UNIFORMS: To Wear or Not To Wear?

children in uniform (fotosearch.com) - This is a picture showing a happy children in their cute uniforms.
@Unah08 (671)
Philippines
August 2, 2011 10:34pm CST
I already experienced attending a school who allowed students to wear basically whatever they wanted and a school that requires uniforms inside campus. I enjoyed both worlds. For me they both have pros and cons. UNIFORMS: Keeps me grounded and disciplined. Wearing them have rules every student must abide by. So wearing them properly means your are conforming to the schools policies and by that you show your respect. But it limits you as well it keeps you from expressing yourself and your individuality in the way you dress up. Moreover, because of wearing the same clothes every time you go to school you don't have to think of what to waer the next day or for the entire week. On the other hand... CASUAL WEAR: Well for most students in my school, they can expressed their own personality in the way they dress and it likewise keeps them comfortable and more relax because they are wearing what they wanted to wear whatever their reasons of putting up such look. It goes just the same for me, I just wear what is in my rack. Another thing is you can dress up according to your mood, according to the occasions/situations and who you are with. The only downside to this that I see is that if you have a limited wardrobe. Everybody don't have a walk-in closet, some only have 5 or ten pairs. In this case one must necessarily learn how to do the laundry in order to wash their clothes often and it is also a must to learn how to mix and match what you have so you won't look dull and repetitive every time you wear the same get-up. Oh well that is just how I see it. So what do yoy prefer when you go to school? And if you have some more pros and cons in wearing both get-up then I'm definitely interested in knowing them.
3 people like this
13 responses
@tenrajj (911)
• Bhutan
3 Aug 11
Yea I agree you. As you have rightly pointed out there are both pros and cons for uniform. Wearing a uniform for school children would give integrity, identity and sense of belonging. I think wearing uniform must be there till class 10 or 12 and then in the collages they must allow students to wear casual dresses. Wearing casual dresses may be an advantage for some rich students as they can afford different kind of dresses where as for poor, they won't be able to buy many casual dresses and it may seems depressing for them to wear the same dresses.
1 person likes this
@Unah08 (671)
• Philippines
14 Aug 11
Exactly my point tenrajj. But here in my place some college students still wear uniforms base on their courses, especially when one is enrolled in private schools and Catholic schools (school that is run by priests and nuns) and specialty schools. Maybe they just really need to wear one.
@secretbear (19448)
• Philippines
3 Aug 11
Hi Unah! I have also experienced both worlds as you put it. During my high school we had uniforms to wear. But when I went to college, the school did not require the students to wear a uniform so I went to school everyday with whatever I had to wore. I did have some problems of running out of clothes and I was at times lazy to do the laundry but I think I would have preferred it still over a school that requires the student to wear a uniform. I usually did not iron my clothes then because they were the types that did not need much ironing. So that was one less chore for me. If I had to wear a uniform, I would have to definitely iron them out and that would mean less time for me to enjoy the weekend.
@Unah08 (671)
• Philippines
14 Aug 11
Good for you secretbear. I'm not too fond of ironing my clothes as well. With casual clothing you can go on without ironing it and no one will notice, but with uniforms, oh, we better do iron it or else our uniforms won't be as good to look at. Back then I often wear shirt and pants or i'll pair my shirts with shorts, so ironing just like you is not that necessary. In my school you can even go to class wearing the one you have on when you sleep that is if you're already late for a an early class. Some students in my school does that. And then they go back to their boarding houses or home to change after their class. Haven't tried that though, which is I think good. Lucky me.
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@secretbear (19448)
• Philippines
17 Aug 11
I would never think of wearing my pajamas at school! Don't they get embarrassed on wearing something that smells like blanket and bed? ^^ I had never encountered someone like that back in my college. Although I had a classmate who wore a short and a tee-shirt with a hole. He was actually rich but by the way he dressed he looked poor.^^
@Unah08 (671)
• Philippines
17 Aug 11
No they don't get embarrassed cause a lot of students in my university are doing the same. just don't tell your seat mate and blend in and no one will notice. And they do brushed their teeth so its cool. Or they'll just sit at the back of the class to avoid attention and focus. They do a lot of strategies actually just to get away with it. A lot of students do a lot of crazy stuffs just for their academics, which is cool I think.
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@ebuscat (5935)
• Philippines
3 Aug 11
For me it must be ware so that the driver will know you are a student then your fare rate is cheap.
@Unah08 (671)
• Philippines
30 Sep 11
Well that is I think one of the advantages of having to wear uniform for students. :) When I was still in college, since I took up nursing we wear our white uniform to school everyday and when I get into a jeepney or a bus the driver automatically distinguishes me as student and without even saying that I am a student I know that the driver will have m fare on a discounted price for students. This one I misses now cause I'm no longer a student and I pay regular fare now when commuting from one place to another...
