The Debate Over School Uniform



Figure 1.--

The oponents of school uniform maintain that students should be allowed to choose their own clothes and they shouldn't be forced to conform. The opponents feel that the inability to choose ones clothes causes children to lose their individuality. Interestingly, many who fill strongly about this are not nearly as concerned over the insistance of many schools to avoid contoversial issues. Different socities have place varying emphasis on conformity. In Japan it has been a strongly held goal. In America society has placed a much greater emphasis on individuality.

Opinions

School clothing are a matter of freedom of expression . School uniforms are only one symptom of the fascistic prison-camp attitude going on in schools right now as a knee-jerk reaction to Columbine. You've got cameras in the halls, mandatory locker searches... Big Brother is watching you.

Yes, you're not allowed to have 'die' on the freshman teeshirts( they said class of 2003 til we d-i-e. there's nothing f--ing wrong with that!) you're not allowed to have asprin or midol in schools. You're not allowed to watch movies that are rated above 'G; (IN HIGH SCHOOL!) You're not allowed to have the real facts about sex in school. And THEN you whine because teenagers don't suddenly become mature adults after treating them like 5 year olds for many years.

When you notice the hysteria in public schools for controlling the children: the schools seem more worried about what we wear than what we learn, the locker searches, the backpack bans in some schools, the harrassment of kids who don't dress like the teachers think they should dress in some schools, the pushing of creationism, the pushing of ten commandments in schools, the pushing of prayer in schools...it seems like they want to indocinate us more than they want to teach us.

The obssession for complete control of teenagers has gotten worst after Columbine. It's a great oppurtunity for old codgers to ruin things for everyone by trying to take things back to the bad old days.





Careful, clicking on these will exit you from the Boys' Historical Clothing web site, but several are highly recommended

  • Apertures Press International Project: Pictures at schools in different countries and a book on British schools
  • Apertures Press New Zealand E-book: New E-book on New Zealand schools available
  • School Uniform Web Site: Informative review of British school uniforms with some excellent photographs
  • British Preparatory Schools: A photographic book depicting life at British preparatory schools during the 1980s. Most of the schools are English or Scottish, but schools in Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ulster are also included. The pictures show the uniforms worn at many different schools.
  • Information: Information about school uniforms in America

    Christopher Wagner

    histclo@lycosmail.com


    Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
    [Late 19th century] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s] [The 1950s] [The 1960s] [The 1970s][The 1980s]




    Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
    [Return to the Main school uniform debate page]
    [Return to the Main school uniform page]
    [Introduction] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Biographies] [Bibliographies]
    [Contributions] [Movies] [Activities] [Countries]
    [Boys' Clothing Home]





    Created: January 20, 1999
    Last updated: April 16, 2000