Thinking beyond the morning routine and delving into why uniforms in schools should not be implemented.
The will of the majority should not take away the rights of the minority
The purpose of the points highlighted below is not to point fingers or blame but simply to highlight reasons why uniforms are not supported by members of the Halton Catholic District School Community, in Ontario Canada. To parents, within our community, please take some time to take a look the view points of other families as you may not have considered these perspectives. We ask that you think through your decision on uniforms, to think beyond the simplicity of knowing what to wear, to think about the un-intended consequences, how children’s creativity and playtime will be stifled, how many parental rights will be violated and how self expression will be hampered.
Uniforms at the elementary school level are not supported by at least half the population for the following reasons:
Stifles individual expression – personalities are often expressed in clothes, God created us to all be individuals and proud of ourselves, what message is being sent when we tell our kids they can’t express themselves through one of the very few channels currently available to them as kids. Being recognized as an individual is critical to them flourishing in life.uniformliving.com
Hampers Leadership: Is school supposed to create the leaders of our future? Visionaries, creators, leaders do not wear uniforms. In fact, those who create see things differently, think differently, behave differently – just think of Einstein. The ability to think outside of the box, identify and manage differences and unique qualities in the people and world around us are what make great leaders. Having children learn to believe that we are “all the same” and to hide their personalities behind standardized clothing is a lie. We are all humans and should be treated with the same level of respect and dignity but we are not the same and children should not be manipulated to believe that we are. We need to celebrate our differences, learn from them – NOT HIDE THEM IN A UNIFORM
Purpose: If you look to society as a frame of reference, uniforms are used for identification purposes. It’s quite clear that if a child is in the school, they are a student and belong there – they don’t need identification. However, the reverse is not true – all adults are not necessarily members of the board so perhaps it should be board members who are easily identifiable via uniform?