School Uniform or Education Reform ?

 What's something a poor kid would understand, but would utterly confuse a rich kid?

I was not a poor kid. While hunger and lack of basic commodities have never been my concern, I have lived a fairly modest life.

As a child, two girls living just one floor above me were my best friends and I remember them with incredible nostalgia to this day. They were in fact poor. Being unable to afford even a loaf of bread (about 50 cents for the cheapest), their mother would resort to making some at home. Flour, water, yeast, salt, tough and seemingly unappetising, but everytime they shared it with me I found it incredibly delicious. It was made with love. My grandma would often send me upstairs with a big bowl of warm food for them which I pleasingly carried.

The youngest girl was my classmate. I clearly recall her tears flowing in silence one day as a kid suggested we stopped wearing the school uniform and everyone agreed in unison.

Everyone who, upon thinking “What am I going to wear today?”, did so because they had enough to choose from, not because they had close to nothing. And my friend…she had close to nothing.

Being a kid who had complained at some point that the uniform was not pretty enough, I understood its true importance that day. It made us equal. No matter how much we had or lacked, the poor and the rich looked the same.

I was glad to see that the proposal was declined.

P.S.: To clarify the people concerned about the price of the uniform, it was pretty cheap back then and our school had a policy that poor families would get it for free.

Responses: 

I was the poor kid. Not that poor like your friend, but poorer than my friends. I did not like uniform though, because it meant my parents would have to spend some more money at the beginning of school year, while I could have just worn my own clothes. But again, only because I also had choices.

I understand that feeling.

I wish we’d had uniforms. It was so obvious who was rich and who was poor in my school. It was considered really low class if you wore the same outfit in the same week. We weren’t rich. It was torture.

There were at some points calls to bring back school uniforms because designers jeans and nike shoes costing hundred of dollars caused to much conflict.

Yes indeed. One of the best reasons for school uniforms is to equalise the students. They are there to learn…not have a fashion parade.

I too liked wearing the uniform during my years of private school. For the reason mentioned and because it looks so formal! Going to school should mostly be about the education not wearing bling and other nonsense. Uniform encourages this plus my mom was too annoyingly adamant about me wearing one of the best clothes though for sure we aren’t rich either…

This is why I like uniforms as well. Luckily my son is easy on his clothes so when he grew out of them I would wash them and donate them to the school for kids who need them. At his last school in September they would have a “meet the teacher” barbecue and in the gym they set up the clothes by size and anyone could help themselves to what they needed.

I found your sharing beautiful. We have so much to learn from those who are ‘hard up’ ( ie, in poor circumstances ). You were (and are still, I’m sure ) open to those lessons.

Indeed. Thank you for your comment.

This reminded me of something my friend said when we were teenagers. We could wear our own clothes to school and being teenagers, we loved shopping to explore different dress-senses.

My friend bought more than she can wear and had so many clothes (brand new with tags still on) that she wanted to throw the away. Then out of nowhere, she suddenly declared that maybe she should dump it outside X’s house.

X was our classmate but not part of our clique. She was always dressed very plainly (jeans with printed tshirt) and kept to herself.

I was dumbfounded at what she said but another friend started agreeing and they began laughing away.

That was a turning point for me when I realised how superficial my friends were.

That is truly sad.

Indeed. I’m glad you showed empathy towards your neighbours. If you were like my friends, your neighbours would likely have a sad childhood. 😊

This is the reason why I like uniforms. It makes everyone of us equal. As a kid, I used to go to a school where usually the upper middle-class kids went (It was one of the 3 schools in my area and the best one). Being on the lower end of the spectrum, my parents could barely manage to pay the fees. If there were no uniforms, I wouldn't have had enough choices.

When my kids were in Catholic school, when older kids graduated they would donate their uniforms to younger students. Or when kids our grew their uniform, they would donate them.

That’s what I love about school uniforms, too. In our school parents kick in to help buy books and uniforms for poorer kids, and have on occasion paid for them to take the 4-day class trip with their friends.

These kids study in schools side-by-side with much better off children. It has to be be hard for them to see all the differences between their lives and their friends’ lives. Uniforms allow everyone to at least look the same - no brands, no fashion trends, no fancy accessories. I studied in schools that were very strict about these and though I was never poor, I am so glad that we all grew up spending most of our day with people who dressed exactly like us. I never knew how wealthy many of my friends’ families were till we were much older and that was a blessing!

