by Carrie-Ann Campbell

Created on: August 03, 2008   Last Updated: May 29, 2009

I'll be honest- I HATED wearing school uniform.
There is something about the school uniform that is innately uncomfortable, unflattering and is it just me, or are school uniforms too hot in the summer and always freezing in the winter?
Anyway. Why, you may ask, am I writing to the "Yes" side?
My fourteen year old inner child has no idea. In fact it is throwing a tantrum and demands I switch off the computer and go buy a bag of chips. (Fries, to my friends in the U.S.) I'll ignore it anyway and go with my gut instinct.

I have been to a school where the uniform dress code was strict, and to a school where it was fairly lax. But in the school where it was non-existent, there was serious bullying going on, and I mean serious bullying. And yes, some of it centred around clothes the victims wore. In school, there is no clothing based "fashionable/geek" issue, because the students are all dressed the same. Everyone is made equal in this way, because let's face it, popularity is influenced by the clothes you wear, and if you are richer, you can afford better clothes. A uniform removes this biasm.
A school uniform is useful in that it can be designed that nothing can be hidden underneath clothes; particularly in a society where kids are carrying knives
It also makes the school look so much smarter, no doubt about it. It gives public schools a better image. Seeing children spill out of the school gates haphazardly in whatever clothes they want looks distinctly... messy.
High school is the ultimate age of superficiality, and allowing children to wear what they want to school encourages this. Uniform provides a shared identity, instills discipline, it makes it clear that there is a line drawn between school and a social gathering. It makes them look like a school, rather than a streetcorner. Harsh words, some may say, but it's true.
And after seeing what some thirteen/fourteen year old girls wear to school, I must admit I was pretty shocked. Strappy tops, minskirts and boots? Are you freaking kidding me? Some outfits would not look out of place in a nightclub, and some young girls were proudly sporting clothes so revealing even I balked. (My minidress is my favourite item of clothing in my wardrobe.)
It looked so unprofessional, it looked sloppy and it looked just plain ridiculous.
In a society where schoolchildren are sexualised on the internet, is it really necessary for this to continue in schools? And yes, I think that the wearing of such outfits to school does increase sexual activity, simply because one may feel it is more acceptable to have sexual relations with a young girl in a miniskirt and halter top, than a school uniform.
Yes, one can claim that teenage pregnancy won't be halted by uniforms. But I think that uniforms are so much better than mini-skirts and boob tubes.
It must be made clear that school is not primarily a social event. It's somewhere for education, and fashion should come second to that.

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