? for anyone whose kids wear school uniforms

[nicknack]

My children wear uniforms and the main thing I don't like about it is the laundry. It's frustrating when they tell you at bedtime that oh by the way they are out of clean uniform shirts!

I am also annoyed that the stores in my area only carry the uniform clothing in September, so if your son manages to put holes in the knees of all his pants by December, you are just out of luck!

We have "standardized dress" not uniforms, so we do have a few more options. But the khakis can't be "cargo" style, with pockets or tabs, and sometimes those are hard to find.

The kids can wear a navy blue jacket or sweater in class, but it must be totally plain and have no hood, and those have been hard to find too.

On Fridays they can wear jeans if they are wearing a school tshirt or sweatshirt.

My kids would rather wear their own clothes every day, but they don't complain about the uniforms.

 

[jodifla]

I don't need anyone to tell me how to dress my kid. I'm perfectly capable of it.

I'm very, very grateful no one forced us to wear uniforms when I was growing up. They wouldn't have fit me well at all. I would have been miserable in them.

 

[matthew&haleysmom]

My DD, *, goes to a public school and wears a uniform. I really like them. The only problem is that she needs a slim in shorts and pants. Her bottoms also need to have an adjuster in them to tighten them up. I always manage to find the bottoms.

Uniforms make it easy in the mornings. She knows what she is supposed to wear and is able to get ready quickly.

In DD's school, she is allowed to wear her "normal" clothes on Fridays. Students must have good behavior all week and turn in all homework in order to wear their "normal" clothing. If they do not, they must wear uniforms. So, we never have to tell her to do her homework. She does not want to be the one in a uniform on Friday. So, it works for us.

 

[mrs.beast]

When I taught in Stockton CA my students wore uniforms. I was very disappointed. Most bought them from Walmart and the quality was some of the poorest I have ever seen. I worked in a very low income area, and the uniforms were always falling apart. As teachers, we felt that the "regular" clothes sold at walmart were much better and lasted longer. It seemed like a huge waste of money to me for these families.
Personally, my kids go to catholic school and my son has worn his sweaters and shirts for 2 years, so it was great for me financially. The only thing I detest is the sweatpants for PE at $24, and we need 4 pairs a year due to ripped knees . Also, my daughter will be able to wear his PE uniforms each year too. Her jumpers are really expensive ($50) but I will only need 4 each year. So in all, being that she is really into clothes, I think i am saving money.

 

[tikilyn]

My kids are forced to wear uniforms in public schools. It's such a fight sometimes. My daughter (she's my problem) wakes up and wants to put on her pink dress when she has to wear red,white, or blue shirts (plain, no logos with or without a collar) and blue jean, navy blue, or Khakis pants, shorts , skirts or a uniform dress.

And this crap that says uniforms are equalizers is so not true at least in our school district. You can tell the poor kids from the rich just by looking at the uniforms, type of shoes, the purses the girls carry, and the back packs also!! ok that sounded harsh and I didn't mean to sound that away. I do follow the rules and my kids wear the uniforms.

We have three Jr. high schools in town and they wear uniforms too. First jr. high wears a green polo with khakis, the 2nd one wears a blue polo with khakis, and the 3rd wears a red polo with khakis and the girls are allow to wear shorts and skirts but they have to be khakis. Yack!

The high school hasn't gone to uniforms yet. They get to wear regular clothes.

It would be so much easier on me if MY kids could wear regular clothes to school!!

 

[barkley]

just thought of another couple of issues with uniforms.

my best friend went crazy when her son's public school instituted them because he was a BIG BOY (not fat, but both mom and dad are over 6' tall so he was taller than his teachers by the time he hit first grade ). she could not find any of the uniform items that would fit him so she had to go to the big and tall stores to special order items-and they cost her a ton of money. she was much better off financialy when there were no uniforms because she religiously watched the sales and would get him jeans, sweat pants and other items that he could wear for for a fraction of the cost. i know i would have an issue with my ds if his school required uniforms because he's a beanpole (11 years old, normal height-only weighs 54 pounds) and the only pants i can get to fit him are sweats and some two tone ones from old navy that have expandable (or in his case-retractable) waist bands.

