Should Public schools switch to uniforms?

I guess with uniforms you'll never be able to tell the difference between the jocks, goths, preps, hookers, nerds, drama fairies, band geeks, and cheerleaders.

Some labels are good people, you don't wanna sprinkle your ice cream with rat poison thinking it's powered sugar

Definitely not! I had to wear them in high school and it sucked! Clothes express who you are and your style. I don't want my kids to blend in and be like everyone else, they should WANT to stand out and be different!

I say yes, but allow one day a week to wear clothes of your choice (within dress code rules). I could never afford the expensive name brand/designer clothes. I did my best to buy knockoffs or sale items, but you always get made fun of for being "poor" (I wasn't even in a "poor" family--but my parents refused to spend their hard earned paychecks on $70jeans, sweaters...)

Most of the schools here have uniforms. Parents can get help with the cost of uniforms. My son wears uniforms ($5 khaki shorts and a $5 polo shirt from Walmart). I spend less now on clothes than I did before. Its so much easier and I don't have a child crying b/c so-and-so made fun of the "lame" pants he wore. Kids are different now from when we (I) grew up. They are cruel and will pick on other kids over the craziest things.

Its a shame that parents can go out and spends hundreds of dollars to trick out their car but refuse to buy their kid a box of crayons.. Or they will spend hundreds on a Tattoo that says "sexy B*tch" across their thigh but won't spend 10 bucks for their kid to get a new pair of shoes..

Kids are different now from when we (I) grew up. They are cruel and will pick on other kids over the craziest things.

Kids have always been cruel, its in their nature until we socialize it out of them. Taking away individuality will not do that.

Most of the schools here have uniforms. Parents can get help with the cost of uniforms. My son wears uniforms ($5 khaki shorts and a $5 polo shirt from Walmart). I spend less now on clothes than I did before. Its so much easier and I don't have a child crying b/c so-and-so made fun of the "lame" pants he wore. Kids are different now from when we (I) grew up. They are cruel and will pick on other kids over the craziest things.

Its a shame that parents can go out and spends hundreds of dollars to trick out their car but refuse to buy their kid a box of crayons.. Or they will spend hundreds on a Tattoo that says "sexy B*tch" across their thigh but won't spend 10 bucks for their kid to get a new pair of shoes..

Really at the highschool around here the kids are now being teased for wearing the 5 dollar wal mart pants...nothing has changed

As someone who fought tooth and freaking nail (and won) when they tried to institute 'uniforms' at my high school, I vote a severe NO. I don't care if we're talking expensive prep school style uniforms, or the standardized clothing uniforms that my school tried to force on us (and which seems to be the major point of debate here), I can think of absolutely no reason why children should have to wear uniforms. Instead, I can think of a lot of reasons why they SHOULDN'T have to.

As so many people have mentioned already, uniforms are not going to cut down on teasing. Even if you're talking about prep school uniforms, where everyone is wearing the exact same shirt, there will be differences. How you wear the shirt, how old the shirt is, how the shirt fits you and how 'good' you look in the shirt, what kind of wear and tear does the shirt have. And if it's a standardized uniform, instead of prep style, where you bought the shirt, what shade of blue is the shirt, how that brand of the shirt style looks compared to this brand, etc, etc, etc. And that's just for the clothing itself. Never mind that the kids will find plenty of things BESIDES the clothing to pick on, if they can't adequately pick on the clothing.

What about having the buy the uniforms themselves? Even if you're talking about the simple standardized uniform, you're still going to be buying extra clothes. Kids aren't going to wear their school uniform all day, which means they have to have regular clothing to wear after school and out of school in addition to having to have their 'uniform' clothing. When I was in school, I did tons of things after school that I wouldn't have wanted to wear a 'uniform' to. Going over to hang with friends? Not going to wear a uniform. Going to church in the evening? No way. Going to dinner with family friends, yeah, no. Going home and lounging around? Forget it. Without a uniform, you can wear the same clothing to school that you wear to any of these functions, plus tons of other things. Why force parents to buy regular clothing for their children and then uniform clothing as well? And for those talking about how you don't have to buy more than a couple pairs of pants and shirts for the uniform, just go to Wally-world and re-wear? Check the above paragraph.

