pointless - just a control game. It’s ridiculously expensive - the argument about poorer kids not standing out is so backwards.
Logos on everything pushes this problem further. It’s made of vile material that is neither fit fir the cold nor the heat. Having to turn up in the summer in full uniform and wait for permission to take the synthetic blazer and jumper off just teaches the kids they’re not trusted to make decisions regarding their own well-being. Oh blazers - you can’t get a plain blazer and sew on the badge - that comes as a logo’d blazer at full price... Thank goodness for social media groups where parents post up grown-out-of pieces for a few quid, or even better for free (very often when the kid has left the skool, they just want this stuff gone.)
Rolling up their skirts is a peer pressure that many girls hate but go along with to avoid teasing - I’m glad my daughter escaped that nonsense (we were home ed at that point). As for boys’ trousers - if you didn’t buy the logo’d trousers coz they didn’t fit your sporty big-thighed boys (all my chunky boys had a stint in skools) they have the added threats of inspections - even tho’ the logo was covered up by the jumper - oh give me strength.
We also love being told to buy new black shoes coz their shoes look like trainers even tho’ you bought them in the shoe department not the trainer department. Argh stop me now or I’ll carry on for another thousand words..
Suffice to say, anyone defending this nonsense is probably very rich or very dim or both.
I don’t think school uniform equals equality in any sense. Speaking as a former teacher, a uniform is handy to keep track of the kids out of school on trips but inside school there are still financial inequities with those who get branded skirts or shoes and coats, bags etc. My kids both have sensory processing issues so school uniform was a huge barrier to learning - we had to go for compression skins underneath, spacers for collars, a particular jumper because the embroidery was too much, Velcro not lace up black shoes, and all of this had to be discussed and negotiated with the SENCo so it could be written into his SEN plan before he was allowed to have these minor, unnoticeable changes. Then despite all this sensory overload, they expected him to cope with learning and sitting still at a desk for hours on end with no personal space (another pet peeve!). And to ‘save’ financially because we only needed to buy one uniform which comprised 3 shirts, 3 trousers, two ties (because of executive functioning challenges), two branded jumpers, one blazer, school shoes, Astro boots, indoor trainers, and PE kit (branded); we had the privilege of paying £600 a year since kids grow significantly in teenage years. Had we been able to buy even an unbranded uniform that would have cost less than £100 a year. Better still would have been to allow comfortable clothes that met his needs so he could learn effectively. We now home school (for this and other reasons) and I see the engagement in learning rocketing now he can wear what he likes and my clothing bill is significantly less. I know there can be issues in countries where there is no uniform (my sister and her daughter live in California), but there are always teenage cliques and no matter what we as adults enforce to promote equality, the kids will always sort themselves into clicks and us/them groups. All we are doing with a uniform is papering over the cracks in the education system and making enforcing the rules another form of control.
My daughter’s Jr high school had a “no colored hair” policy. It was actually a no unnatural colored hair policy. Children could go brown, black, blond, “natural” red, and white, but no pink, purple, blue, or green. My daughter wanted a pink strip in front. We went to the principal and asked “why” there was a hair color policy. The principle said hair dye created “clicks” at the school. I asked if she had any data that proved hair color created “more than usual jr. high clicks”. Let’s face it, if “clicks” are found in life, it’s your Jr. High and high school years. She didn’t have any real data, so appealed to her authority. My daughter and I discussed the pros and cons of fighting the policy with the district (basically choosing our battles). In the end, my child dyed her hair pink (she paid for the process) over the summer, and I paid to have it dyed back to “normal” for the start of the school year. Two years later, the policy changed when my second offspring entered that school. Of course, he didn’t want colored hair.
Uniforms make perfect sense. It is indoctrination into being a worker slave. You are a number, a bland repeat of your brethren. It is not for you to understand what makes you special. It is your job in life to crush your peers in competition so that you can be told you are special by the heirarchy.
Thank you Dr Fisher, I really enjoy reading your articles, they reassure me that I am not loosing my mind.
