Seems very much like indoctrination to get kids to “fall in line” and enforced conformity, to try to remove independent thinking.

I’ve always hated the idea of that. What do you think about it?

  • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠@slrpnk.net
    1494·
    6 months ago

    I always hated it growing up, too. My school didn’t even have a uniform, only a dress code, and I hated that, too.

    But my kids go to a school with a uniform, and now I can see the advantages:

    • this school subsidizes the uniforms heavily, even to the point of giving them away outright to students in need, so it represents a form of clothing that is affordable for all

    • kids can’t fight with parents about what they wear to school, because it’s predetermined

    • every kid wears the same thing, which helps smooth out class-indicators: kids don’t get bullied for wearing hand-me-downs or unfashionable clothes because everyone wears the same thing

    • makes it very easy to determine who is supposed to be on campus and who is not; similarly, since the school has a big emphasis on outside-the-classroom learning, makes it very easy to identify students out on fieldwork

    • saves me money since the uniforms are unisex and my son can wear the hand-me-downs of his older sisters

    And to address your criticism: Yes, uniforms tend to promote group cohesion but that’s not always a bad thing. It encourages collaboration over competition, for example.

    • PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk
      56·
      6 months ago

      Point 3 has always been a great equaliser. I grew up in a household that was tight for money, and I never felt that my school wear defined my “class”, quite the opposite.

      Now I’m older and am in a comparatively fortunate position financially, I’m happy to kit out my kids in a uniform. I don’t really want them flashing brand names or in an arms race to look the most fashionable, and I don’t want the less fortunate folk in the class to feel left behind.

      If a uniform is plain and inexpensive, I think the positives outweigh the negatives.