School Uniforms - What's Their Point?

hangryconsumer

Emmia said:

I think uniform is more about school identity, than preventing bullying.

I think uniform is more about creating a bunch of compliant sheep for the government to control when they enter the adult world. It is also about many other things but today I'm feeling rebellious against society. I was a well behaved, polite and hardworking (yet cynical) pupil who turned out to hate society and government. I wore the uniform but in my final year, one of the teachers had a problem with me keeping my jacket on, so I quit the class. The jacket didn't affect my studiousness or academic performance but there is no point in trying to reason with a teacher whose line is "those are the rules and you must follow them". I'm still a taxpaying slave until I finally get to die. Society wins.

onomatopoeia99

Sandtree said:

anotheruser said:

The first reason I have come across was so kids didn't bully other kids for not wearing labels.  These days, there are so many labels and clothes, I'm not sure it's really an issue.  Plus, those who will be wearing second hand uniforms or non-official (IE, supermarket versions) will still stick out anyway, so it's a moot point.

I can see an advantage for uniforms is it's one thing less for parents to worry about with what their kids are going to wear.  Schools also don't have to make judgement calls on whether sexually charged slogans are appropriate in the school setting.  But that wasn't a problem years ago for my schools.

But then the cost of many uniforms is stupid.
I heard one parent had spent over £700 a year on school uniform.

like all the office workers in a suit and shirt

In nerd world we don't.  Amazingly, we can still write code without wearing suit, shirt or tie, despite being sat at desks in an office (actually WFH right now, but in the beforetimes).

Ditzy_Mitzy

I went to an ordinary comprehensive with an ordinary sort of uniform and recall that the issue of whether or not to have one far greater vexed the parents than the pupils. 

From my perspective, not having to worry about what to wear each morning and, by extension, whether or not my clothes were 'cool' or if there was anything wrong with the getup as a whole, was something of a boon.  I wasn't concerned about bullying, but I just didn't have the energy, or indeed financial wherewithal, to look my best five days a week.  Uniform was a nice leveller from that perspective, although shoes and satchels, bags and hairstyles and what have you still caused consternation.  The general mood towards uniform in general was moderately positive; we did discuss it, and concluded that having one was better, overall, than not having one.  My generation was, perhaps, less individualistic.  We used to interpret uniform rules in very lax ways and push the boundaries vis a vis jewellery, make up and personalised alterations but we didn't yet have the modern desire to aggressively assert ourselves as personal brands or demand to express our 'authentic identities' in myriad vaguely irritating ways.  I simply don't know what things are like these days.  

tempus_fugit

onomatopoeia99 said:

Sandtree said:

anotheruser said:

The first reason I have come across was so kids didn't bully other kids for not wearing labels.  These days, there are so many labels and clothes, I'm not sure it's really an issue.  Plus, those who will be wearing second hand uniforms or non-official (IE, supermarket versions) will still stick out anyway, so it's a moot point.

I can see an advantage for uniforms is it's one thing less for parents to worry about with what their kids are going to wear.  Schools also don't have to make judgement calls on whether sexually charged slogans are appropriate in the school setting.  But that wasn't a problem years ago for my schools.

But then the cost of many uniforms is stupid.
I heard one parent had spent over £700 a year on school uniform.

like all the office workers in a suit and shirt

In nerd world we don't.  Amazingly, we can still write code without wearing suit, shirt or tie, despite being sat at desks in an office (actually WFH right now, but in the beforetimes).

One of the reasons I moved from the insurance industry to IT - I hated wearing a suit and tie. ;-)