Does Your Student Wear Uniforms to School?

Most students are not going to love the idea of wearing a school uniform. They usually use their wardrobe as a form of expression, a way to let other people know who they are, what they are about, their social status, etc. When you take that away from them, they can become very upset about it. However, from a parent’s point of view, school uniforms are a great idea. Here are a few of the reasons why:

First, having a child wear a school uniform is really going to make the morning craziness much simpler. If the child already knows what they are going to be wearing for the day, they don’t have to spend time selecting clothes or worrying about what other people will think of their outfit they have chosen. So, it cuts out that time and drama.

Second, if all of the kids at the school are in uniforms, there is far fewer social clicks created by economic standing. Clothes are often a good indicator of the wealth or poverty of a child. While most of us wish that we weren’t judged on our finances, the fact remains that we are. Even though a kid has no control over their parent’s financial situation, it does impact them. By equalizing everyone in dress, you give kids a fair chance at making friends and impressions based on who they are, their gifts, talents, and personality, rather than on how expensive their shirt is, or whether or not their jeans are designer.

Third, uniforms help kids focus on the things that really matter at school, the academics. If everyone is wearing the same thing, and it is a modest, and simple uniform, then chances are your child will spend less time thinking about the outfit so and so had on, and more time thinking about the complex math equation, or the conjugation of verbs. This can be a very positive reason for students to wear uniforms.

Additionally, as a parent, if the school mandates the uniforms, it helps eliminate some of the problems you might have with your child over what clothes are appropriate for school, and for being with friends, and which are not. Issues of modesty, age appropriateness, and other related issues fly out the window as far as school is concerned. This can be a real relief for parents, and they aren’t the bad guy, the school is.

Should students have to wear a uniform? There are certainly a lot of positive reasons one could make a case for this. However, the decision of whether or not a parent enrolls their child in a school that requires uniforms or not should be left up to the parent and child. In a perfect world they would have both options available to them, and they could decide from there.