page_title: School uniform
section_title: Negatives
hierarchical_section_title: School uniform / Controversies / Negatives
caption_attribution_description: English: A British schoolboy wearing a traditional grey school shorts uniform
context_page_description: A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise educational institution. They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries.
  Although often used interchangeably, there is an important distinction between dress codes and school uniforms: according to scholars such as Nathan Joseph, clothing can only be considered a uniform when it " serves as a group emblem, certifies an institution's legitimacy by revealing individual's relative positions and suppresses individuality."
  An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shirts, long pants for boys and blouses, pleated skirts for girls, with both wearing blazers. A uniform can even be as simple as requiring collared shirts, or restricting colour choices and limiting items students are allowed to wear.
  A dress code, on the other hand, is much less restrictive, and focuses "on promoting modesty and discouraging anti-social fashion statements", according to Marian Wilde. Examples of a dress code would be not allowing ripped clothing, no logos or limiting the amount of skin that can be shown.
context_section_description: The opposing side of uniforms has claimed their ineffectiveness using a variety of justifications, a variety of which have research supporting them. Some of the cons to school uniforms include the following legal, financial, and questionable effectiveness concerns: The primary concern with school uniforms or strict dress codes is that it limits the ability of students to express themselves. Clothing is viewed as a mean of expression – making all students wear the same clothes or limit them to what they can wear can disrupt their sense of identity.   One of the main controversies can lie within Dress Code Policies vs. Freedom of Speech. This establishes that students cannot wear the latest trends, mid-drift, or clothes that the school finds that interrupt the learning environment. However, students can wear clothing artifacts that express their religion.  "Both the Constitution and most state laws protect students' rights to wear religious attire inool [sic] school, such as the wearing of a turban, yarmulke, or headscarf."
  Another negative aspect of school uniforms is that it can be sexist. Boys and girls are also not disciplined the same when it comes to dress codes. Girls are more commonly disciplined for "certain articles of’ attire that are prohibited because they “distract” boys. "Transgender students have been sent home for wearing clothing different from what's expected of their legalness, while others have been excluded from yearbooks."
  Uniforms also generally disadvantage students, especially girls, in freedom of movement and comfort. The research was conducted on an Australian independent private school and its uniform. Comfort-wise, for boys, the blazer was too hot/cold and uncomfortable. For girls, the light coloured cotton school dress was restrictive, see-through, hot, uncomfortable, and impractical. Furthermore, the stockings were often cold,  grey woolen kilt was too heavy and restrictive of movement, and the wind could cause it to reveal more than the girls wanted. When playing and moving around, for boys, the tie was a choking hazard, and the pants had no stretch. For girls, the dress/skirt caused modesty issues (e.g. hard to swing on monkey bars/run around while keeping her privacy, hence stop being active), and the kilts were are too big and heavy.
  Research on how school uniforms and school dress codes influence the student can be inconclusive. "In the U.S., over half of public schools have a dress code, which frequently outline gender-specific policies."
  Legal concerns
  Focus on the supposition that requiring a uniform violates children's individual rights (Thomas, 1994; Virginia State Dep’t of Edu, 1992)
  Mandatory uniform policies are being considered largely for urban school districts, and, hence are being forced on a predominantly minority and poor student population (Thomas, 1994)
  No effect on social status
  Many students felt the school uniform policy had little impact on the social dynamic of the school and students found ways to express individuality by making minor alterations to the school uniform (Da Costa, 2006). Some parents and students interviewed in a research about the social aspect of school uniforms said that uniforms were a violation of their rights and freedom. "Like adults, children's freedom to choose or to act is also circumscribed by the community – massively so by schools, with their high density, constant supervision and evaluation, lack of privacy, and the obligatory nature of their activities." (Bodine, 2003)
  Financial concerns
  Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have voiced concerns about the cost of uniforms, specifically that some disadvantaged parents are unable to afford them (Gursky, 1996)
  Questionable effectiveness of those policies
  Strongest opponents of uniform policies charge that no empirical evidence exists to support the numerous and varied claims of uniform proponents (LaPorte, Holoman, & Alleyne, 1992)
  School uniforms suppress students’ individuality by mandating standardization of appearance and removing student expression (Joseph, 1986)
  While un
caption: A Scottish boy's school uniform for Marr College
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