Great article. It is so ridiculous when children are sent home because they aren't wearing their blazer. Being denied access to learning because if an item of clothing. And autistic children needing uniform accommodations just to feel comfortable enough to learn. As you say, stepping away from the system reveals so many layers of control and conformity.
Thank you, it certainly does. Sent home?! Gosh, the mind boggles at how that is possibly arrived at as a decent thing to 🤯 Really showing what their priorities are with that decision.
This is so interesting to read! I also wore uniforms as I got older and I was just talking about it the other day with my husband. Ever strange that I had to PAY someone to wear my own clothes. And I would get in trouble for not wearing something as simple as the right type of socks.
In a way, I found it was easy because I didn't have to pick anything out to wear each day. But I see now, especially as a mom, how it teaches conformity -- just much like the rest of the traditional education system.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom about how this shows up!
Thank you for reading and commenting Brittany! It's so interesting to reflect on things that just "were" in our childhood now that we are parents isn't it? Yes, to have to choose our look each day when there's so much peer scrutiny and pressure could make uniform an easier choice for sure. But outside of the system there's so much freedom, joy and ease in having the choice of what to wear :-)
As a kid I wore 'hand-me-down' or home made uniforms and it showed. My parents couldn't afford the brand name items and it showed. At the age of 10 I knew that the 'uniformity' and 'levelling' effect of uniforms didn't work: not all kids were equal, even if from a distance they may have looked like that.
I once heard an argument that it was important for school kids to wear uniforms to 'raise the tone of the school'. Took me a while to figure out what was meant by that. Basically, the idea was that the local school kids needed to look like private school kids out and about on excursion: neat, tidy, expensive.
Just recently all the doctors in our local general practice were required to wear 'scrubs' in the clinic - a uniform. Suddenly I felt less welcome in the place. The warm and friendly, though still professional, relationship I'd built up over the years with my doctor dimmed a little. We both felt it: she looked uncomfortable in her 'scrubs', even though she'd chosen a colour that was out of kilter with the rest of her workmates. Without talking about it I understood her motivation for doing that.
Thank you for sharing your experiences as they really add to this conversation. I was shocked to find out how much the branded uniform costs, and then the school is either forcing families into poverty if they insist on it, or - as you experienced - making children stand out if they don't insist and the child wears non-branded. My research basically found that none of the purported rationales given for uniforms have any solid evidence behind them. And, as you found, the peer pressure inherent in the school model will always put kids in competition with each other regarding clothing or other items (I would imagine phones are now a big one!) Important point about the unfriendliness of uniforms too, and the human drive to try and assert some individuality despite them.
Thank you, Gem, I love this post. And as a father to 2 daughters, one of whom is at school, the cost is insane! Also, they really are not comfortable at all. At least they don't have to wear ties like I did in primary school though. Genuine Q for you though. Someone told me that school uniform is a way to stop kids who can't afford / are unaware of the coolest new gear being bullied. Is this true or a myth?
Thanks Sam! Ah yes, comfort is a big one. For some kids the materials and styles are unbearable for their sensory sensitivities, and for many more they’d probably just feel far better in something else. And yes, I’ve heard that argument about reducing bullying. My personal take is that it’s another sad example of the pressures children face in school... peer trends become so intense that the solution offered is to make everyone dress the same. From what I’ve read, the evidence for uniforms actually reducing bullying is pretty weak, but the argument is definitely out there. Thanks again so much for reading and commenting :-)
My primary school didn't have a uniform (in the 80s) and I was teased for not having cool or branded clothes and trainers. At the time I wished I had a uniform. But looking back now, kids would have found something else to tease about. Bullying is a much wider issue.
Great article. It is so ridiculous when children are sent home because they aren't wearing their blazer. Being denied access to learning because if an item of clothing. And autistic children needing uniform accommodations just to feel comfortable enough to learn. As you say, stepping away from the system reveals so many layers of control and conformity.
Thank you, it certainly does. Sent home?! Gosh, the mind boggles at how that is possibly arrived at as a decent thing to 🤯 Really showing what their priorities are with that decision.
This is so interesting to read! I also wore uniforms as I got older and I was just talking about it the other day with my husband. Ever strange that I had to PAY someone to wear my own clothes. And I would get in trouble for not wearing something as simple as the right type of socks.
In a way, I found it was easy because I didn't have to pick anything out to wear each day. But I see now, especially as a mom, how it teaches conformity -- just much like the rest of the traditional education system.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom about how this shows up!
Thank you for reading and commenting Brittany! It's so interesting to reflect on things that just "were" in our childhood now that we are parents isn't it? Yes, to have to choose our look each day when there's so much peer scrutiny and pressure could make uniform an easier choice for sure. But outside of the system there's so much freedom, joy and ease in having the choice of what to wear :-)
I agree fully! Outside of the system there is so much freedom. Do all schools in the UK have uniforms?
Pretty much, yes.
As a kid I wore 'hand-me-down' or home made uniforms and it showed. My parents couldn't afford the brand name items and it showed. At the age of 10 I knew that the 'uniformity' and 'levelling' effect of uniforms didn't work: not all kids were equal, even if from a distance they may have looked like that.
I once heard an argument that it was important for school kids to wear uniforms to 'raise the tone of the school'. Took me a while to figure out what was meant by that. Basically, the idea was that the local school kids needed to look like private school kids out and about on excursion: neat, tidy, expensive.
Just recently all the doctors in our local general practice were required to wear 'scrubs' in the clinic - a uniform. Suddenly I felt less welcome in the place. The warm and friendly, though still professional, relationship I'd built up over the years with my doctor dimmed a little. We both felt it: she looked uncomfortable in her 'scrubs', even though she'd chosen a colour that was out of kilter with the rest of her workmates. Without talking about it I understood her motivation for doing that.
Thank you for sharing your experiences as they really add to this conversation. I was shocked to find out how much the branded uniform costs, and then the school is either forcing families into poverty if they insist on it, or - as you experienced - making children stand out if they don't insist and the child wears non-branded. My research basically found that none of the purported rationales given for uniforms have any solid evidence behind them. And, as you found, the peer pressure inherent in the school model will always put kids in competition with each other regarding clothing or other items (I would imagine phones are now a big one!) Important point about the unfriendliness of uniforms too, and the human drive to try and assert some individuality despite them.
Thank you, Gem, I love this post. And as a father to 2 daughters, one of whom is at school, the cost is insane! Also, they really are not comfortable at all. At least they don't have to wear ties like I did in primary school though. Genuine Q for you though. Someone told me that school uniform is a way to stop kids who can't afford / are unaware of the coolest new gear being bullied. Is this true or a myth?
Thanks Sam! Ah yes, comfort is a big one. For some kids the materials and styles are unbearable for their sensory sensitivities, and for many more they’d probably just feel far better in something else. And yes, I’ve heard that argument about reducing bullying. My personal take is that it’s another sad example of the pressures children face in school... peer trends become so intense that the solution offered is to make everyone dress the same. From what I’ve read, the evidence for uniforms actually reducing bullying is pretty weak, but the argument is definitely out there. Thanks again so much for reading and commenting :-)
My primary school didn't have a uniform (in the 80s) and I was teased for not having cool or branded clothes and trainers. At the time I wished I had a uniform. But looking back now, kids would have found something else to tease about. Bullying is a much wider issue.
Sadly I feel you are right, they will always find something. Yes bullying is such a complex, multifactorial thing.