Yes, it's so hard to clothe a kid in civil dress every day. Forget the effort involved in colour coordinating and arranging everything before hand, the cost itself was an eye opener.

When my son's (aged 4) school uniform was delayed by two months, initially I was overjoyed. The prospect of dressing him in a colourful array of clothes was enchanting. I even went ahead and shopped a few sets which I could mix ‘n match. As days went by, I realized the cost and effort needed to maintain fresh looks (I was photographing the days, so I tried to avoid repeating the same combo unless it was a personal fav) for an extended period. By the end of six weeks I almost gave up variety.

And once we got the uniform, I realized how much work it's cut down for me. Any given situation, I support uniforms for the schools. It's a necessity to maintain the sanity of the parent who takes up the responsibilities of the valet!

I was both, my parents together we’re in the top 5% socioeconomically, when I turned 6 they divorced, that brought it down to top 10%. Schizophrenia and alcoholism and many bad economic choices, like selling a home at the bottom of the 2008 market to get away from ‘the bad people out there’ ended up leaving me homeless at 17. Bottom 1%. One thing I didn’t understand was the culture as a whole. I was agreeable and quiet, I was taught to be restrained and docile. I stood out like a soar thumb. You have to be more aggressive or at least more assertive or your stuff gets stolen. You have to be assertive to get minimum wage jobs. You have to be assertive to get financial aid without parents or a home to prove residency. But really getting into detail would take pages. I think one thing I would have never understood at 12 was that I would be homeless within 5 years. I was a wealthy kid at school, smart, fit, me, homeless, nah, the Fates had other plans. I didn’t understand how dynamic poverty was, even as my own socioeconomic wealth moved around. Homelessness for most people who become homeless is a relatively short term thing by that I mean months to a few years, society makes it hard to get out, but eventually you fight your way through, the people that don’t, they can’t fight, they have deep struggles even outside of homelessness. Mental and physical struggles, psychological and social, dysfunctions keep people homeless, society often doesn’t help much.

I was the poor kid in Catholic school uniform.

I was poor. I had to go to school in green and orange plaid pants for weeks. Luckily I didn't have to stay in school long. Just a few years of primary school.

Thats one of the reasons why indian schools have uniforms

looking back i feel it was good

u dint have to pay much attention to what u were gonna wear each day

so that gave plenty of time for other more important stuff

AAAWWWWWEEEEE what an AWESOME perspective and higher understanding. BROVO

And I thought school uniforms put financial burden on poor families, who have to sacrifice food to buy them.

Thanks for sharing, few memories never loose their impact on us, this one is of that kind.

Yeah I agree uniforms are the best, and if you put on the same dress for 2 or 3 days and put a lot of deodorant no ones going to notice ;P

That's one of many reasons I like naturism.

I wish we have uniform at work also. Thinking of what to wear daily is such a monotonous task.

I went to a public school in Mexico for two years, not exactly because I needed to go, but because it was close and I wanted to “experience public school” - I have always been weird like that. My parents agreed so every morning I would walk from and to this public school. We always wear uniform, it was a red sweater, white shirt and blue pants (or skirt, whatever you preferred). Tons of kids in Mexico will wear this kind of uniform, some had black pants, or gray, same with sweaters, either red, blue, gray, etc. big box stores will sell them at really cheap prices, the school will sometimes sell the embroidery for the sweater. that was it. Uniforms are an absolutely great idea, it places everyone at the same level, no difference, you can see sometimes someone that had a raggedy sweater, but I totally support the idea of school uniforms.

So sorry, I meant to reply to the OP! I’ve edited it now!

School uniforms are still cheaper than H&M for example. Also they make it a little harder to have “cool kids clique” based on clothes. I was not poor but we did NOT have school uniforms and there were certainly cliques based on who wore Lacoste etc. and who wore no-name clothes.

I grew up in a country where school uniforms were the norm and I was glad for it. I had trouble enough finding nice clothes for myself and the thought of having to find more for school could have sent me off the deep end.

Then I moved to The Netherlands where there were no school uniforms and they didn’t care about looking better than each other and were happy with their jeans and sneakers.

In places where unifrom is the norm, the rich kids will always stand out with expensive bags, gadgets, pens, etc. But I enjoy wearing uniforms, because it was easier. I didn’t have to worry how I look, and just focus on my studies.