My daughter has sensory issues. The first few months in school were hell for her. The uniform in her words, was suffocating her. She refused to go to school.
I had to secretly remove the collar from the shirt and sew it onto a white t-shirt (girls are not allowed take off the sweater, no one could see the t-shirt) I lined the skirt with a very light soft fabric. It hasn't sorted the problem! but it has eased it and helped to make it bearable for her.
The school principal and all the teachers dress in smart casual. In the summer the female teachers wear light dresses, short sleeved tops. During this year's heatwave the children dressed in wool sweaters, long sleeved shirts and full length wool skirts.
There are a couple of great things about uniforms (I had one, my kids don't):
1. There is clothing equality. No one is coming to school with the newest sneakers that cost $250, or designer jackets and bags...
2. You don't have to think about what you're wearing every morning. Some kids are happy to wear whatever is handy. For others, deciding what to wear every morning is incredibly stressful. A uniform eliminates that stress.
Lastly, a school uniform generally means that *everybody* looks awful together ; )
Re. Inequality, but some of them will arrive at school in a BMW, others will come by bus. Some will talk about their PS5 and holidays abroad while others will not. If schools can choose to do quite nasty things to children to supposedly get them accustomed to adult life, why now do nasty things to “shield” them from an accepted reality of adult life (as well as child life everywhere other than school)
There are adults who wear the same clothes everyday because they don’t want to pick clothes. And adults who would hate to wear the same clothes every day. In most cases, they can pick the path they want. That freedom could be given to children too
Another part of the education system most likely left over from the Victorian age.
In the UK I think it's mainly about control, behaviour and the school's reputation. Control and behaviour because it's a very visible way that the school has of policing the way you present yourself e.g. 'tuck that shirt in', 'take those trainers off and put on formal black shoes' and having to ask permission to remove a blazer when you're in a hot classroom in summer. I can't think of any situation in adult life where I've seen that except in prison. In terms of reputation, in my experience schools are very, very good at PR to the point where they ignore any criticism (even going as far as changing the subject when I've sat face-to-face with a teacher in a meeting) and they flood all their communications with how successful they are and how happy their pupils are. Having immaculately dressed, easily recognisable pupils is part of this.
In some ways they don't have much choice because the penalties of not falling in line, especially with Ofsted, are so high. But that doesn't excuse the damage this is doing to many children.
Uniform is pointless - just a control game. It’s ridiculously expensive - the argument about poorer kids not standing out is so backwards.
Logos on everything pushes this problem further. It’s made of vile material that is neither fit fir the cold nor the heat. Having to turn up in the summer in full uniform and wait for permission to take the synthetic blazer and jumper off just teaches the kids they’re not trusted to make decisions regarding their own well-being. Oh blazers - you can’t get a plain blazer and sew on the badge - that comes as a logo’d blazer at full price... Thank goodness for social media groups where parents post up grown-out-of pieces for a few quid, or even better for free (very often when the kid has left the skool, they just want this stuff gone.)
Rolling up their skirts is a peer pressure that many girls hate but go along with to avoid teasing - I’m glad my daughter escaped that nonsense (we were home ed at that point). As for boys’ trousers - if you didn’t buy the logo’d trousers coz they didn’t fit your sporty big-thighed boys (all my chunky boys had a stint in skools) they have the added threats of inspections - even tho’ the logo was covered up by the jumper - oh give me strength.
We also love being told to buy new black shoes coz their shoes look like trainers even tho’ you bought them in the shoe department not the trainer department. Argh stop me now or I’ll carry on for another thousand words..
Suffice to say, anyone defending this nonsense is probably very rich or very dim or both.
