Should students be required to wear school uniforms in US public school?

Please include links if you cite research or articles.

It’s not a bad idea certainly. Very few kids want to be “individuals,” most want to belong in a group. I never figured that out for myself though, “Wait people will like if I’m like them?” Whoops.

This was proposed years ago, when news stories first surfaced about kids killing other kids for jackets and high-top sneakers.
And the obvious targeted youth were “inner-city” as the phrase went back then.
It is pointless and would just further alienate public school students.

Yes.

Why should the wealthier students be able to Lord it over the poorer ones with their designer garb ?
At school lvl you should all be equal, there are plenty of other ways to show your ‘individuality’.
Try getting an A.

We already don’t have much trouble with school unity and pride.

I don’t see how we’d swing the financial end of it, myself. Private schools give parents the task of correctly outfitting their kids, but public schools wouldn’t have that luxury – after all, everybody, even people whose parents can’t really afford expensive uniforms, can go there. And public school budgets are not known for being especially large; how could they justify spending money on uniforms when there are so many other areas that could stand the cash? Or justify further gouging the wallets of the people in the tax base?

@Odysseus People are going to have to learn to deal with the clothing overlords at some point or another. School prepares you for the rest of your life, so why not there? I’ve never seen the importance of designer clothes, myself, so I may be missing something.

@Nullo , Because School should be an equal opportunities launchpad to prepare kids for what they want to be and are Able to be in life.
Not a place where they are told what/who they are already !

Oddly enough, I agree 100% with @Nullo.

@Odysseus In what way is forcing people to wear a particular outfit not telling them what and who they are? I wrote an essay about this in high school. I was anti-uniform then, as I am now, and I outlined a whole series of things that could be done to undermine the supposed purposes of making us all wear a uniform. I can’t remember all of my suggestions, but I bet any mildly clever high school student could come up with at least as many as I did back then. Plus, there’s always open rebellion—something I definitely would have chosen over a uniform.

I think the students would benefit from having uniforms because it would take away the distraction of ” did you see what so and so is wearing?” and boys especially would be less distracted by the girls because lets face it.. some girls really do like to show a little more than they should. Clothes is a distraction.. especially for teenagers. Taking away one more distraction would only help them concentrate more on what really matters.. their education.

Am I the only one who didn’t find high school to actually be one giant conversation about clothes? I feel like adults are way more convinced that students will be distracted and competitive and whatnot than I’ve actually found students are. Plus, no one actually had designer stuff, and the schools were kids did have that, all the kids had that money. There are very, very few public schools where half the students are in a much higher tax bracket than the other half. And having gone to a school that did require uniforms for a bit, I can promise you that if kids want a distraction, they will find one – instating uniforms only moves the focus to the billions of other distractions you can’t eliminate.

There are arguments to be made that school is not just about education (especially a crap education that will teach them to test well but not actually know who Magellan was), but that the social aspects are just as important – learning to make friends, deal with enemies, and carry on with life despite the distractions.

Since uniforms are not cheap, it often discriminates against the poorest parents, who can’t afford to spend $100 per uniform.

The problem with public mandates on uniforms is that it’s a violation of free speech. It’s the government forbidding students from expressing themselves.

@kheredia So then the burden is on girls to cover themselves up so as not to tempt the boys, instead of on the boys to put their eyes back in their head and wait till they get home to look at porn just like everyone else?

@Odysseus Your sarcasm is unwarranted; after all, we here are not in charge of education. Doubtless, if we were, the US would be back in the Top Ten. Once we stopped squabbling about curriculum.
@MyNewtBoobs Regarding your response to @kheredia: every good plan (teaching boys keeping their eyes where they belong) has backups (teaching girls not to dress inappropriately). Though this ought to be taught by their parents, not necessarily enforced by the school.