I’m all for uniforms for this reason. I wore a uniform in elementary school in Pakistan. It puts all the kids on an even level at least with clothes. The poor or low income people can’t afford new clothes every year. At least the wealthier kids have one less reason to pick on kids for being poor and concentrate on studying.

Yeah, that’s a strong point in favor of the school enforcing a uniform. On the other hand, children are more often forced to dress in a feminine or masculine way when they aren’t comfortable with that. For some children, that can add to trauma that they’re already experiencing.

There could be other students that get stressed out by wearing certain materials/fabrics, which can be more likely if they’re on the autism spectrum. There might be some kids who always want to cover their calves because they have burns on their legs or because the uniform is in some way not compatible with their religion, or there us a particular body part exposed by the uniform that they’re embarrassed about. I din’t think the solution to that concern is having all uniforms cover children head to toe though. Sometimes children are also more exposed to slut shaming attitudes while growing up in stricter atmospheres.

There can probably be exceptions made for some of these students, but that would mark them as more of an outsider when everyone else is wearing the same thing than when everyone is wearing different things. A uniform or lack there of may make things easier for some students and more difficult for others. Personally, I believe that there should be a school supply fund for students without supplies. Parents could be notified that the school can help them if they need help before the start of the school year, ( perhaps requesting that they only ask for it if buying new clothes would otherwise be a challenge). When teachers notice students without proper clothes, they should have clothes in some different sizes for them to choose from. Some schools do this unnofficially when students have accidents but the clothes are expected to be returned. I think there should be be a clothing budget so that if a student shows up with stained, ill fitting or otherwise innappropriate clothes, the teacher can give them a change and send them home with more clothing items if it seems like they would benefit from that. This is also much less drama than calling the students home or having them miss school for coming in without appropriate clothes. I’ve heard of multiple cases where students are separated from their peers, punished or otherwise embarrassed and sent home for wearing something the school decides is inappropriate.

Uniforms are also very expensive though, unless provided by the school or you’re in some sort of program. For me…one skirt costs 80 to 100 dollars.

For the time I speak about here it was pretty cheap in my country and poor families would get it for free.

Oh! Alright, makes sense. I was just curious. But yeah, uniforms are much better than street clothes for schools in my opinion, not only does it prevent certain methods of bullying, but it makes everyone equal in terms of wardrobe.

Uniform is waaaay more expensive tho a black tracksuit is a couple of bucks max and noone really cares what u wear

When I lived in Florida, I noticed a lot of kids in uniform at stores and such after the end of the school day. The district I substitute taught in didn’t have them, but a lot of other schools did. My mom and aunt complain bitterly about the uniforms they had to wear in Catholic school, but these days I notice a move away from expensive and only functional for wearing to one specific school to more simple clothing like khakis ( or a khaki skirt), with a polo, sometimes with the school’s name, but usually just plain (probably helps cut down on predators finding out where kids attend) clothing that looks nice enough, but allows for parents to purchase them at places they can afford. I’ve also seen some schools that have trade ins for gently used uniforms, or parent groups who arrange for rummage sale type events with said gently used uniforms. Walmart tends to have a lot of basic uniform options in the fall, for instance.

Sometimes, I’ve also seen dark blue or black pants or skirt, or tunic style jumpers/apron style dresses as an option for the younger girls (I suppose if a boy wanted to wear it, he probably would have the option, just like most girls choose trousers these days, but, I’ve only ever seen girls in them).

I do like the idea of a basic uniform for students, but kids will always find something to bully other kids about. Still they would help to make the kids feel like they are dressed for their “job”, and as long as the options are comfortable and affordable (with accommodations for disability, religion, etc), it seems like a good idea. I’ve seen kids come to school in all kinds of outfits they can’t really play in, or that are not really weather appropriate, and I’ve noticed the younger kids, especially, sometimes need to have a change of clothes in their classroom, just in case of accidents of any sort. Uniforms would cut down on classmates finding out that little Zoe/ Bobby (fake names, obviously) had a bathroom accident and had to change, for instance, which they might assume if they see Zoe/Bobby in different pants, which can be an even bigger deal in the first years of school.

