Getting rid of White Shirt Lunacy

[Psukhe]

Hi

I've started a campaign on Change.org - to get the education sector to move away from the ridiculous use of white shirts in school uniforms.
They stay white for about 48hrs on most kids and then mums spend hours, pounds and loads of chemicals trying to get them white again. It is a ridiculous policy which is appalling for the environment as much as anything else - did you know the energy use of buying a white shirt is the equivalent of driving a car for 35 miles - and that's not even including the chemical footprint of keeping it white!
Please sign and share and speak to your school about changing this lunacy.

Thankyou

The campaign is here - please share and share and share

www.change.org/whiteshirtsarestupid

Link? How do I find it?

Oh wow!! I brought up this very same issue with our school recently and they basically didn’t care!! I’m definitely signing! Thank you !

Out of interest what’s your alternative?

I have to say that those stains would show up on pretty much any of my DS' clothes!
What colour would you have them wear instead? White is easy to find and easy to stain treat aggressively. Black or navy will be faded within weeks if washed regularly. -As well as looking dire anyway

Could you provide links in the petition text to evidence the claims? Not that I'm doubting, I just never sign petitions that don't link to sources as anyone can pretty much write anything on a petition

White is the easiest colour to clean.

Wow. My dc primary school has grey polo shirts which I've always complained about because they just can't be bought anywhere. But now I'm honestly grateful for them as hasn't thought of this aspect!

This is ridiculous , my dd's nursery sweatshirt was bright red and had worse stains than that , that child was unbelievably messy.

I've had a mixture of uniform colours. The only colours which have stayed the 'proper' colour i.e. not faded or gone grey have been pale blue polos, bright blue jumpers, and red jumpers and polos. Navy fades. The blue summer dresses didn't survive contact with the mud garden.

The teflon skirts, pinafores and trousers... Pretty much indestructible. The DDs dress was covered in paint one time (on the back, the front was immaculate... She managed to sit in the paint, with an apron on). Spotless.

Any alternative would have to include the environmental impact of whatever dye was used to make it a different colour.

In our school most of the children have off-white shirts that have seen better days, because a polyester-cotton mix is the cheapest to buy and the easiest to wash and dry, but it also doesn’t keep its whiteness. As long as the shirt is washed, most schools don’t care if it’s a bit grey.

I detest smart school uniforms. Ties and blazers are a distraction from learning and inappropriate for winter (getting a coat over the top).

School uniforms need a complete overhaul, children and teenagers need to be comfortable and free to run around at breaktime.

@Velvian

I detest smart school uniforms. Ties and blazers are a distraction from learning and inappropriate for winter (getting a coat over the top).

School uniforms need a complete overhaul, children and teenagers need to be comfortable and free to run around at breaktime.

Hear hear. These children in South Africa are wearing something that makes much more sense for young children.

I don't agree with school uniforms at all.
My Dc currently wear their PE kit to school twice a week, because of Covid, and it just seems so much more practical; I'd love them to wear it full time, especially for primary.
Joggers, t shirts, sweatshirt, trainers, just makes so much sense.

Having said that, I don't find the fact that shirts are white makes them particularly troublesome to keep clean - it means you can wash them at 60, and I usually have white sheets, tea towels, towels and underwear to stick in the same washload anyway

I don't really support school uniforms full stop. Extra cost - you still need the same amount of non-uniform to cover the holidays. Extra laundry. I don't buy that they're a leveller either. You can tell by shoes, bags etc who's got a few quid to burn. And they are really impractical - if you have to have a uniform why wouldn't you choose a tracksuit, as is popular in China?

When my DC attend Saturday music centre all the kids wear something comfy, warm and practical, mostly jeans/leggings and a hoodie, and I would be confident that it would be the same if schools dropped uniform requirements.

Are really going to leave your DC wearing dirty clothes, just because a darker colour disguises it better?

They stay white for about 48hrs on most kids and then mums spend hours, pounds and loads of chemicals trying to get them white again

That's not my experience at all and I am ushering my 3rd child through the final years of secondary. That's about 17 years of white shirts 😂

We have royal blue, which does stain a bit but you have to look for it usually. Much better than white.

I’d rather have no uniform at all - one DC is at a non uniform school, and she can adapts her choice of clothes for the weather much more easily then my other DC at a uniform school. Plus she gets good wear out of her jeans / tops / leggings rather than only using them at weekends or in the holidays. And her school isn’t a fashion parade, if its own clothes all the time then it becomes a non-issue, unlike on occasional mufti days.

Extra cost - you still need the same amount of non-uniform to cover the holidays.

Not in my case. I saved a lot on dd's clothes after she started school. And also the daily argument on what she should wear.

Frankly I have had 15 yrs of white polos and shirts - always used enviro friendly washing products and no issues EVER they are worn to litural threads before disposal

I get your point op but equally I'm finding that white shirts are easier to replace, I've occasionally used a plain white tshirt under the school jumper if we were out of polo shirts.

My DSs are 7 and 4 and haven't yet found white shirts particularly problematic. I'm mainly glad they're allowed to wear generic polos rather than ones branded with the school logo because those, IME are expensive and don't wear well.

I do agree with posters upthread about the nature of school uniforms though. DS2 is in reception, and went off to school in his PE kit for the first time today (they've only just started doing 'proper' PE). A hoody and joggers seems so much more comfortable and practical for a 4 year old than the formality of school uniform.

Hello - we've moved this over to the Petitions topic.

Neither of my children have ever come home looking dirty like that.

I'm more concerned about the lack of need to iron them than wash them.