Uniforms are un-American in the sense that they run counter to the core value of “rugged individualism.” In America, we’re raised to believe that any person can have a unique idea, or to express themselves as they see fit, and uniforms stiffle this from a young age. It’s “in-the-box” thinking and encourages students to be mindless followers instead of leaders.

I like school uniforms. School needn’t be a fashion show distracting from the reason students are there. It helps keep the less wealthy kids from feeling like their clothes are not up to par too. I see every reason to have uniforms and dismiss the whole individuality argument. They are kids and their individuality in other areas will be noticed—areas much more important than what clothes their parents can afford.

I suppose all of you that agree with getting rid of school uniform to promote individuality and uniqueness also agree that kids should be allowed to sit and do nothing during the indoctrinated Pledge of allegiance for the same reasons ?

Yes. It would take the focus off gheto garb and who’s got the bucks to wear the coolest clothes.

I agree with @MyNewtBoobs on this one. Adults always seem to exaggerate just how much of a role clothes played in school and how much of a “distraction” they were. Having just gone through high school not too long ago (2005–2009), I can say that clothing was really not that big of a deal. Most of what I heard between girls were girls complimenting each other on clothing. “You look awesome in that shirt”, “where’d you get that?” etc. Between the guys it was mostly things like “I like that jacket; it’s cool”. People were not competing much or teasing others for not being able to afford “designer clothing” or anything like that. In fact, most people I knew shopped at the same stores anyway and it wasn’t fancy expensive designer clothing, despite the amount of rich kids at my school. Yes, people made comments if someone dressed outrageously, but in those cases, the person was dressing that way in part to get attention.

Clothes were just not that big of a deal. Hardly a “distraction”. There’s a school near where I went to school that is one of the of the most expensive prestigious private schools in the state and it does not have uniforms; clothing does not seem to affect to the performance of the students there, interestingly enough. I really don’t think uniforms do much of anything except make students hate school even more and feel more “imprisoned” than they already do.

I’ve always been someone who cares about clothes, so yes, I did put some effort into my appearance during school. But I wasn’t “distracted” by other people’s clothing. Most of the time I barely noticed other people’s clothing, other times it just gave me ideas.

Obviously, I can only speak from my experience, but there you have it.

@Odysseus In fact, kids have been able to opt out of the Pledge all along. By the time I graduated they barely said the Pledge at all. Monday morning, 8:00am, over the PA.

@ETpro You know, it would almost be worth it to rid the world of those ridiculously saggy pants.

@nullo, are they able to Sit in the same room ? or do they have to leave if they opt out?

Many people are making the assumption that you need to spend lots of money to be fashionable or to have expressive clothing. Students can make their own shirts that express their views, their religious convictions, or shows their support for a charity etc.

Where I went to school, you were respected a lot more by what your clothing said about who you were than by how much it cost.

@Odysseus AFAIK, they just sit at their desks. If they really want to, I suppose that they could leave the room. I understand that It’s rather popular amongst the JW kids.
Funny how you don’t seem to mind the political indoctrination that they get in history class.

@Nullo , And you are honestly in favor of this act ? As it promotes individuality and preparedness etc etc ?

I thought Nikes and blue jeans have been the standard uniform for years.

@Odysseus Nobody ever opted out of the pledge during my schooling (granted, I homeschooled for two years, Italian-schooled for four, and finished high school in a place where the pledge was PA’d once a week), so I can’t say with any kind of certainty how it made me feel. I like the pledge, especially the “Under God” part; and I’ve always had a soft spot for ceremony.
The Pledge of Allegiance is wholly unrelated to either individuality/conformity or preparedness, so I don’t know what you’re getting at.

The way that I see it, a pledge that you don’t mean is worse than no pledge at all; it is a promise broken even as it is made. Better that you sit it out.

“Check”? Are we playing chess?