the other issue is-for those who have schools looking to enact uniform codes, i strongly suggest you advocate that a rule be put into place wherein if a medical need exists, with a doctor's note, a child be permitted to wear an amended version of their uniform. this may seem odd but we ended up in a battle royale with our kid's former uniformed school when dd got horrendous poison oak (on the school campus due to their negligence ) on her neck and lower face. the doctor was adamant that she could'nt have anything touch the area till it healed including a collar but the school refused to permit her to wear a non collared shirt (even in the same colors as the collared) because of the uniform code. i've also seen uniformed kids have major issues when the only shirts permitted are the type that pull over their heads (polos for the boys) but they have a cast or sling that necessitates wearing a front buttoning looser shirt (not accomodatable by a dress shirt). i think it's better to have these issues spelled out in advance.

 

[ObsessedwiththeMouse]

Our school system has just voted to require school uniforms next year and there has been a lot of negativity (from parents more so than from students ). What have been your experiences? First of all, how does it affect how much you spend on clothes for your kids? That has been one of the biggest arguments - people keep complaining that now they will have to buy two wardrobes per kid instead of just one. Some of the other arguments against the uniforms have been:
1. That it will create more work for teachers and administrators to enforce the dress code.
2. That it will make no difference in academic performance.
3. That it stifles the students' individuality.

My daughter goes to a private school and, just this year, uniforms were enforced. Last year, she got to wear whatever top she wanted with khaki/navy/black pants. This year, a shirt with a collar is required.

1. I think that it can be more work for the teachers depending on the students you have. For my daughters school, it really wasn't that much more work because the students just comply. I think you will find that it's harder for a public school to enforce uniforms than a private school.

2. I don't think it makes a difference in academic performance, but it does make a difference in the kids attitudes....in fact, that's the whole reasons my daughters' school changed their policy. They found when the dress code was more "lax" that the kids got out of hand more.

3. Yes, it stifled the kids' individuality, but what can you honestly do? I love to dress my kiddo up in certain outfits, but they aren't allowed within the dress code.

As for cost, for us, it DOES cost more because I do end up buying 4 sets of outfits. One "school" winter set, one "school" spring set, one regular winter and one regular spring.

 

[TinkerbellBlue]

The biggest problem with the uniform policy at my dd's old school is some students had to follow it while other students did not. In the lower grades it was an actual uniform to wear but many parents bought cargo style pants even though it was clearly stated as not acceptable. The parent would then tell the school they could not or would not replace them. The school would let that child wear them. Then a student would come in one day wearing cargo pants and get sent to the office. I would be one ticked of parent if I had to take my child appropriate pants and saw others wearing the same pants as my child who were not required to change. Once my dd reached high school the uniform was out but a strict dress code was in. I made sure I went and bought cloths that followed the code and was very upset that many students did not follow the code and little was done about it. We still followed the rule but it was harder to enforce it with my dd when she knew that the dress code was a joke. If a school is not going to enforce the code across the board than do not have it. This school really soured me on public schools and uniforms.

 

[Tricia911]

I love the uniforms at my daughters school. It has saved me soooooooooooo much money. No arguments in the morning about what to and not to wear. God bless the person who tought up school uniforms.

 

[jlima]

once the schools found out that the would benefit financialy (read: monetary kickbacks from the uniform company) if they required the parents to use a particular company and banned any clothing items not manufactured by that company (and it was easy for the school to enforce-said company did very specific embroidery on the front of every clothing item with their brand name on it) the parents were locked out of using any of the identical but much lower priced uniform items.

My kids attended a school that was run by Nobel Learning for 5 years. They are a for-profit company that runs private schools. Every program they offered had to generate income for Nobel, including uniforms. They had a commission agreement with a local uniform company; and after the first 3 years they cracked down on uniforms and began to question the uniforms my younger one was wearing. I would buy the shirts from the official vendor, but the shorts from Toys R Us and Old Navy instead of the "official" ones because they were cheaper. It was very frustrating to be told that shorts he had worn for MONTHS were suddenly not allowed. It was even more frustrating when we attended a different school for first grade and when we purchased the same uniform parts from the same local company, the shorts were suddenly $13 instead of $18 . . . because the new school didn't have a revenue sharing agreement!!