School Uniforms, Mandatory or Not?

[Iron Mego]

I never had to wear a uniform, but think it is a good idea. It really does help avoid a lot of problems at school. You can express your "individuality" when you get home and wear what you want. Just like adults do after a hard day's work.

[ScottA]

I never had to wear any type of uniform in HS. However, the school my daughter is a senior at and my son is a freshman at this year switched to uniforms beginning this school year. They don't seem to mind and from what I can tell neither do any of their friends. To be honest it made buying school clothes easier this year for us.

[palitoy]

I actually switched from Catholic to a public highschool because I didn't want to wear a uniform. It was a bit like moving to a new town, I had zero friends but I now consider that a huge point of growth in my life.


However, when I was 20 I dated a high school senior and I must admit, I was pro Catholic highschool uniform then...

[mego73]

I was in Catholic School where they had girls in the usual uniforms. Because I was discovering girls at the time, I'll always find catholic school girl uniforms quite sexy.

It's funny because one of the reasons for uniforms was to keep hormones at bay (to prevent students from dressing too provocatively) but what really happened is that many (I am sure I am not alone) associated their dawning of interest in the opposite sex with the clothes most of them were wearing at the time. So uniform, or uniform type wear (pleated skirts, white button up shirts, business wear, etc) does it for me over the usual tart ware that's supposed to get guys going.

But even though uniforms really don't keep hormones at bay like some hope, they do other things that are good. They remove the thought of "what to wear to school tomorrow" so you are not consumed by how you are going to be fashionable and "express yourself" when you should be learning. That also removes some of the problems of how some kids can afford more expensive, fashionable clothes and some cannot. And to the extent that hormones are not involved, wearing the same thing is just overall less distracting.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

They had 'em at my high school, and it didn't make a difference. Kids still found ways to one-up each other. That's what teenagers do. It may have been shoes, watched, haircuts, eventually cars.... Humans are exclusory; especially teens. Everyone knew who the poor kids were, or the rich kids, the freaks, the Scaries....

Don C.

[The Toyroom]

Just throwing this out there...but the girls at the Catholic high school here were much more promiscious than the girls at the public high school I attended...

[johnmiic]

I went to Catholic school all my life. We had uniforms up to grade 8 and in H.S. we had dress code. Your options were very limited and as new things came out they banned the kids from wearing them. By the time I graduated, 1987, they started adopting a basic uniform for kids because teachers complained they did not want to be chasing students down all the time trying to figure out what was acceptable.

The school of thought is: if kids wear a uniform and are forced to meet certain standards of personal appearance they will learn discipline and be better students. My experience is, if kids are forced to wear a uniform in school, you have removed their individuality and taken them from their comfort zone. They are now vunerable and easier to control, i.e., teach. In NY the public school system is known for being a zoo while the Catholic school system is known for giving a better education.

[mego73]

Just throwing this out there...but the girls at the Catholic high school here were much more promiscious than the girls at the public high school I attended...

Yes, they seemed to be but maybe it's because skirts are easier to deal with than tight jeans.

[livnxxxl]

We wore uniforms, a concert tee and Levi's.

That sounds a lot like my old school uniform.

[livnxxxl]

I never had to wear any kind of a school uniform per se. I guess that is why it would bother me today if I had kids knowing that they had to "conform" a certain way. This is the U.S.A. not Russia ***?!?!

I keep hearing the argument about about some families not having the jack to back. That is totally understandable. However, there is also places out there that will help people like this. Some even give them clothes, food or what have you.

So I really do not see that as being an excuse to why everyone else should have to wear uniforms because other people do not have the funds to measure up. I am not trying to sound cruel here or anything. I am just saying that why make everyone else suffer? That would be like saying everyone has to drive a certain car on the highway because other people cannot afford a Lamborghini. Again ***?!?!

Plus I strongly feel that the schools would take advantage of this and exploit even more tax money from the tax payers. No matter how much money the schools take in from tax payers it is still never enough or so it seems. It is actually called managing your money better. Something a lot of us as individuals has to do. The school's take is why worry about that though when you have a bunch of people sending you endless envelopes of tax payer money.

Case in point there is a local College that purchased a fancy smancy sign for their campus and it cost them (I mean us) $50K. Now that was money well spent.

Lastly, In my closing argument here I want to say that the majority of Catholic school students that I have known and or heard of usually rebel against the school's for making them wear such guard awful uniforms. Nuff said for now.

[Mikey]

I'd love to see inner city kids having to wear uniforms to school

No pockets ? ... where can I keep my gun ?

[apes3978]

I agree... I wouldn't mind seeing year 'round school either...

I'd love to see inner city kids having to wear uniforms to school

No pockets ? ... where can I keep my gun ?

[livnxxxl]

Year round school would be great as far as I am concerned. No kiddies to dig through the toys at the thrift stores = less competition. The down side to that of course is getting stuck behind school busses more often.

[WannabeMego]

I'd love to see inner city kids having to wear uniforms to school

No pockets ? ... where can I keep my gun ?

I don't find that funny at all

[supes]

Just throwing this out there...but the girls at the Catholic high school here were much more promiscious than the girls at the public high school I attended...

I agree 100%! where I grew up if you were looking for some quick action we would crash one of the Catholic school dances or gatherings. No muss no fuss