In Australia practically all schools have uniforms. They can be purchased inexpensively at many stores. They usually consist of a specific color shorts or cargo pants with elastic waists and a polo type shirt with the school name on it. It aids in security because a non student can be easily spotted. Helps to keep the kids from wagging school because store keepers won’t allow them in during school hours. And it is helpful to less wealthy parents who can’t afford the correct labels. And there is always a correct label to be had, be it Billabong or Diesel or Elwood.

Seems like a good idea to me. And personally I think worrying about whether it is violating student rights is pretty silly. Or at least it was when I was a kid, I don’t think we knew we had rights. The teachers and our parents had rights, we just had to obey.

I always thought it was a great idea.
First of all if your kid leaves the house with a uniform than more than likely everyone knows which school you belong to. So if you skip school, authorities know you are skipping.
Second, why should the public pay for the kids uniforms. You have to buy your kids clothing anyway. You buy 3 trousers or skirts and five shirts and you are set for the complete year.
Third, you actually save money for the parents who can’t afford much. I went to catholic school and wore a uniform till I was in 9th grade. Uniforms are taylored and made better. They would last me the entire year. There was no need to buy a lot of other extra clothes because I only needed extra clothing for after school and weekends. Real cost for clothes comes from having to wear a different thing every day for school. Of course there are those kids who wear a uniform everyday. I mean the ones who wear the same jeans and the same t-shirts everyday to school.
Forth it also makes thing a lot clearer on school trips when you travel to a museum or someplace where other schools may be present. You always know where your kids are on a trip because their uniform is different from other schools.
Lastly, as a girl, I always found the skirts where kind cute. In Japan all the students wear uniforms and they always looks neat and polished. I think in getting kids prepare for the real world, neat and polished is not a bad way to go.
My old boss use to look like a train mess. People would mistake me for being her boss because of the sloppy way she dressed.
Wearing a uniform did not take away from my individuality. If anything I think it helped me to concentrate more on what type of person I wanted to be rather than trying to let my sense of style speak for me. I couldn’t fashion my clothes any differently but I could fashion my personality and not rely on the latest style to do it for me.
Oh just read the post above. I agree with roo.

Only the girls.

Two of the public schools my children went to had a uniform policy. The uniform consisted of a school t-shirt (in several designs and colors) and bottoms in a choice of 3 colors (including jeans.) The uniform did not cost much as the t-shirts were $8 a piece. The bottoms were things people usually already had in their closet. If you truly could not afford the shirts, the PTA also could help people purchase. I had no problem with the policy. Although when the policy was instituted, many parents complained of the cost (which ended up being less than most would have spent on school clothes) and the kids complained of a loss of individuality. However, everyone adjusted really well to it. I also found neither of my kids had “what do I wear today” meltdowns.

Personal experience: school uniforms wear like iron and are cheap. This is what we purchased for school clothing for 4 years:
2 sweaters $36 each, 1 was lost, then found. 7 years after graduation, she still is wearing one and it looks brand new. The girl across the street is wearing the other one to the same high school.
3 skirts, $28 each. One is pretty beat up, one is put away as a menento, the girl across the street has one as an “extra” skirt.
3 school shirts with crest, $28 each. One is put away with the skirt as a memento, the other two finally were too worn to wear this year.
8 polo shirts, plain white, from Target $15 each
2 pair of gray Chucks, 2 pairs of gray Sketchers
2 pair of gray tights, still being worn
4 pairs of Sofies to wear under the skirts
1 pair of school plaid pajama pants to wear under skirt, she now sleeps in them
Senior class sweatshirt, still being worn, looks new

For four years of high school, we didn’t have that much of an investment in clothing for school, and her collection of other clothing was rather lean. There was a bit on an investment when she started college because she didn’t have much to wear. Somehow, individuality was expressed through jewelry, purses, hair, and that sort of thing. And through personality rather than packaging.

To @Buster’s point, kids wear a “uniform” to school anyways. You can place a kid in a group based upon what they have on. Wearing only Hollister, or Urban Outfitters, or A&F, or band t-shirts is wearing a uniform.

