Why complicate school uniforms?

08:17, 30/08/2023

Recently, my child's school announced a change in the school uniform for the reason of "creating uniformity, aesthetics and the school's own style".

So, during the 6 years my two children have been studying at this public elementary school, the school has changed the uniforms at least 4 times, from jackets, gym clothes, hats, and now the entire uniform.

Looking through the family wardrobe, in addition to blue pants and white shirts, my two children (3 years apart) have 4 different gym uniforms and 3 different jackets designed by the school. The most “impressive” uniform change was 4 years ago. From the fairly common gym uniform with blue and black sweatpants with three white stripes and a white T-shirt, the school changed to a uniform for 5 grades with 5 different colors.

Elementary school students are very active. My son runs around a lot, and his gym pants were torn at the knees after only half a semester. I searched all the school supply stores, but there was no similar model to the school's. He refused to wear the pants from last year, saying, "There are many students whose pants are more torn than mine, but they can still wear them!" Indeed, when I picked him up from school, I saw many students wearing pants with torn knees, which was both pitiful and funny.

The joy of teachers and students when practicing saving money by raising piggy banks to create funds for "planting trees and afforestation".

This school year, the school continues to change all uniforms, even the familiar white shirts have been changed to white T-shirts. Parents must contact the school security office to purchase all of the above uniforms for their children. Although the school allows the temporary use of the old models for another school year, it does not forget to require each student to have a new uniform model to use in the opening ceremony, closing ceremony, and flag-raising ceremony at the beginning of the week.

Changing uniforms before the new school year is not only happening at my child's school but is quite common in many schools, making many parents fed up. Looking around the public schools in the area, from kindergarten to high school, each school tries to "change" a little bit about the uniform, from color, material to style of mixing on shirts and pants.

It can be affirmed that the purpose of providing uniforms for students is first of all to create uniformity and seriousness in the school environment. Next is to create a comfortable and pleasant feeling for the wearer. At the same time, it ensures that parents can choose to tailor or buy ready-made ones that fit their children's body shape, and are easy to buy and re-sew when the uniform is torn or damaged. With all three of these factors, it is thought that primary and secondary school students only need a uniform of dark blue pants and a white shirt with the school's logo and insignia. Factors that create a unique style and make a difference should only be considered when the majority of parents have good economic conditions and need to change their children's uniforms. Through their daily outfits when going to school, students also have a specific lesson on practicing thrift and fighting waste that teachers often remind them of.

From a parent's perspective, I just hope that any changes in the school environment should put the interests and feelings of students first. Whatever can be simple should not be "complicated" to reduce the worries of both parents and students each time the new school year approaches.

Aquarius

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