School Uniforms

More and more schools are opting to having their students dress in school uniforms.  For the longest time the uniform in school has been the territory of private schools including prep schools, religious schools or other private schools that emphasize the discipline that uniforms usually represent.  Many of these schools have been wearing uniforms for their entire existence as an organization.  Can you imagine any military prep high school not having a uniform code?  Of course not.  Or how about Catholic schools?  Just the mention of the name makes you think of jumper dresses for girls and shirts and ties for the boys.  But now more than ever other schools are getting into the act.

The philosophy behind uniforms in schools has long been that students tend to have a greater level of discipline when they are put in a position to be united with all their classmates in terms of how they appear.  It evens the playing field and socio-economic conditions no longer matter.  It is this belief that led the military and private school establishments to have the first school uniforms.  Public schools are now taking on this approach hoping that the increased discipline will be a byproduct of wearing uniforms.

So what do school uniforms consist of and which ones do the kids like and which ones do they hate?  There is a difference.  For most kids you will be okay with a uniform that is shirt and pants.  Once you start getting into jumpers, dresses and ties you will find that the kids will really resist them.  Not that they can do anything about them but they won’t be very popular with the school for sure.  The majority of uniforms do tend to have jumpers and ties, especially in catholic school.  Almost every Catholic school uniform is the same thing:  jumper for girls and shirt and tie for boys.

There are many places that you can purchase school uniforms but the majority of schools will have their own vendor that often times will set up days in which the kids would come in to get measured for the following year.  In these cases the uniform allotment will be about five per child.  In some cases the uniform is commissioned out to a vendor that you need to contact on your own.  The same basic process will take place though.  The child will need to go into a pre-determined location to get measured.

The cost of school uniforms are determined a few different ways.  In some cases the cost is included in the overall tuition of the semester.  Most parents find this “all in” strategy much more convenient than having to pay for it separately.  Paying for it separately is, of course, the other option.  Depending on the school you will have to adhere to the uniform buying policy if you want your kid to go to the school.  Any school that has a uniform policy will not let the child into the school without a uniform on.  Some schools do offer financial aid to help families who find the uniform cost prohibitive.