To wish schools didn't have uniforms?

[bluebird14]

I hate them

[BoneyBackJefferson]

Time spent sorting uniform indiscretions that could be spent teaching

It would be spent on 'dress code' violations instead and a rise in threads on MN about it

[Semster]

It would be spent on 'dress code' violations instead

Would they? Our schools spend approximately 10 minutes a year on dress code violations. But TBH we're not in the UK, and it's just not something our schools focus on. They focus on things like behaviour.

[londonfeather]

I hate school uniforms, I went to a school that didn’t have them and it’s only recently I realised how unusual this is.

[BlueSapp]

I find School uniform invaluable, especially when you have more than 1 to kit out, it makes my life so much easier than if you were trying to dress them differently every day, I wish i had a uniform to wear to work, deciding what to wear every day is such a pain and time consuming

[Pebblespony]

God, I dreaded no uniform days. The cooler girls always looked great and the awkward or overweight ones just looked and felt shit. I wouldn't send any child of mine to a non-uniform school.

[Sophisticatedsarcasm]

My DS school doesn’t have bullying about clothes on non uniform day, in fact it’s more of a competition to see who has the best meme tshirt but more of a friendly competition. I too think uniform is stupid, but I do unde4stand why they have it, would make life easier without it.

[vandrew4]

I agree with you. I have identical twins who are starting school next year and I hate that uniforms will make it that much harder for everyone to tell them apart

i don't think this'd make any difference unless you were to make a point of telling the teacher each morning which twin was wearing what

[Pebblespony]

With respect, how do you know that your DS 's school doesn't have this bullying? Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it's not there.

[mirime]

At my secondary school uniform wasn't any sort of leveller. You could still tell the poor kids from the better off kids by the quality of the uniform/how well it fit/it's condition etc. so I think it's pretty useless for that.

It does, however, stop school becoming a fashion show and makes sure that everyone is wearing something sensible.

[Fluffyrainbows]

I wouldn't mind uniform so much if it wasn't always such horrible poly-mix fabrics and predominantly grey.
From primary through to secondary children are expected to spend 11 years wearing plastic based clothing. And it's often so boring.
I would prefer my kids could wear a cotton t-shirt and shorts.
And secondary pe kit?! It's literally just a roll of nylon. Revolting.

[ikeepaforkinmypurse]

In my experience, the more well-off children tend to wear the most used uniforms, they genuinely don't care and neither do their parents. It may be that they don't have to be careful because their parents can easily afford replacements ,so it doesn't matter what they do with them - to a point.

Yes, in non-uniforms school, the unwritten uniform seemed to have been jeans and t=shirt. Not much to the outsider, but the kids knew very well which was the right label, and which wasn't!

In uniform school, you can get away with 5 tops, 2 pairs of shoes. In non-uniform school, you can't turn up wearing the same things every day for a year!

It's not just the money, it's the right style, right fit. Non uniform schools are genuinely awful in term of integration and bullying. It's great if you are in the right group, it s' very lonely if you are not.

It is true that around here the nicer uniforms are from private schools, the state schools ones do look cheap and not very attractive, but they are very cheap to buy,

[BarbedBloom]

I hate uniforms. In school bullies always found a reason to pick on people, clothes would just be another excuse. I have to wear a uniform for work and it is one of the reasons I am looking for another job. It is uncomfortable and a hassle having to continually wash the same thing over and over when I have a wardrobe full of appropriate workwear.

[Metoodear]

bluebird14

Obviously I am not a pupil hmm

Moneycheaper than buying normal clothing
Hideousvery smart looking if the school hasn’t not opted for airtex style uniform
Uncomfortablevirually every job has a uniform implied or other wise
Stupid, petty rulesnot pretty how many kids and parents don’t know how to dress for occasions things like job interviews
It's obvious who the poor kids are anyway
Time spent sorting uniform indiscretions that could be spent teachinggetting young people to follow rules including u inform ones readys them for working life that is a lesson the learning doesn’t just happen in the class room

[GhostsToMonsoon]

Schools in most other European countries seem to manage just fine without uniforms, so I don't see why British schools couldn't do the same. There could be a dress code rather than a uniform, or at least a comfortable, basic and cheap uniform that wouldn't be freezing in winter and boiling in summer.

[Metoodear]

BarbedBloom

I hate uniforms. In school bullies always found a reason to pick on people, clothes would just be another excuse. I have to wear a uniform for work and it is one of the reasons I am looking for another job. It is uncomfortable and a hassle having to continually wash the same thing over and over when I have a wardrobe full of appropriate workwear.


Their is virtually no job that you can wear exactly what you like

I am a support worker and it’s as causal as you like but we still have rules
For example no shorts and no open toe sandles no high heels

My sil works in fashion and their are still rules she was told off for wearing a last season coat

[Metoodear]

GhostsToMonsoon

Schools in most other European countries seem to manage just fine without uniforms, so I don't see why British schools couldn't do the same. There could be a dress code rather than a uniform, or at least a comfortable, basic and cheap uniform that wouldn't be freezing in winter and boiling in summer.