@madteaparty (2748)
• Japan
3 Aug 11
Well, I went to a public school, so I've never worn an uniform. The idea of having to wear one doesn't really sound attractive at all for me, as having to dress exactly the same as the rest of the school would restrain my creativity and my capacity to express myself and have my own style. I can't really talk about pros of wearing uniform for school as I have never experienced it, but people who did always find a lot of good points about it too.
@Unah08 (671)
• Philippines
15 Aug 11
Sounds like you really like expressing yourself in different ways, I admire your creativity, your passion to be different, and be the person that you are and not just conforming and camouflaging with the whole bunch. You rock! I enjoy my college days as well cause I can do whatever I like and wear whatever suits me best each day.
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
3 Aug 11
I totally agree with all you said as to pros and cons. That also applies to us employees. It far more easier to dress up each morning as we rush to work if we have a uniform to wear. We don't have to go over our set of clothes just to think of what to wear for that day, if we have a uniform. In addition, a uniform makes us dignified looking and distinct from the others. For me, that's the two most important contention of whether to have a uniform or not.
@Unah08 (671)
• Philippines
15 Aug 11
Thank you for sharing infos and broadening our topic a bit. And you're absolutely right, uniforms are very well appropriate in offices, especially the corporate ones. Wherein most of the time you are identified by the uniform(s) that you are wearing: identified in which department you are in, what work do you do and which company you work for.
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
15 Aug 11
Correct my friend.
@veedee13 (242)
• United States
17 Aug 11
I wore uniforms when I was in elementary school.it wasn't all that bad but now that i think about it,you don't have an identity because you wear the same thing as others.Now i am in high school and we don't wear uniforms and i like it but sometimes it's hard because you don't have clothes to wear.
@allen0187 (58444)
• Philippines
13 Aug 11
hi unah! i attended a university that had uniforms but also scheduled one day, a saturday, when students can come to school in casual wear (we call it 'wash day'). this set up allowed me to experience the pro and cons of having to wear a uniform and being allowed to come in without the unis. i personally prefer to wear uniforms over casual wear. i just think that the last thing that a student shoudl worry about is how he or she looks with the clothes that he or she will wear. how vain can one get and at such a young age??? lol! anyway, i guess it really is a preference. i doubt that there will be a student much less a parent who would base which university or college to choose over the existence or non-existence of uniforms.
@AishaBR (345)
• United States
4 Aug 11
well where I grew up we never had a choice of wearing casual clothing or uniforms. It was just uniforms. All the public schools had to wear uniforms. Even all the private schools except for one had to wear uniforms as well. When I came to the states and I saw the kids wearing casual clothing for school, I wish I could have too. But then again I would probabl be late for school every day trying to figure out what to wear.
@bouncybug (614)
• South Africa
3 Aug 11
I think that I prefer uniforms in a school situation. Uniforms allow some form of discipline and remind us at all times that we in an institution. They also prevent any form of discrimination between students, and it helps to prevent cliques from forming, ie. the goth kids vs the cool kids. There's plenty of time in life to have to worry about what to wear every day - enjoy the comfort of not having to stress about it while you can!
@pbbbsra (1214)
• Philippines
3 Aug 11
When I was in college, we also have a certain day in the week where we can wear casual clothes. At that time it didn't really mattered to me. I think that wearing uniforms is better. Because that makes me feel that I am a student. If I go on uniform, people recognize that I am studying. It is also easier to go to school in uniform because you don't have to worry on what to wear. The school also have regulations on what kind of casual wear we can use. We can't wear sleeveless clothes or any revealing clothes. Those rules are not that difficult to follow though. But then you still worry, as a teen in that time, I think it's normal that I want to wear something people won't laugh at. I am conscious about what I wear because I feel that everybody is waiting on what I'll be wearing for wash day. At that time in college, everybody found out I'm doing modeling and I hated that. I think school uniform is better. I am proud to be a student of that school and wearing uniform is also a way of marketing it to the public.
@Shankerj (241)
• India
3 Aug 11
I am in support of Uniforms in schools and colleges and I agree with you that they help in keeping the students disciplined. In same uniform, all the students look similar in their social status, and no one can show off their expensive dresses.
@airamtheb (370)
15 Aug 11
As for me, I prefer to wear a uniform especially when you belong to a prestigious school or university. This is a must for high school students. However, most colleges and universities which are well known in our place do not require a school uniform except in the private colleges as this is an additional income to the institution especially when they have the exclusive cloth for school uniform.
• India
3 Aug 11
My opinion is that "Uniforms are required in schools". There are a lot of reasons behind it. Children from all kinds of family backgrounds study in a school. Both rich and mediocre and poor. While the rich kids will have plenty of clothes to wear , the poor will only have limited number of clothes. And when they wear the same clothes repeatedly, they get teased or an image is formed in other kids' minds. Why do you want to create a discrimination? When every kid wears a uniform, this sort of discrimination does not happen. It makes the kids feel good as well. When you study in a school, as a student you represent the school. A uniform and how neatly it is kept helps others in estimating the values given in the school. Just expressed my opinion ! Have a lovely day.