If you are not British how do you feel about school uniforms?

[katepilar]

It should really be titled if you grew up in a culture with no school uniforms how do you feel about them? Do you like your children having to wear them?
I just dont know, its a very strange concept for me and as I grow older I have to choose clothes carefully to feel comfortable in them. I cant imagine anyone telling me what clothes to wear on so many levels ie skirt/trousers/dress, materials, different shapes etc. Even more concerned about shoes (my English charges long time ago had to choose from about three particular shoe and were told when to wear socks and when to wear tights and I was shocked).

I just remembered all this thinking about Ukrainian children in the UK that will have to buy a uniform to go to school which seem so unreasonable in the circumstances.

When I was in primary school we didn’t wear uniform (U.K.). I always got teased for the clothes my mum dressed me in and wished we had a school uniform

I find uniforms here stuffy and old fashioned. Why make primary or even high schoool aged kids wear ties! Why boring old grey or black for primary. Why not have a uniform for primary that is just like pe so they can run/play freely at break and don’t have to waste time for them to change in/out of pe. It really baffles me. Why can’t kids just wear trainers as well?
The schools are unbelievable insisting the kids have trainers at school for pe. I now have to buy 2 pairs and they grow out of them so quickly I resent having to buy a pair they wear for 2 hours max a week during pe at school and then grow out of them 6 mo the later.
My kids have yet to reach secondary but those blazers look ridiculous on most kids. I would have hated having to wear one.

I'm not in the Uk and my children wear a uniform but it isn't strict and I like that. So every one is roughly the same but you can wear navy joggers if you like or leggings, it doesn't have to be school trousers. You can wear whatever shoes you like in whatever colour you like so long as they don't have big branding, you can wear shirts or wear polo t-shirts, they can have their hair whatever way and colour they like. It feels like a nice middle ground to me, the kids are not worried about what they wear not fitting in etc but they are still comfortable with some individuality.

I prefer school uniform. I had a uniform during my school years. And with my son, over the years it has saved me a fortune - a school blazer costs no more than a normal coat, and lasts longer as it is not used outside of school. School trousers are significantly cheaper than their fashion equivalents. There is no angst about buying the best and most popular fashion items (and them going missing). My son lived in school uniform during the week, and sports kit during the weekends. I really cannot see why everyone is getting so excited over it. My son was very happy to wear uniform, and did so in various schools until he was 15.

What do posters think about having a dress code as opposed to a uniform?

I loved having a uniform as a child, my clothes were mainly hand me downs from my brothers as we didn't have much money, although it was obvious in other ways we were poo I'd have been absolutely roasted on the daily. We did get them from the second hand shop in school reception though so didn't pay loads when that could have been spent on normal clothes. I liked having to get to know someone a bit before they were pigeon holed.

I am originally from a country where there is no uniform. I must say I do like the concept of uniforms. At my secondary school in my home country there used to be so much pressure of wearing the right branded jumpers and jeans. You can avoid most of this with uniform!
However, I find the stuff they have to wear at secondary just over the top. Why should 11-13 year olds wear shirts and blazers and ties? Why can't they just have school jumpers?
In terms of normal clothes, especially my older one definitely has fewer than he would need if they didn't wear school uniform. I'd almost say we save money by having school uniform as his normal clothes don't get so much wear and tear..

I went to a Scottish state school and there was no uniform. Basic dress code of no offensive slogans etc but basically wear what you want, including piercings, any hairstyle/colour. I thought it was great that we could all dress how we wanted according to personal style, body type, comfort, without being forced into bizarre ties and blazers that are totally impractical, uncomfortable and unnecessary.

The point of uniforms imho is to give kids something pointless to rebel about - go wild by wearing your tie wrong instead of smoking etc.

I'm Brit and fairly pro them, although I think girls shouldn't be required to wear skirts. Horrible memories of chub rub and being beeped at by drivers on the road.

English... I don't think its the fact uniforms exists the problem, more what they are. My ideal would be leggings/joggers/shorts, with t-shirt and sweatshirt for infants. Smart bottoms, shirt/polo and cardigan/pullover for secondary. And somewhere in between for juniors. No ties, blazers, impractical shoes. Just stuff that is practical.

I'm not British, when I did attend school (long story, missed 3 years before I was 12) the longest I spent was at private Catholic girls only schools, that had far stricter school uniform rules than any I've ever seen in the UK.

My last Aussie high school, we had to wear a pleated skirt, a white blouse, black shoes (and only the official school ones) tan tights (that's right, 40 denier tights in the height of a Aussie summer) ... and a green beret (yep, school had no connections whatsoever to the French, but we all had to wear berets...and once again only the 'official' one).

They actually used to post 'monitors' - usually senior girls - on all the entrances/exits to the school to make sure the girls were wearing the beret when we go to school/left. If you weren't wearing the beret you had your name and class number taken, given a ticket and had to present that ticket at detention after school that day (no advance notice given at all). The ticket was matched with the stub, so if you didn't attend you'd end up being excluded from the school for 2 weeks.

This was in the early 80s. I sometimes laugh when I read the whinging threads about school uniforms on here.

I am in the USA although I grew up in the UK. My infant and primary schools had no uniform, it was only when I went to Secondary. I personally was not fussed about wearing a uniform as I liked not having to think about what I was going to wear or all the fashion obsessions that were avoided. People could still buy expensive shoes etc. but it just wasn't a big deal. I liked to be trendy and fashionable I was just glad I didn't have to think about it at school all the time. There was also.no uniform for the 6th form (16-18 yr olds).

