Wearing of school uniforms originated in the UK and spread to all its colonies and the rest of the world. the original reason for wearing a school uniform in UK was to distinguish between the rich and poor students. It was a marker of class and status and students who wore uniforms were from the lower class and poor families. However, with time uniforms became more associated with the upper class of society in Britain for instance students of the prestigious elite Eton college had to wear a black top hat and tails as their uniforms until 1972. This kind of dressing was reserved for the royal and upper class of the British society.
However, the US is one of the countries where its not mandatory for students to wear school uniforms. Before the 1980’s school uniforms were exclusively for the elite private US schools. According to statistics, in 2011 only 19% of the public schools in the US required their students to wear uniforms. No state law requires or bans the use of school uniforms, its a voluntary practice.
In Africa, the use of school uniforms was introduced by the early missionaries to the continent who used them to differentiate students from missionary schools from other kids. today school uniforms are more widely used in Africa than in any other part of the world
In Japan, the uniforms for girls was modeled after the sailors’ uniforms and for boys after the army uniforms.
Arguments for use of uniforms include equality to all students regardless of their parents’ wealth and status; sense of identity, cohesion and pride for the students; foster discipline, enhance unity of children from different social backgrounds; improved class performances; reduce expenses on clothing; and reduced instances of bullying.
Opponents of uniforms argue that wearing uniforms lead to loss of individuality, curtails freedom of expression; and why should the school decide what students should wear.
I wore school uniforms with pride all through my education until i reached university and i am a very strong supporter of school uniforms. what do you think????