School uniform is something most Brits take for granted. Most schools have a uniform and that is just the way it is.
The main argument for school uniform is that it stops the poorer pupils standing out. This is a complete fallacy as a huge impact is put onto shoes, coats and jewelry, easily the most expensive items in anyone's wardrobe. You may all be wearing the same clothes, but the girl with scuffed shoes and frayed laces stands out a mile.
Anther argument is that it creates a sense of school pride. As a pupil who went to the selective school, and was abused every day by the comprehensive kids, I would say it just made me an easy target.
The cost of uniform is often prohibitive. A blazer can be very expensive, especially if the wearer is still growing. The obvious answer to this is for less well off families to buy their children over-sized items they can grow into. Again, this stands out a mile.
Jewelry restrictions are supposed to be there for safety reasons. You cannot wear a necklace of dangling earring in case they get caught or dragged into machinery in the technology lab. Yet most pupils will be wearing a tie.
Uniform is supposed to prepare pupils for the world of work. This argument only makes sense if you will be working in an industry where you have to wear a uniform. I know many young people who do not realize that wearing jeans is unacceptable at a job interview, because they have never dressed smartly except in uniform. Many people would agree that phasing out a uniform and replacing it with some form of dress code would be more helpful.
All in all, it seems uniforms are about snobbery. The “better” schools have a smarter and stricter uniform. The so-called “worse” schools in deprived areas have far more lenient uniforms, recognizing that not everyone has the money to buy a full uniform. It seems schools are stuck in an impasse. No school will give up uniform until the others do, fearing it will suggest poor discipline and low education standards. Let's stop living in the past and move forwards.
