Students Dislike Uniforms, Respond By Burning Them

[DFM]

Originally Posted by TopHatAssassin

You can either fret about it or just go with it and not pay attention.

Because apathy is the solution!

[Rygar]

I fully understand where you Americans are coming from, but you have to understand that in Britain uniforms are the normal thing. Every school has a uniform and the only time I actually ever hear anyone complaining about them is when we're told to wear them "properly" (top button done, tie right length, no badges, shirt tucked in right, blah, blah, blah, etc.) or when the question "Do you agree with school uniforms?" is specifically brought up for debate (and even then they mostly disagree for the sake of disagreeing).

Suffice to say, we are not all mindless drones, we do think for ourselves. You may be shocked to hear that it's encouraged. Hell, they had ideas for uniform changes and actually got our opinion on it first, and they decided not to go ahead with it when the opinions came back negative (well, not for the skirts, but the girls were told for an entire year that they'd be changed if they didn't stop rolling them up so high up their legs).

If I really want to see someone in their own clothes I could always just meet them outside school, and when I do I rarely notice any real difference in them. Even on the days when we're allowed to wear what we want to school I don't notice any change in people or suddenly gain a deeper understanding into their personalities, thoughts and beliefs than I already had from how they act, listening to them and seeing the way they wear their uniform.

I don't really get why the school that did the burning disliked blazers so much. They had to wear a uniform anyway and blazers are quite good and practical, they certainly have a lot more pockets and stuff than the clothes I wear at home. Then again, maybe they were in an ugly colour, I've never had to deal with that aspect of uniforms.

[adamark]

I think all citizens of America (all 300,000,000) should be forced to wear uniforms.

It would create unity for our country. Everyone would understand that the President is in charge and we all better obey the laws.

People who don't wear the America uniform while in America will be given detention.

A detention is one month in prison, where you will have a different uniform.

[Rygar]

Originally Posted by adamark

I think all citizens of America (all 300,000,000) should be forced to wear uniforms.

It would create unity for our country. Everyone would understand that the President is in charge and we all better obey the laws.

People who don't wear the America uniform while in America will be given detention.

A detention is one month in prison, where you will have a different uniform.

Ah yes, because you can really compare a place where you spend a few hours on weekdays until you're old enough to legally leave and from which you get several large(ish) breaks throughout the year with the country in which you live 24/7.

Besides, it's not even an American school we're supposed to be talking about here...

[Fifthfiend]

Originally Posted by Rygar

Ah yes, because you can really compare a place where you spend a few hours on weekdays until you're old enough to legally leave and from which you get several large(ish) breaks throughout the year with the country in which you live 24/7.

Besides, it's not even an American school we're supposed to be talking about here...

Adamark never specified 24 hours or 7 days per week.

Until you're old enough to legally leave

Which is a different way of saying "compelled by force of legal authority to attend until you are permitted to leave." Whereas an adult always has the option to immigrate.

[Grandmaster_Skweeb]

Originally Posted by adamark

I think all citizens of America (all 300,000,000) should be forced to wear uniforms.

It would create unity for our country. Everyone would understand that the President is in charge and we all better obey the laws.

People who don't wear the America uniform while in America will be given detention.

A detention is one month in prison, where you will have a different uniform.

You're kidding, right? Please tell me thats a sick joke.

Do you even have any remote idea of what a common teenager will think when forced (thats the operative word you used, mind) to wear a uniform? I can sum it up in a few short words: "What the fuck is this?" Not 'Hey guys we have uniforms now! We'll totally respect an authority figure!'.

Really, detention is a month in prison? Last I checked America wasn't a totalitarian dictatorship that you are apparently wanting it to be. Theres too many people, both teens and parents, who would do far worse than burn burn their blazers.

Teens will be teens regardless of what they wear. Only thing a uniform will cut out of the factor is picking on/basing somebody for what they wear. They'll go after names, skin color, hair color, any impairments, anything.

If that was a joke I laughed at it. If it wasn't I frowned a little inside.

[DFM]

I'm pretty sure it was a joke decrying school uniforms by being analogous to a similar but more extreme situation.

[POS Industries]

Originally Posted by bluestarultor

My high school also did that. You got points for your grade for wearing them on a certain day of Spirit Week. Nobody wore them, anyway, but the idea was good.

My high school had a similar tradition, but the unfortunate side of it was during my senior year, as I had been elected Class President for some dumbass reason which required I spend the entire year in a "Leadership/Service" class where the student government kids and assorted other folks that wanted to be involved in school functions got an hour and a half a day to deal with all the major upcoming events.

Now, while the wearing school colors for spirit day thing was a voluntary and non-mandatory thing for everyone else, we in the Leadership class were required to wear blue and gold every Friday and were, in fact, graded on doing so. This invariably left me in the weekly position of having to find some tiny amount of blue and gold on my person so the teacher could leave me alone and let me get back to work.

Huuuuuuge hassle, in my opinion.

[Toast]

Originally Posted by Ugainius

Here you go.

Let me start by tearing this study apart limb from limb. At least according to the link you've provided, as it doesn't seem like the full study.

First of all, they don't say the results of their own study, they only cite other studies done. Second, they don't have a control group. They have two experimental groups, although they do mention that it is a quasi-experiment so at least it's not a huge issue.

Furthermore, the baseline statistics for both schools have been adjusted. No information is given about demographics, including divisions of race, socioeconomic status, religion, and student-teacher ratio. None of these factors were controlled for.

And last but not least, it doesn't mention whether the students were told if they were being monitored or not. What is certain, however, is that teachers and faculty were told. They were told that the purpose was to determine whether uniforms had an effect on behavior. This introduces observer bias on a massive scale. Let's face it, most teachers and faculty want uniforms because of the belief, erroneous or not, that it makes students easier to deal with. Thus, teachers and faculty in the uniform school are more likely to overlook behavior because they want to keep the uniform. Similarly, teachers and faculty in the no-uniform school are going to be more attentive to behavior as symptomatic of not having a uniform.

Ok, I'm done now.


For my own opinion, I'm against uniforms simply because it does limit self expression. Also, back when I was in high school, there was talk about going to uniforms but it never happened because they would have had to have been paid for out of pocket. Not a popular thing to say in a mostly lower class to lower-middle class area. A similar thing happened at my job a couple years ago, but it was again shot down because they wouldn't have been provided by the company and nobody wants to spend what little money they earn on a uniform they don't like.

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Grandmaster_Skweeb

Really, detention is a month in prison? Last I checked America wasn't a totalitarian dictatorship that you are apparently wanting it to be. Theres too many people, both teens and parents, who would do far worse than burn burn their blazers.

Have you read any news lately? Or for the past several years for that matter? American citizens detained without reason and deprived of their "unalienable" rights for weeks, months, or years comes to mind. We call THAT detention here. They should be so lucky.