I’m not sure where I stand on the issue personally, but the friends I had in high school who had to wear uniforms loved it. They liked that they didn’t have to decide what to wear in the morning – it was a choice between skirt or pants, cardigan or sweater vest. They also had dress-down days where the kids would pay a dollar or two once a month to wear their own clothes, and the money went either to a school fundraising effort or to charity.

@Seelix, “It’s, blue, it’s white, it works.”

@Seelix The schools I mentioned also had those days where you could pay to be out of uniform and it raised quite a bit of money for the school.

I liked wearing a uniform at school and thankfully the school I went to (unlike some of the others in the area) had a very unembarressing uniform (navy blue top and black trousers). I hate the arguement that uniforms stifle childrens individuality. If someone is truely an individual then that will shine through their personality.

I am all for it. Kids are wearing questionable clothes, often connected with gang affiliations. $150 shoes, for crying out loud!
Uniforms aren’t the complete answer, and I am not sure what is, but it is a part of a solution.

I also agree with @Nullo on this point… @BarnacleBill brings up an interesting point about the cheapness of the uniform.

However, let’s also consider that the government is going to contract for these uniforms more than likely. This is going to create bidding and influence issues. Particularly on a larger scale. And in this case, it’s not going to be clear if the clothes are cheap because they’re naturally cheap or because their subsidized by the gov.

I don’t like the idea of MORE government contracts where they’re unnecessary.

We are in a private school. The first year it was a dress code only. Only we got to see far too many deep butt cracks (because “that’s the way my pants fit!” and so the uniform was instituted. Now, no butt cracks. Yaaay!

Butt cracks do nothing for real education…

@snowberry crack of any sort rarely helps students! :D

@Odysseus Yes, I support opting out of the pledge. Took advantage of that right as well, though mostly to annoy my economics teacher.

As for the whole “sexy clothes distract boys” line, I fail to see how it is any girl’s responsibility to help any boy do well in school. I sat behind a girl whose thong stuck out of her pants every day of my senior year for 50 minutes. And you know what? I passed that class with an A. It’s called “self-control.”

And given that girls in school uniforms are one of the most fetishized thing around, introducing them won’t necessarily help the boys concentrate one bit (even if it isn’t the stereotypical Catholic school girl outfit).

@ragingloli Well the little boys (k through 2nd) in their tiny shorts look adorable. As for the boys they always look refreshing in their crisp white shirts.

There is something about uniforms, even the word “uniform,” that makes me cringe. I came of age in the 60’s, so maybe that is a part of it.

I do favor some sort of dress code. I am taken aback by the way kids dress to go to school. When I went to school, wearing jeans or a T shirt or a halter top to school was simply not done.

Add me to the pro uniform group. Our local public school does require public school does require uniforms, and I think it’s a good idea. I don’t have kids, though, so my opinion really doesn’t count for much.

@everephebe you could say that crack of any type is NOT ALLOWED at our school. Every kind distracts from learning.

@ragingloli – only girls? Why?

I’m all for school uniforms for several reasons. The biggest reason is it would take the emphasis off of establishing individuality and personal style by clothes and redirect it to take the form of establishing “self” by deeds, accomplishments and relationships. Secondly, parents need a financial break from street clothes that follow trends faster than clothes get grown out of or are worn out. Lastly, I believe the backing off of clothes emphasis in school will make for more disciplined clothes shoppers down the line- maybe fewer 9 year olds running around in hot pants. Maybe.

whenever i bring up this topic, my dad says it’s because it would distract the students, but honestly, people don’t get distracted when they go to a football game or work when u get older by outfits and what harm is it going to do to say “Oh hey I love your shirt” to your friend in homeroom? also, if you grow up with no uniform all your life, eventually that’s what it becomes: a simple “You look cute today.” when they are allowed to be distracted because they have become accustomed to this.

As a parent, I prefer it…based on ease of dealing with clothes and nothing more.

