School uniforms

I know there's allready a thread about high school but I figured this deserves it's own thread.
If ever there has been a more obvious form of brain washing this has to be it. People instinctivly feel a certain loyalty to those wearing the same uniform and try to conform to the group of people who wear the same uniform. Make people all wear the same uniform and you force all people to conform.
Another aspect is communication. A person may see somone wearing similar clothing to themselves and take it as a good indicator that the person may share certain interests, this form of visual communication is eliminated when all wear the same uniform.
Any thoughs?

I love school uniforms! All children are dressed alike and therefore you don't have all the "we think your a dork cause you're not wearing "fit whatever lane name brand in here" shores/pants/whatever! There is nothing brainwashing about it at all! It makes all children more equal and able to better be concerned with what school is for! It's not a fashion show, or to see who has the moat expensive clothes...it's to learn and become educated.....
and yes, I think this has been posted before. Though I am not a mod, it's usually better to add to an existing thread.

Originally posted by LadyV
It makes all children more equal and able to better be concerned with what school is for!

Thats the illusion! The children who have the fasionable cloths have them because they have the money to pay for them wearing a uniform dosen't change there situation.

NO, it's not an illusion! Do you have children in school?

Personally, I wouldn't attend a school that demanded that I wear a uniform but if my kids wanted to, fine. It's about choice.

Secondly, those uniforms have to make sense. The ones the girls wear to Catholic school, the ones with the skirts, just don't make sense here, in the winter. I mean 2 days ago it was -23C with a wind chill of -40. Cmon give these girls a break.

Originally posted by intrepid

Secondly, those uniforms have to make sense. The ones the girls wear to Catholic school, the ones with the skirts, just don't make sense here, in the winter. I mean 2 days ago it was -23C with a wind chill of -40. Cmon give these girls a break.

They don't have to wear the skirts, intrepid. There's a pants option for them as well.
They're doing it to themselves, if they choose to wear those things in this weather.

Originally posted by parrhesia
They don't have to wear the skirts, intrepid. There's a pants option for them as well.
They're doing it to themselves, if they choose to wear those things in this weather.

I didn't know that. They must be nuts.

The schools here are not uniformed like a catholic school. They have to wear kaki colored or dark blue pants, no side pockets. laced shoes only. Collared red, dark blue, white or light blue shirts....this is the second year and it has worked out wonderfully!

Originally posted by intrepid

I didn't know that.

They must be nuts.

I know.
I never understood it.

Originally posted by LadyV
Do you have children in school?

No, did you wear a uniform when you were in school? I wore one from age 7 or their abouts and even at that age I noticed the difference when in school and in plain cloths.

No. I did not wear them, and neither did my children.....I wish they had! I raised three boys by myself and it would of been a lot easier for sure! So I have experienced it both ways...uniforms are better!

I don't really think uniforms are a good idea. There are so many other ways that the "cool kids" would have to separate themselves from the "losers". Be it expensive trinkets or exclusive activities. Let kids wear what they want. Let them express themselves. I personalyl would have hated to have a set uniform to wear to school.

Come to the UK all schools have to wear a uniform, yeah we moan about it when we're at school but when you think about it, it does a few things:
1) Keeps everyone equal
2) 'Defines' one school from another
3) Gives a school a certain etiquette/smartness maybe even a job like appearance
4) Stops getting your own clothes ruined

Im all for uniforms and to be perfectly honest and fail to see how its brainwashing?? Making people wear a uniforms not exactly putting stuff into their head is it?

I wear these uniforms and Im kinda glad I do. People judge less and think mor.
e Even in non-uniformed schools the people who wear the same often get along better. But that can also cause biases toward the goth kids or the nerd kids or the football team. School uniforms just destroys the wall of predjudice so people dont walk into the wrong group.

I go to a Catholic high school, and i tell you, i really dont mind the uniforms all that much, there are plenty of other ways to express yourself than dressing differently. I can see where you are coming from, and the mentality that school uniforms force students to conform is very present in society, but the reasoning behind the uniforms is to build a better sense of community and stability in an otherwise wild teenaged mind. LEts face it, teenagers are presented with many challenges concerning "fitting in", and sadly, a great many of them succumb to the mentality of conforming to what others think of as "normal": this includes putting down those that are different than them in a vain attempt to elevate themselves in their own and others' mind. There are also the "rebels" that do anything they can to be the opposite of what they think of as social norms so they, too, are conforming to predetermined social standards. School uniforms are not the implement of brainwash: rather, they help to quell the brainwash already present in the mass media and modern society by attempting to bring the students together into a community. Students usually cannot percieve below the physical level: not because they can't, but rather because they do not want to, because to perceive below the physical level would require closer mental contact. A student fears being wrong above all else, and that extends to but is not limited to being wrong about first perceptions of an individual. Uniforms allow a student to look past the physical, because on the physical level, to all apparent purposes, one cannot judge a person's economical standing, social view point, etcetera if everybody is dressed the same.

I think Lady V has it right and I agree 100%. I probably would not have years back but with 3 children of my own in school I see the distraction of clothing and realize how stupid it is. It is not so much the kids stating their social order but more the parents promoting this for their own petty belonging.

Originally posted by Stuey1221
Im all for uniforms and to be perfectly honest and fail to see how its brainwashing?? Making people wear a uniforms not exactly putting stuff into their head is it?

A uniform isn't just a type of clothing, uniforms are typically representitive of a political allegiance.
Consider an army uniform for example. If you were in a warzone and and somehow forced to wear the 'enemy's uniform' would you join him or fight for you own side knowing that they would most likely kill you? obviously a school isn't a warzone but the same instict of needing to do as those who dress the same still exists.


[edit on 20-1-2005 by TruthResearcher2000]

Uniforms are Communism at work.

While they do give an atmosphere of structure, they also give an atmosphere of a military academy and they turn everyone into identical clones, and steal the very individuality from a person.

Uniforms are just fine in Communist China, but as for me in the US, we'll just dress how we please, thank you.

Originally posted by southern_cross3
Uniforms are Communism at work.

While they do give an atmosphere of structure, they also give an atmosphere of a military academy and they turn everyone into identical clones, and steal the very individuality from a person.

Uniforms are just fine in Communist China, but as for me in the US, we'll just dress how we please, thank you.

People who look the same dont think the same. Just look at Mary Kate and Ashley. What is more destructive is the Clicks that crowd the school. In non-uniformed schools people think that they have to wear whatever the cool kids are wearing and those who keep their individuality are shunned from the group. If uniforms teach you anything its to not judge people on what they wear.

to reinforce my previous post, i must say there are more important issues than school uniforms: lets face it, unless you allow yourself to become a member of a political/military/social group, they cant really force you to. What is being described is not so much uniforms in and of themselves, but a person's subconcious, natural desire to belong to a more powerful group (this is a natural course of human survival). Albeit, this exploitation can indeed cause a sense of uniformity and autonomy, and can be the distignuishing factor between a group and a community, school uniforms cannot change or influence a person who simply realizes that in modern time and day, there is not so much a need to belong to the stronger, more powerful group.