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Eat, Heat, or "Gang Colours"

How many children in UK schools are going to be put into "isolation" or otherwise bullied because their parents chose to squander what little money they have on food, rent, or heating their homes. Don't these irresponsible parents understand that it it much more important to massage headteachers' ego by pandering to their whims and ensuring their children have the correct "Gang Colours", euphemistically called "school uniform"? Clothes suppliers pay large amounts to schools, to be appointed "the official supplier", thereby having a monopoly. They need to be able to fleece parents to recoup that outlay.

UK teachers aren't competent enough to teach unless their students are dressed in the correct gang colours.

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AthrillatheHunt · 51-55, M

There’s lots of science behind dress codes.

NortiusMaximus · M

@AthrillatheHunt Lol! School uniforms serve only to massage dictatorial (head)teachers' fragile egos.

AthrillatheHunt · 51-55, M

@NortiusMaximus it allows poor kids not to feel poor .

NortiusMaximus · M

@AthrillatheHunt That's an excuse schools often make but it's simply untrue. Children dressed in shabby, secondhand, uniforms (the most their parents could afford if they wanted to eat too) still stand out next to those with a brand new, £700 uniform every year. In schools without uniforms (e.g. just about everywhere else in Europe and even some UK schools) it's impossible to tell which children come from affluent families and which don't.

AthrillatheHunt · 51-55, M

@NortiusMaximus no you’re right. The only reason for a dress code is to massage fragile adult egos.
The science and psychology are all bollox. You’re right .

NortiusMaximus · M

@AthrillatheHunt What research are you referring to? I like to see it if possible. Can you give me any links to peer reviewed papers?

AthrillatheHunt · 51-55, M

@NortiusMaximus no you’re right. There’s no scientific studies. I was totally bluffing . No psychologist has studied it either. Again I was bluffing. You are right . It’s all about fragile adult egos. It has nothing to do with the welfare of the kids .

NortiusMaximus · M

@AthrillatheHunt So I was right, there really isn't any research to back up your claims.

Caroline259 · 56-60, F

@AthrillatheHunt

It has nothing to do with the welfare of the kids .

That's very clear when unreasonable uniform rules actually put children in danger, as I showed in my comment about the RTC here.

AthrillatheHunt · 51-55, M

@Caroline259 uniforms clearly put kids in danger. Here in NYC kids get beaten and robbed of their expensive sneakers and clothes .
Having kids wear uniforms makes that a mute point .

Caroline259 · 56-60, F

@AthrillatheHunt Here children were often beaten and robbed because they were wearing the colours (uniform) of a rival "gang", e.g. school. As I showed, uniform rules put children in danger in other ways too. Forcing children to wear dark coloured overcoats and forbidding their wearing high visibility vests or markings is highly irresponsible but, never mind if children are killed or injured, at least the headmaster can feel important.

AthrillatheHunt · 51-55, M

@Caroline259 you sound like you have a personal axe to grind on this topic . Uniforms save lives .

Caroline259 · 56-60, F

@AthrillatheHunt Try telling that to the parents of children who have been badly injured or otherwise put in need of emergency medical treatment because of unreasonable school uniform rules. Another incident I had to attend was one where a boy had fainted at school in the heat. It was an exceptuionally hot day but, nevertheless, he was still required to have his shirt done up at the neck with his tie tightly tied. It was still done up like that when we arrived! It was a totally avoidable waste of valuable medical resources - an ambulance and two paramedics - but, as the establishment's sycophants say, rules are rules!

AthrillatheHunt · 51-55, M

@Caroline259 sounds like we have opposite opinions . If you’re against it you should crusade against it .
I’ll continue crusading for it .
Fair enough ?

Caroline259 · 56-60, F

@AthrillatheHunt OK, I'll continue highlighting incidents where unreasonable uniform rules, dress codes and other unreasonable pointless rules lead to people (especially children) require medical treatment or even being killed. Remember, next time you're waiting for an ambulance to attend a serious incident, we might be busy treating a schoolboy who collapsed because he was forced to wear a jacket and tie in exceptionally hot weather.

AthrillatheHunt · 51-55, M

@Caroline259 it’s truly a national tragedy, the way school uniforms lead to many children being killed .

Caroline259 · 56-60, F

@AthrillatheHunt Not many are actually killed but I've attended quite a few incidents caused by unreasonable school rules. Colleagues have attended a few incidents of heat exhaustion in in schools in the hot weather this year. They could have been avoided if school policies were just a bit more flexible.

One I clearly remember was an RTC in a dark country lane in winter involving a boy wearing a dark coloured overcoat as mandated by his school's uniform policy. Students there were absolutely forbidden to wear any form of high visibility clothing or even have reflective markings on their clothes or bags.

AthrillatheHunt · 51-55, M

@Caroline259 I was using hyperbole .

Caroline259 · 56-60, F

@AthrillatheHunt You obviously don't take the problem seriously. That boy involved in the RTC could easily have been killed. Luckily he was just injured. It still required the attendance of an ambulance, paramedic car and police. None of that matters though, the most important thing of all was the school's rules.

NortiusMaximus · M

@AthrillatheHunt

Uniforms save lives .

How do [school] uniforms save lives? As @Caroline259 showed, they can actually put children in more danger.

This message was deleted by the author of the main post.

NortiusMaximus · M

@AthrillatheHunt What studies. If there are so many of them you ought to be easily able to cite a few. In fact, children from impoverished families are frequently bullied by being prevented from associating with their peers because their parents can't afford the "correct" uniform - available at exorbitant prices excluseively from the school's "official suppliers". The bullies in such cases being the teachers.

Schools in the rest of Europe do much better the UK schools despite (or because of) not having uniforms. Perhaps the fact that they have better qualified, competent teachers is a factor too.

This message was deleted by the author of the main post.

Caroline259 · 56-60, F

@AthrillatheHunt Which country is that? Uniforms are compulsory in almost all UK schools. That doesn't say much for the state of UK education, it's all about fleecing impoverished parents. In effect, by forcing parents to buy overpriced uniforms from the schools or their appointed suppliers, parents are being force to pay for what should be a free (at point of use) service.

I'd guessed you were probably a teacher. Your authoritarian attitude gives that away.

This message was deleted by the author of the main post.

NortiusMaximus · M

@AthrillatheHunt Profanities deleted - children might be reading this thread.