I have two children, nine years apart. My daughter had to wear a uniform from 3rd grade on and it made life easy. With my son, so far, the school he is attending doesn’t require uniforms. I really miss the ease of dealing with clothing issues.

After the initial investment of the uniforms and shoes, it also was much cheaper than regular street clothes.

This is just as a parent and solely based on the ease of dealing with clothes for school. It’s so worth never having that, “But Mom!?! Why can’t I wear this to school?” argument.

According to several investigations, uniforms cost less than designer clothes, but more than what the majority of students wear in public schools. That is, they’re not cheaper than regular clothes unless you are indulging your child’s fashion sense more than the average parent does.

@SavoirFaire – I think that would depend on the style of the uniform. As I said here, they can be purchased at any number of clothing outlets and are cheap as chips.

@iamthemob – Why would the government be involved in the uniforms? Here in public and private schools, the government has nothing to do with the uniforms, as I noted above, they can be purchased an any number of private clothing stores and chains.

@rooeytoo That sounds like a dress code, not a school uniform.

@SavoirFaire: I’m sure the investigations may have merit; however, it doesn’t fit the picture of my family. Neither of my children have been indulged in their whims, on clothes. (or my son would be dressing as a police officer, every single day – he’s 7, though.) My daughter was given a flat budget to shop from. If she did decide that she wanted a designer item, it would come out of that bottom line. She may not have gotten that many new things, if she made that choice. My daughter learned quickly, to shop sales racks and never pay full price. The one thing I remember her picking, was Rainbow flip flops, and they were her after school and weekend clothes.

@SavoirFaire – trust me, they are uniforms. See my response above. They are all the same, just available at different outlets.

@rooeytoo is correct @SavoirFaire They are available here cheaply at Sears, Old Navy, Walmart, and plenty o’ others. I think it would knock off a lot of nonsense at most schools.

It’s the same uniform that most parochial schools have. Tan pants, navy pants, same colors in shorts, white/navy/light blue polo——or any color combo your school district would think up. And, these outfits cost LOTS less than any kids regular public school wardrobe.

Still sounds like a dress code if they aren’t all exactly the same. “All black” or “this color pants and this color shirt” is a dress code, “this specific shirt and these specific pants” is a uniform.

Also, @rooeytoo, whether or not something violates a persons rights does seem like a big deal to me. And whatever may be the case in Australia, students in the US most certainly do have rights. Indeed, they have basically the same rights as everyone else. That was decided by the Supreme Court in 1969.

And that’s one of the things that makes uniforms silly in the United States: all requirements must have an opt-out method, and students cannot be prevented from altering or adorning their uniforms without strong, Constitutionally valid reasons. In other words, there’s no meaningful way of legally enforcing it.

@SavoirFaire – I don’t know how else to say this to make it clear to you, they are uniforms. They are all the same simply available from different manufacturers and at different outlets.

Again I don’t think you read my response, I didn’t say they didn’t have rights. I just said I thought worrying about whether (wearing a uniform to school) is violating student rights is pretty silly.

@rooeytoo The first part was mostly a response to @SpatzieLover. Regardless, you said they were the same, then referred me to a response that didn’t say that. Asking for further clarification hardly seems unreasonable in that case. As for the other part, my main point was that violating a student’s rights does not seem silly to me. So really, I have no idea what you’re responding to. I didn’t accuse you of saying Australian students don’t have rights. I left that issue to the side.

[That should be ”worrying about violating a student’s rights does not seem silly to me.” Everyone’s rights seem worth worrying about.]

@SavoirFaire I also don’t know how else to say this. The stores and clothing options I mentioned are provided by those stores as UNIFORM CLOTHING

I’ll provide links to each store if need be, but I happen to know these are the stores that the kids in my neighborhood buy their clothing from to attend the Catholic school on my block.

Okay, okay! I get it! I just wanted unequivocal statements instead of vague ones! I wasn’t calling anyone a liar, I was just trying to eliminate ambiguity.

