How you ever worn certain clothes to give others "the finger?"

[shadowrider]

There is a huge campaign against bullism in Italy; but NOBODY wants to admit that "allowing the students to express their own creativity letting them choose their favourite clothing style" (as they call allowing people to call in a public building with t-shirts saying "your mother is a whore") has the main responsibility to this social problem.

Hi, sorry but I don't see the relation here.
I was a victim of bullying during middle school and it didn't have anything to do with clothing.

 

[scottyrocks]

Bullies can find almost anything or use anything as an excuse, to bully others. Clothing can be one of these reasons, especially today, with fashion being so front and center.

In my day, if you didn't have a pair of Pumas or Adidas, you were a candidate for being harassed, or excluded from groups. Bullying takes on many forms.

 

[MisterCairo]

Hi, sorry but I don't see the relation here.
I was a victim of bullying during middle school and it didn't have anything to do with clothing.

I too was a victim of bullying, and clothing was often the spark for it (bullies, as noted, will bully for any reason conveniently to hand - it is ultimately their insecurities at play, but they do look for an "excuse").

 

[MisterCairo]

In my day, if you didn't have a pair of Pumas or Adidas, you were a candidate for being harassed, or excluded from groups. Bullying takes on many forms.

Addidas shoes, Cougar boots, you name it. I did not wear them, so therefore I was a nerd, and therefore a target...

 

[shadowrider]

Of course bullies will look for any excuse to pick on you, including clothing; but I think saying that allowing people to wear what they want is the main cause of bullying is plainly wrong.

 

[Dirk Wainscotting]

Hi, sorry but I don't see the relation here.
I was a victim of bullying during middle school and it didn't have anything to do with clothing.

I don't think he was claiming that all bullying is clothes-based! However I would say that when my school allowed personal items of clothing to interfere with standard school uniform, it caused problems. Sports shoes being the chief culprit, so that someone not able to afford the 'right' shoes (or coat or trousers) could experience bullying.

Unfortunately this mentality also extends to clothes snobs (something to which I am also not entirely immune).

 

[Mathematicus]

Gentlemen, I'm sorry if my words were misleading. It can't be true that every form of bullying is fashion-related, of course.

The fact is that if you don't put any restriction to dress code, then it may seem illogic but you are exactly doing the contrary, since you are allowing the dominant elements (I don't want to discuss why these exist) to decide what is "the right look".

 

[Edward]

We had uniforms at school right up until I left at eighteen. No bad thing. There were kids there who dreaded the occasional non-uniform day, and really cared about the stick they took for getting it "wrong". In the neighbouring school in which my mother taught, many /most pupils were from a lower socio-economic group. Often they'd have kids show up at a non-uniform day in uniform claiming to have forgotten, but for one or two it was because they had nothing else to wear.

 

[Hal]

As a former teacher in schools both with and without uniform, I feel that more ink has been spilt on the topic of school uniforms than the topic is worth, and on balance I do not favour them. But I take Edward's points, and can see the advantages of a dress code rather than a strict uniform.

 

[Edward]

I'd have favoured a dress code in our sixth form - business dress, collar and tie, jacket. I have a colleague who went to a school which had that available to sixth formers, but as an earned privilege: if they stepped out of line, they could be demoted to uniform. I find that intriguing.

 

[Hal]

I'd have favoured a dress code in our sixth form - business dress, collar and tie, jacket. "

For information for those outside the UK - the "sixth form" in a secondary school consists of those who stay on AFTER the age of compulsory education (16), mostly but not all pursuing highly academic courses. So all are there because they want to be there, and can be required to observe uniform or dress code regulations.
But many such young people attend colleges which do NOT educate people of the age of compulsory education, and these colleges have no uniform nor (to my knowledge) any dress code. I cannot see why two different groups of young people of the same age should be treated differently. I would remove ALL sixth-formers from the secondary school to be educated in a college without under-16s; but that is another question and topic altogether, not for discussion here!

 

[MisterCairo]

can see the advantages of a dress code rather than a strict uniform.

Living in Ontario, Canada, I have experienced first hand the public (non-denominational) system, had friends in the public Catholic system, and knew people who attended private (UK public) schools. My wife teaches in the public high school system, and our daughters attended Montessori for several years and are now in public school.

The issue of uniforms here has also spilled much ink. Elitism, cost, and so forth the usual topics.

The Catholic high schools often have uniforms. The one in nearby Stratford, Ontario, is going to uniforms for the next school year. The Montessori our girls attended had uniforms for first grade (age 6) and up. My wife's high school is uniform free, as are all public high schools.

The idea of the "dress code" creates, frankly, even more controversy.

Pace http://www.cbc.ca/1.4138334

Male vs female standards, what is too much, male teachers not being allowed to exercise authority or discretion, etc., etc., etc.

Frankly, there is no simple answer, but I submit uniforms (which are admittedly often abused - the number of memes about Catholic school girls' kilts can attest to that) at least provide a more even playing field.

And do not get me started on yoga pants and so-called "leggings". Banned attire in this household...

 

[Hal]

Good points, well put.
This is, I think, mainly a discussion among Anglophones. On the whole, continental Europeans and Scandinavians don't have uniforms in their public systems; Mathematicus (above) has shed light on the situation in Italy.

 

[MisterCairo]

Good points, well put.
This is, I think, mainly a discussion among Anglophones. On the whole, continental Europeans and Scandinavians don't have uniforms in their public systems; Mathematicus (above) has shed light on the situation in Italy.

Quite probably a more relaxed approach.

As our local rural folks like to say "go with the flow, bro..."