School Uniform

As the end of summer draws closer, many parents are preparing uniforms for the next year ahead. Fortunately, I’ve now come to the end of my school uniform days and can now enjoy sixth form in the comfort of my own clothes. However, this has stirred up the ever-controversial argument of whether uniform is a good idea or a bad one.

On one hand, uniform helps students appear smart – dressed in professional work attire. This helps prepare the potential futures of students in high-toned industries, as well as keeping them focused on their work rather than getting distracted by fashion choices. Keeping students equal in their school outfits prevents pupils bullying each other based on what they’re wearing or the cost of their clothing (such as not having the latest, most popular branded clothing). Additionally, pupils are essentially ‘branded’ to a specific school by using the emblem sewed onto uniforms. This helps keep students in check outside of school grounds such as on buses and in town, reducing the risk of any significant misbehaviour  by making the individuals traceable. Therefore, it can be said that uniforms can increase student safety in school and outside of school, as well as increasing their ability to blend in and focus on learning without having to worry that their clothing choices might make them a target. Uniforms may also build community in a school as students of all ages, including alumni, bond over their shared outfits.

On the other hand, uniforms can be incredibly uncomfortable – as spoken with recent experience – which can be immensely distracting during class and can result in a student missing an important piece of information or not understanding something. Uniforms – while attempting to promote equality – do not give the student any opportunity for individual growth as they cannot personalise their outfits which can lead to students becoming detached and antsy during the school day as they are forced to conform to the expectations of society. Although not always intentional, uniforms can often be sexist: expecting females to wear skirts and males to wear trousers and not always allowing cross dressing, leading to conflicts. These ideas surrounding gendered clothing are particularly outdated in our modern world. What’s more is that often school uniforms can turn out to be a lot more expensive than  ordinary clothing (it can amount to hundreds of pounds), which is very awkward for parents with multiple children in school. Students who are at a uniform age are often in the stage of life where they do the most growing and constantly replacing outgrown pieces of the uniform can be very costly!

Overall, while there are many major cons for school uniforms, schools prioritise them due to the pro of uniforms benefitting student safety, which must always come first.