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Last night, I was listening to a debate on my local radio station about school uniforms. A new report by Family Action, a charity supporting disadvantaged families, has looked at the costs of uniforms, and how it impacts on those that struggle to make ends meet. For parents around the UK, it's hardly a shock to hear that kitting out your kids for school is an expensive business. So why do we need school uniforms?
As far as I see it, there are pros and cons to wearing school uniforms
Pros
- A uniform can often avoid the perils of turning up to school in the 'wrong clothes', therefore leaving those children who can't afford designer labels etc. to be vulnerable to bullying.
- Buying a school uniform may be cheaper long-term, than buying the latest fashion every week.
- For some children, wearing a uniform can help them with a sense of identity.
- If suits make business people feel and look more professional, could the same principle be applied to school uniforms? Could wearing a uniform make a child more disciplined?
- The expense! With blazers (often retailing at around £70), shirts, skirts/trousers, ties and sports kits, the costs can tot up to a couple of hunderd. For those families struggling to get by, particularly in the current economic situation, getting uniforms for one or more children can be a crippling expense. The charity believes it can cost up to 40% of a monthly income.
- One teacher who had experienced working in both a school uniform and non-school uniform environment called into the show commenting that uniforms can often look tatty after a term or two. As children tend to outgrow their clothing quickly, shirts and trousers can often look a little odd. In the school where children were not required to wear a strict uniform, but did have to stick to a particular colour code, she believed they were more relaxed but just as disciplined as those who did have to wear uniforms.
- If a school decides to change their logo or uniform, the parents will have to replace the whole uniform - regardless of whether it still fits. However, it should be noted that many schools offer parents discount vouchers when they do this, towards the new uniform.
While the supermarkets offer cheap deals on shirts and trousers/skirts, many schools (in particular secondary schools) won't allow these items as part of their uniform. Inevitably, as they have to buy it from a specialist shop, costs are then high.
Perhaps the key here isn't to ban school uniforms, but to become more flexible with where they can buy their uniforms from. So, for example, students can wear a shirt, tie and trousers from a supermarket range, but they'd have to wear a school's jacket. This would keep costs down while making sure students looked similar.
What do you think? Are school uniforms a good thing, or a waste of money?