In the USA it is almost always only private schools that have uniforms and mostly Catholic schools, so they're relatively unusual. My kids wore a uniform until they were 14 and went to High School. I liked uniforms as a mum as it made it much easier to dress 3 kids in the morning. They never seemed to mind it that much. They wore polo shirts and sweatshirts with skirts or trousers and girls could wear trousers if they wanted (both sexes could wear shorts in the summer).

Talking to parents and teachers in low income neighborhoods they all thought uniforms were a good idea, especially if they could be subsidized so all kids had the same. Sometimes being strict about for example shoes, was to prevent too much emphasis on fashion when it was very difficult for low income parents to provide.

It's the Catholic schools that are heavily subsidized by Catholics outside the neighborhood or Charter schools which are state schools with more autonomy which have uniforms. For children from chaotic homes, school can be the one place that is structured and reliable and where they can anticipate and trust the environment and uniforms can add to that, and again make it simple for parents.

In my US city during lockdown the most vulnerable children still had in person school in the state system and the Catholic schools opened as soon as they could. They kept providing breakfast and lunch etc. Uniforms can be helpful in certain environments to give a sense of belonging and security.

I do think the blazer and tie combo popular in the UK isn't the most comfortable or practical. A simple, smart and practical uniform seems to work well.

Uniforms make it easier for many children I hated non school uniform days as all my normal clothes were shit and embarrassing. Schools need to do more to make uniforms cheaper however as the current trend of using expensive providers and having uniforms for PE etc undermine their main benefit.

Another hater of school uniforms here. Forcing children and young people to all look identical. The hair rules get me the most—- colour, must be an acceptable ( to the school) cut. Uuuuggghhh

I’m not British, but grew up with school uniforms as normal, and think they’re profoundly ridiculous — DS did a few years at a UK village primary with a strict uniform policy. Certainly in my experience they aren’t the social leveller they’re sometimes viewed as, they absorb quite ridiculous amounts of staff time and resources in policing them — nothing says ‘wrong priorities’ like watching a primary school Head have a very serious school gate conversation with a six year old wearing black runners rather than black shoes, or emails detailing the permitted size and colours of girls’ hair accessories and banning those ‘Jojo bows’.

At my school, our skirt length was measured at assembly, and a staff member stood at the gate in the mornings to check we were wearing our uniform navy gabardine coats, with the detachable hood buttoned on correctly.

When we moved countries, we sent DS (almost ten) to a school with no uniform. He’s had pink hair since Christmas, with no deterioration in his school work or behaviour.

We had school uniforms until I was about 9-10. We all hated them, as they were impractical and butt-ugly, and much preferred our own clothes.

Now I live in a country where children do not wear uniforms, except in some private schools. So my children started with no uniform, but now have to wear one. And I have to say that as a parent, I much prefer uniforms, as I don't have to have heated discussions with DC2 every morning what is suitable to wear to school and what not.

However, our uniform policy is very relaxed, there are no rules about socks or shoes or coats. And they can wear leggings or joggers or shorts to run around and play in, not pleated suit trousers, ties and blazers.

I find the stories my British friends tell me utterly ridiculous and over the top, when children are sent home for no tie or wrong colour socks - you do wonder if the schools get any teaching done, if they are spending so much energy policing if the shoes are indeed of polishable material and if skirts have the required number of pleats.

my dc school in forrin has no uniform, just a couple of sensible rules:

• torso covered
• no see-through material
• no slogans/writing on clothing

works well.

hate them. very weird to have them at primary school IMO. Must put an intolerable financial burden on many families, and as for the fucking ironing

I went through 3 different education systems as a child and preferred the ones which required a uniform. Less issues about wearing the wrong thing, even jeans and tshirts get complex when teenage judging gets involved.

As someone with sensory issues who has a child with sensory issues, school uniforms seem discriminatory and counter productive to learning. I can’t fathom how they persist in the modern era.

I live in the US, although grew up in the UK, so I've seen both sides of the coin. They are supposed to be a social equalizer, but you can't do away with clothing-related judgment IME. In the US, school is a bit of a fashion show but it was in the UK too where kids just showed their wealth through permitted accessories, hair and having newer uniform.

In the UK, uniform also varies between schools and I think that drives disparity. "Good" schools, often in wealthier areas, often have more expensive and complicated uniforms, which excludes or stigmatises poorer pupils. Likewise, people can see the kids from the "good" and "bad" schools in public so it's another way to perpetuate education-based status.

When I think about it more, there were 2 local secondary schools here (Ireland) which had no uniform. The kids asked and asked for one, so both settled on a jeans and school hoodie/tshirt uniform.

I think it's great. Especially the primary ones. Very practical.
I grew up in the country both with and without uniform. It's so much easier to just wear the uniform and not to think about what to wear, especially as you get older.

Foreign and I hate them. My school in my home country functioned perfectly well without them because the school actually dealt with bullying really well. My kids grew up here and we were all so relieved when they hit 6th form which was completely non uniform. Uniform is expensive, does nothing to improve behaviour or educational outcomes and is just a relic of British conformist class-ridden culture.

My husband grew up in Israel and can't get his head around school uniforms.