I also highly disagree with denying them the chance to express themselves through their clothing. Part of learning who you are is learning how to show who you are to the rest of the world. There are many ways of doing this, some more fantastic than others, and while choosing what you wear may not seem like the most amazing choice you've ever made, it IS an easy way to express yourself. It's simple, every day, this is who I am, hello world. It's a way to stand out, to be different from the mass of people around you, without having to really having to work at it. And it's something you're going to be doing for the rest of your life, no matter what. Even for the people who brought up the subject of wearing uniforms to work; not everyone has to. Not all jobs require a uniform, I know my current job doesn't, and several of my past jobs haven't. And you're not always going to be at your workplace in your uniform during your adult life. Depending on the type of job, and your schedule, you may not even spend a majority of your time at work.

And- I say this more as a joke, since it was one of the 'points' my student body made when we forced my high school not to implement uniforms- why should kids have to wear unified colors anyway? Staring at the same color all day, usually dark colors for most uniforms, can lead to depression. XD

EDIT: That said... I'm ALL for dress codes. Schools SHOULD have some type of regulation for what's allowed, for the sake of modest clothing, and the dress code should be enforced. But a DRESS CODE does not equal a uniform.

My boys are in public school and I love it. Khakis and a red, blue, green or orange shirt. We are set for the week. Plus it keeps them from feeling like they don't have what others have. It is also nice because our school district does donations for those who don't have enough income so we donate all of our softly used uniforms to the school and it helps others as well. Kids are picked on enough for other reasons at least this way it eliminates one.

I don't like the idea of uniforms. I'm a life-long, self-professed art wierdo who's had every hair color and length (I've even shaved my head in the past) and wore stuff no one else was wearing at the time. All of my friends were "outcasts" as well, and I'm still friends with that same motley crue 20+ years later. I got rode in HS for being the way I was, but as an adult, a lot of those BS talkers from back in the day have reconnected on FB, apologized and said they actually respected someone who did their own thing. I got a good sense of self when I was younger, and I've always enjoyed being unique. How will these kids figure out who the hell they are when they're released into the world? How are they going to deal with criticism of any kind in the workplace from either bosses, co-workers or customers if they've been coddled for the past 18 years? Personally, I will never be a sheeple, and I'm proud to say, neither is my daughter, nor do I condone it by any stretch.

To thine own self be true. Words to live by...

I was one of those weirdos, too. I still think kids should have uniforms. While I enjoyed being able to wear whatever came into my head, and often still do, clothing is only one way to express myself and not even the most important way. I disagree that requiring a uniform dress code in school, as is required in the higher professions, is going to have that much impact on individualism. And if it does, then maybe that person wasn't as different as they thought they were in the first place. A person's individuality comes from their mind, there are many options as to how to express that and we may not be able to choose every option all the time, that doesn't lessen who we are.

My children attend a public school with a uniform dress code. They are to have navy blue pants/skirts and white or light blue polo shirts. In junior high they wear khaki pants and white or light blue polos. They attended a Catholic School for a few years before transferring and the uniform there was a specific jumper and specific shirt etc. I can buy navy pants at Kmart, Target, or wherever I want. Same with the polo shirts. I have three girls and a boy. Uniforms makes laundry simple...I only buy the light blue polos and thus do a load of blues every other day. I never have to buy my youngest daughter uniforms as I have everything I need from the older girls. Outside of school though they have very different styles so there are seldom hand me downs. They don't mind. They have never known any different. I like it. It is easy. They are all still individuals, as evidenced by hair accessories, socks, book bags etc
I also teach, and have taught high school in a school with gangs and no uniform and now at a Catholic School with uniform. I am a teacher first and dress code enforcer second. I never worry about my kids who are in uniform but who forgot their belt but when I taught in other school I had to watch for colors and mismatched shoelaces and all sorts of other things because when I didn't the safety of my students was at risk...so uniforms it is ..