I don’t think school uniform equals equality in any sense. Speaking as a former teacher, a uniform is handy to keep track of the kids out of school on trips but inside school there are still financial inequities with those who get branded skirts or shoes and coats, bags etc. My kids both have sensory processing issues so school uniform was a huge barrier to learning - we had to go for compression skins underneath, spacers for collars, a particular jumper because the embroidery was too much, Velcro not lace up black shoes, and all of this had to be discussed and negotiated with the SENCo so it could be written into his SEN plan before he was allowed to have these minor, unnoticeable changes. Then despite all this sensory overload, they expected him to cope with learning and sitting still at a desk for hours on end with no personal space (another pet peeve!). And to ‘save’ financially because we only needed to buy one uniform which comprised 3 shirts, 3 trousers, two ties (because of executive functioning challenges), two branded jumpers, one blazer, school shoes, Astro boots, indoor trainers, and PE kit (branded); we had the privilege of paying £600 a year since kids grow significantly in teenage years. Had we been able to buy even an unbranded uniform that would have cost less than £100 a year. Better still would have been to allow comfortable clothes that met his needs so he could learn effectively. We now home school (for this and other reasons) and I see the engagement in learning rocketing now he can wear what he likes and my clothing bill is significantly less. I know there can be issues in countries where there is no uniform (my sister and her daughter live in California), but there are always teenage cliques and no matter what we as adults enforce to promote equality, the kids will always sort themselves into clicks and us/them groups. All we are doing with a uniform is papering over the cracks in the education system and making enforcing the rules another form of control.
The English invented school uniforms and they took it (probably?) everywhere they colonized.
In Sri Lanka it extends to policing what women wear (as mothers visiting school as well as teachers).
What! That is shocking
My daughter’s Jr high school had a “no colored hair” policy. It was actually a no unnatural colored hair policy. Children could go brown, black, blond, “natural” red, and white, but no pink, purple, blue, or green. My daughter wanted a pink strip in front. We went to the principal and asked “why” there was a hair color policy. The principle said hair dye created “clicks” at the school. I asked if she had any data that proved hair color created “more than usual jr. high clicks”. Let’s face it, if “clicks” are found in life, it’s your Jr. High and high school years. She didn’t have any real data, so appealed to her authority. My daughter and I discussed the pros and cons of fighting the policy with the district (basically choosing our battles). In the end, my child dyed her hair pink (she paid for the process) over the summer, and I paid to have it dyed back to “normal” for the start of the school year. Two years later, the policy changed when my second offspring entered that school. Of course, he didn’t want colored hair.
Uniforms make perfect sense. It is indoctrination into being a worker slave. You are a number, a bland repeat of your brethren. It is not for you to understand what makes you special. It is your job in life to crush your peers in competition so that you can be told you are special by the heirarchy.
Thank you Dr Fisher, I really enjoy reading your articles, they reassure me that I am not loosing my mind.
My daughter has sensory issues. The first few months in school were hell for her. The uniform in her words, was suffocating her. She refused to go to school.
I had to secretly remove the collar from the shirt and sew it onto a white t-shirt (girls are not allowed take off the sweater, no one could see the t-shirt) I lined the skirt with a very light soft fabric. It hasn't sorted the problem! but it has eased it and helped to make it bearable for her.
The school principal and all the teachers dress in smart casual. In the summer the female teachers wear light dresses, short sleeved tops. During this year's heatwave the children dressed in wool sweaters, long sleeved shirts and full length wool skirts.
There are a couple of great things about uniforms (I had one, my kids don't):
1. There is clothing equality. No one is coming to school with the newest sneakers that cost $250, or designer jackets and bags...
2. You don't have to think about what you're wearing every morning. Some kids are happy to wear whatever is handy. For others, deciding what to wear every morning is incredibly stressful. A uniform eliminates that stress.
Lastly, a school uniform generally means that *everybody* looks awful together ; )
Re. Inequality, but some of them will arrive at school in a BMW, others will come by bus. Some will talk about their PS5 and holidays abroad while others will not. If schools can choose to do quite nasty things to children to supposedly get them accustomed to adult life, why now do nasty things to “shield” them from an accepted reality of adult life (as well as child life everywhere other than school)
There are adults who wear the same clothes everyday because they don’t want to pick clothes. And adults who would hate to wear the same clothes every day. In most cases, they can pick the path they want. That freedom could be given to children too