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Debating the advantages and disadvantages of uniforms (in public or private schools) is like debating whether to send a child to daycare or not - no matter how many studies are done, the answers will always be manipulated to whatever people want them to say to match their own personal beliefs, and everyone has their own opinion that is valid and deep-rooted. Therein lies the problem - I have so many reasons why I dislike uniforms in public schools but for every reason I have, someone can make an equally valid counterpoint. So the main issue comes down to choice for the parent and this is something that can be reasonably debated. I live in a small town that has only one French Immersion school that happens to be part of the public school system. They have decided to visit the idea of uniforms and if they go that route, what about the parents who object? They/We will have no choice but to go along with it because the other options aren't reasonable options at all. We would have to send our children out of town for French or transfer them to English. How fair is it to force parents to make that choice? The second issue is uniform cost. Of course, people can get their uniforms at certain designated places, and they may be cheap or not, but for a busy family, doing laundry every day makes little sense; therefore, I'd have to buy 5 days' worth of uniforms... not cheap no matter how you look at it. And the subsidy part isn't fair, either, considering that welfare recipients will get subsidied and everyone else who makes more than a certain minimum supposedly has enough disposable income to cover the costs... Kids know who gets second hand uniforms and who only has 2 uniforms and who has worn the same clothes 2 days in a row... This would somehow make it better? And if someone has a problem decidding what to wear in the morning, heaven help you when you get out into the real world where tiny little choices like that will become so overwhelming that maybe you can't function...
Sorry, off on a tangent. That was just some rambling to explain my distaste for uniforms...
How about this then?
Aren't public schools about inclusion, and the main reason many people dislike private schools is because of it's exclusion of the general population, generally dictated by the people with money. Aren't uniforms a reflection of exclusion, considering they require excess money?

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