Dress codes don’t work my cousin teaches in New York they spend as much time telling the boys to pull up their jeans and sending girls home for inappropriate clothing

Also gang colours are not allowed red or blue no bandanas or rude slogans and guess what students come in with naked women on their t shirts wearing red and or bandanas

[nohopemate]

I agree with you. I really dislike school uniform. I was genuinely shocked to move here (Wales) and find even NURSERY and junior school kids where uniform. WTF!

They are impractical. I can't dress my son appropriately for different weather conditions (his school top is way to thick for this hot weather). The top and jumper too cold for really cold weather. I agree with OP about petty rules. Its more expensive as I have to buy a whole extra load of clothes on top of his normal clothes. And I really bloody hate the way they all look like little clones of one another.
It creates disincentives for active outdoor play and parents don't want expensive uniforms getting dirty.
Plenty of schools don't have uniform and manage ok.
Its a stupid unnecessary cultural tradition.

[nohopemate]

wear, not where! Duh!

[nohopemate]

God, I dreaded no uniform days. The cooler girls always looked great and the awkward or overweight ones just looked and felt shit. I wouldn't send any child of mine to a non-uniform school.

It was like this because in that one day there was terrible pressure to look really bloody cool!
Non uniform days are just stupid. They completely undermine the supposed principle of uniform being a leveller. If that is your argument, why have bloody non-uniform day?
I don't get the 'they stop bullying' argument. You stop bullying by creating respectful cultures in schools. Trying to stop bullying over status by having a uniform is like trying to racism by having single race schools.
And the ' we have to prepare them for the workplace' argument is frankly laughable. there are plenty of things you pick up about work in work and don't need to be practising since the age of three to get them.

[Semster]

And the 'we have to prepare them for the workplace' argument is frankly laughable

It really is.

DD goes to a school where kids wear PJ bottoms and flip flops to class.

This year she has a summer job where she has to wear a blue polo shirt and beige chinos.

Despite never having worn a school uniform in her life, she simply went to a shop, bought some blue polo shirts and beige chinos, and wears them to work.

It's just not that difficult. Certainly not so difficult that you need to practice doing it for 14 years.

[pointythings]

The majority on MN seem to love the conformity of uniforms. Me, not so much. I grew up in Holland where there is no uniform and it really wasn't a hotbed of bullying and lawless behaviour. Dutch schools do not turn our hordes of teenagers who have no idea of how to dress appropriately for work, whether uniform, office dress code or otherwise. Uniforms are a load of bollocks, and of course a nice little earner for the manufacturers.

DD1 is now at 6th form, and there isn't a uniform, just a very relaxed dress code - no ripped denim, clothes must be clean, no offensive slogans on T-shirts. Amazingly enough she and her peers do not agonise over what to wear, they get their work done and they behave. I can't wait for DD2 to be out of the uniform rat race.

Not wearing a uniform and actually having to take responsibility for what you wear for your day to day situations is what prepares you for the real world.

[ikeepaforkinmypurse]

Ask teachers from non-uniform school: hours wasted explaining to kids then parents that cropped tops, leggings, slogan tshirt, ripped trousers, tracksuit bottoms, rainbow hair, heavy jewelry... are not suitable for school.
the cool kids wear the right clothes, the poor ones stand out a miles. The bitchy girls mock the wrong bag, wrong size, wrong style.

It doesn't prepare you for the real world, it makes life miserable to those whose parents are the less generous.

You need to dress smart for exams in your final year anyway, so that's another expense.

It's lovely to see school kids smartly dressed.

[SenecaFalls]

They still spend quite a bit on school clothes as they buy suitable clothes that are just for school

I'm in the US, and I don't know anyone who buys clothes for their children that are just for school. I live in a neighborhood that is a shortcut for getting to the local high school. It's t-shirt and jeans and t-shirts and shorts most of the time, just the sort of things that they would wear on the weekends as well.

[pointythings]

You need to dress smart for exams in your final year anyway

Where is this? Because in Holland, it really isn't. I sat mine in jeans and T-shirts, various shorts on hot days and yep, in a mini skirt too. And at university the outfit wasn't much different either.

It's amazing how I manage to comply with our office dress code, isn't it?

[OohMavis]

My mum could barely afford to feed us after spending all her money on booze. Clothes were way down the list of priorities for her. My school enforcing a uniform policy was the only thing stopping me from going to school in my teenage brothers' hand-me-downs, or my own tatty, too-small clothes she got for me from a 'mate'.

Uniform is necessary. It won't stop bullying, but it stops the humiliation of children whose parents cannot or will not buy them new clothes.