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School uniforms - for or against? Part II

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Published: 15May2008
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3.Uniforms will lessen violence in and outside the school

False.

That is because of the fact that children wearing worse uniforms, will be exposed to oppression, violence and humiliation. In Great Britain, where children wear uniforms, that is just the case (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4204594.stm). Worse uniforms can be compared not only among children within school walls but also on the outside. As I've mentioned above, worse and better schools will immediately develop - if only for the neighbourhood - and outside the school it will be easily recognisable which school a child attends. Surely, pupils from better schools will fall into disfavour with poorer children, just because of their uniforms. On their way to and from school they will be easily recognised and exposed to violence - this can be compared with fans from different football clubs.

At the same time, children in worn-out uniforms or from worse schools, will be additionally exposed to contempt and negative attitude on behalf of the pupils from better schools. At present, each parent has the chance to conceal their poverty. When uniforms are introduced there'll be no such opportunity. Uniforms were abolished in German schools after the war, because they constituted an outside symbol of Nazism and Fascism. And not only because they express militarism, but also because they divided children into "worse"- those from poorer schools, and into "better"- those from richer schools.

Uniforms' egalitarianism is simply just an illusion. Looking deeper into this alleged equality which they are to introduce, one can see that it widens the differences between children instead. Children and teenagers interpret the obligation to wear uniforms as a kind of violence enforced on them. They feel bad, and those who feel bad also learn badly. Thus, worse results at school can be seen as a consequence of uniforms.

4. Other arguments

a. Christian argument - I'm interested how it'll be perceived in ultra-catholic Poland: "what goes around comes around"

So, why shouldn't we introduce compulsory uniforms for teachers? The good example should come from above, shouldn't it? Consequently, what about uniforms for parents, who with the help of "good" example, would teach children that one cannot dress oneself up, walk half-naked, etc.? Yet, nowadays adults lie, but forbid their children to lie. They steal, deceive, but children cannot. They beat, abuse, humiliate others, but don't allow children to do the same. They dress up, spend a lot of money on their clothes to be distinctive and to show their position, but forbid their children to do the same. They drink, drink much too much, but at the same time, their children aren't allowed to do it. Children learn through examples. Thus, if adults want to demand something from children, they should change themselves at first and start giving a good example. Besides, does anyone want us to look like people in communist China? Clothes enable us to express not only our social status, but also our identity. One may be against social divisions, but one cannot do it by depriving people of their individuality. We need it every single day of our lives, to be better at work, more creative and inventive. So squeezing children in uniforms, will only teach them passiveness, resignation and blind obedience - all that will disturb and hamper them in later life.

b. There already exist hidden restrictions

They are very similar to the idea of normal uniforms, when one child wants to be better than the other. Children take examples from adults, who treat their clothing as the way of emphasising their social status.

Because now pupils are allowed to wear whatever they want, that means that even a greater number of pupils feel free not to be affected by fashion, just aiming to show superiority over other fellow children. Children with rich parents - if only they are provided with a good example - eagerly give up this rat race. That is due to the fact that they have a free choice to do it. If they were made to wear uniforms, they would never do it, because they would be top-down squeezed into a definite social class with a specified status.

As I've mentioned before, children and parents will have the possibility to use their creativity and inventiveness not to look like a born loser. Now they have much bigger freedom to experiment with clothes - to simply use their grey matter and learn how to, despite all the difficulties and adversities, create something interesting for themselves/their children.

This article was translated by mLingua Worldwide Translations, Ltd. mLingua provides professional language translations in all major Western and Asian languages, software localization and web site translation services. Please visit http://mlingua.pl

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