It also would allow friends to lend pieces to their friends if they have spares, or maybe for the office to keep a few extra items on hand for students to borrow, instead of borrowing someone else’s clothes from lost and found, or keeping soiled items on. This could also help in high school. I’m sure most of us who have been a teenage girl have experienced the hell of bleeding through their pants/skirt, and having to wear it the rest of the school day.

I was one of those poor kids, uniforms made no difference everyone knew I was the poor kid. Especially with the free lunch ticket. And the crappy shoes. Kids aren't stupid

I was made fun of and actually persecuted by the nuns because my uniform was second hand and too big (bought that way so I could grow into it & wear it for several years). The rich kids also noted what you wore to church on Sunday and made fun of that.

Absolutely. That is the whole point of the uniform (well, OK, also to keep a lid on bad behaviour in the street - everyone knows you and reports to the school).

I totally agree that school uniforms are the best option even though it does cost a bit at the beginning of the year. It gives a sense of belonging. As well as showing there is no difference between rich and poor our blood is red no matter what.

AI generated fake stuff.

Uniforms are expensive now and I dislike the removal for f personal expression. In a thrift store like Good Will you can find really nice things and have a wardrobe for less than the cost of uniforms for a year

Uniformity, in many aspects of governance, education, society, makes the participants equal, without discriminating anyone.

This is one reason why, while I’m normally big on allowing children as many choices as possible, school uniforms are not on my proverbial shit-list.

Besides, kids always find ways to express themselves around the uniforms, and I think it’s healthy for them to push those boundaries, seeing how many buttons they can get away with unbuttoning, etc.. It establishes a mentality of “us against them” where “them” is authority, which I consider to be an essential part of growing up.

The law isn’t your friend. Within reason, and certainly wherever it aligns with ethics, it should be followed. It is a social contract of sorts.

But the idea that authority should be obeyed by virtue of it being authority, that law should be followed by virtue of being law… I think, in the ultimate assessment, that this is how nations descend into fascism.

Uniforms are a harmless exercise in managed resistance to fascism, and I’m firmly in favor of the lesson.

While uniform or “standard dress” are equalizers it only works to an extent. The time, effort, and most importantly money it takes to ensure your kids have serviceable clothes for school is daunting for poor parents. More so when those clothes have to meet certain standards. It’s downright impossible when they have to be uniform. And my experience is that schools have little to no help for poorer families when it is standard attire. (None of my children’s schools ever had more than a single shirt for free for each of my kids.) My kids rarely had more than three school outfits at a time because of the expense.

Other than that, my kids had hand-me-downs and some thrift store finds to provide them with enough serviceable clothes for at least a week.

And yes, the kids know which kids only have a couple of school outfits. So it didn’t help.

Aside from the price of the uniform, you don't need to have so many clothes that you don't get teased for wearing the same ones too often. 12 yos, man…., any excuse to tease!

That was the time uniform saved you ( people who could not afford to buy clothes) from buying more clothes because half of the day you were into the uniform.

From 1st grade to 12th grade I attended schools that required a uniform. Didn’t think about to much in grade school. In middle school I did not like wearing it because it was wool, a itchy kind of wool! Plus the public school kids would spot us walking home from school and throw rocks, pine cones, or whatever they had at hand, at us while insulting us. But when I got to high school I was so glad for a uniform!! I now was attending school with some very upper class people and their was no way I could compete as far as a wardrobe. So a uniform was a great equalizer! (Occasionally we would have a “free dress” day at school which I dreaded!) ✌️

Uniforms are fine but I would wear the shorts or pants, no way would I wear that skirt

Youngest is a superlative, used when comparing more than 2 people.

It goes —> Young, younger , youngest. So, since there were 2 girls, it would be “the *younger* girl was my classmate”

If it were 3 girls, then it would be the *youngest* girl.

Sorry, about being the grammar police, but I am seeing the superlative error so often, in so many answers, it seems people have forgotten.

I am glad your schools use the uniform. In high school we didn’t have to wear it and I could see some of the poor students were secretly (maybe even openly) teased for wearing the same old clothes often.

I had an adult student a few years back who told me that in his son’s school there were Adidas gangs and Nike gangs. When I say gangs I don’t mean like Detroit gangbangers, this is Poland, but they still shoved each other around and that kind of thing. Uniforms solve all that.

Sure but it would stand out and make it obvious she had almost nothing else to wear.