Many thanks to @SavoirFaire for eliminating ambiguity, the world is now a better place to be!

Hey @SpatzieLover better give me some lurve before this is modded, heheheh!

@rooeytoo as you wish. I love to lurve you

@SpatzieLover Still, there are those kids who can barely afford cheap clothes, and who rely on the school cafeteria for the bulk of their nutrition.

@Nullo My local Church school has a thrift store. For less than $10, a child could get their entire school outfit including the shoes. If every kid in America was wearing similar clothing, as they out grew them, every thrift store would have plenty of cheap used clothes to go around.

@Nullo: Sorry, budging in on your comment to @SpatzieLover. The good thing about my daughter’s schools, they did a clothing exchange or gave the gently used items to the families that needed them and couldn’t afford to buy the uniforms. There was a program that allowed other families to donate into a fund, if the family needed items and they weren’t available at the exchange. This way, a child from a family that couldn’t afford things, were able to get new clothing, as well as used.

I do see the point where it could be a financial burden to some families. Especially if their school doesn’t have any type of program to help them out with the cost.

@SpatzieLover Ah, but that just starts the fashion battles all over again. Now the division is between those who have new uniforms (analogous to having the designer brand) and those who have used ones (the cheaper brands). So really, the only thing we’ve solved is that pesky problem of children thinking for themselves.

But really, I don’t care if the uniforms could be made available to everyone for free. My opposition to them has nothing to do with the cost.

@SavoirFaire With these types of clothes, after they are laundered, it is very difficult to tell the used from the new…I have purchased a few of the used polos & leather lands end shoes from the thrift store for my son…BTW, I live in a wealthy community. Most of the kids here wear hand me downs ;)

@SpatzieLover Fair enough. I still agree with @MyNewtBoobs, though. I don’t remember school being one big discussion of clothes, and I don’t remember people getting distracted over it all that much. The cheerleaders wore their outfits whenever it was game day to show school spirit, and everything proceeded as normal. And the girl who always wore even more revealing clothes than that on a daily basis got a lot of attention, but primarily in the hallways, at lunch, and otherwise out of class.

@SpatzieLover So, wait, kids are so concerned about clothes that we have to instate uniforms to get them to focus, but not so concerned as to find out which clothes are new and which ones aren’t? That seems a bit contradictory.

@SavoirFaire Oh it’s a big deal here at the public schools. WAY too big of a deal. And, like politics, those that have money are in the biggest cliques.

@MyNewtBoobs Not the private school kids I know. I don’t know any public school kids wearing uniforms

I guess that @MyNewtBoobs and I went to very different schools than your kids. Because I went to a public school where the students were predominately the children of doctors, lawyers, bankers, and politicians without anyone getting so worried about clothes that it interrupted anyone’s concentration.

I never once had a Gap shirt, but I don’t think I was ever made fun of for my clothes after fourth grade (during which you could be made fun of for having brown hair—or not having brown hair).

@SavoirFaire I went to a school where 90% of the kids were from lower-income families, and the other 10% came from doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. I was of that other 10%, and I learned very quickly to hide the money I came from so I wouldn’t get beaten up – which wasn’t about wearing different clothes; most of my clothes came from the same places theirs did, and much of it with babysitting money. The kids that were distracted by clothes in classes were also distracted by hair, nail polish, that hickey on the one girl’s neck, the notes passed to them in class, the jokes they whispered to each other, endless gossip, and a myriad of other things – there was just no way to keep them from being distracted. The rest had better things to do with their time than give a shit about other people’s clothing.

@MyNewtBoobs I second that observation. I was never much for designer apparel (my Loud Hawaiian Shirt phase hit during my junior year and it never did fully die off), but I made an art out of distracting myself; things got to the point where I started keeping a separate notebook for my doodles and plot ideas.
In my defense, I actually listen best when I’m mildly distracted.