Talk:School uniform

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Clean up
I propose flagging this article for cleanup, or at least use of opinion. The "arguments for uniform" and "arguments against uniform" should be clearly stated, listed pros and cons, not a random 3 paragraphs at the bottom with obscure and somewhat illogical "facts". Wikipedia is supposed to read like a university textbook. (Not a highschool or elementary text, because those are sometimes written too personally.) At the very least, it should be coherent.

I also propose that this article uses "the arugment for uniforms". It can list the different effects that fashion has on childern going to school who do not have to wear uniforms to school. Some of the effects can or may include low self esteem for those who can not afford the name brand clothing, physcial and mental abuse from other students and also depression. —Preceding unsigned comment added by KHEnglish (talk • contribs) 19:27, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Had a go at tidying up the NZ section. Any other suggestions/alterations welcome. --noizyboy 23:19, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

In the section, common arguements against school uniforms, the points have been divided into "Violation of rights" and "Effectiveness", I think two of the points under effectiveness ("# Many uniforms are not gender-neutral, which may lead to exploitation or discrimination
 * 1) "One-size-fits-all" style does not suit all students' body shapes") more properly belong in Violation of rights. Ie the percieved right for all students to have clothes that fit comfortably are somewhat flattering, and the percieved right for sexes not to be forced into gender stereotypes and to have different rules apply to them etc.

But this is a matter of opinion, so feel free to discuss this with me if you disagree about what section these arguements belong in.

The other thing that I would like to see is some external links to Non-US sources, I'm from Australia which has school uniforms in government schools, I know of one site which has arguements against school uniforms stemming from Queensland schools being involved in a legal debate about whether they could enforce uniforms. -- rom Totally right - Alexa —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.7.51.232 (talk) 23:48, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

Compulsory?
I read somewhere that a school cannot remove you from class for not wearing the school uniform, apparently its against your rights. I was wondering, is this true? If someone could confirm this for me, or find me some sort of legal document that states it, I'd be grateful --JJMan 12:21, 2 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Of Course a school can remove you if you are not wearing the school uniform. Lots of people do get removed. --Margaret —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.7.51.232 (talk) 23:50, 12 October 2010 (UTC)


 * It depends which country you are talking about. Laws vary from one country to another. Alarics (talk) 06:46, 13 October 2010 (UTC)

This statement needs citation or removal -- I certainly doubt its validity: " By 2010, the percentage of U.S. public schools requiring uniforms had increased from 3% in 1996 to 25%." (I live in Oregon USA, where even 3% is unlikely) Uniforms in the US are regarded as extreme, only for private schools, and contrary to the rights of free expression. Somewhat liberal public school dress codes are the common compromise in this land. This should be stated at the top of your article. ~keh — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.21.141.165 (talk) 19:32, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

Arguments for and against
The arguments for and against are POV, speculation and unreferen-points for and against that contradict each other. violet/riga (t) 11:26, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

When both POVs are given equal treatment, and additions allowed to be made, doesn't the POV become neautral in a for or against arguement? I don't think that a POV should be referenced in this circumstance.

But maybe a discussion would be better, but even in that your going to get conflicting opinions (they look good, they look bad) etc. -- rom
 * That section right now isn't "For" and "Against", it's "Argument" and "Refutation of argument". I'm going to be bold and remove it now, considering there's a (slightly) more NPOV section right below it. --Szabo 23:43, 22 February 2006 (UTC)


 * There's very little difference between "For" and "Against", and "Arguement" and "refutation" of arguement. There were arguements for and against, and then refutations of these arguements. The problem is that now there is no discussion at all as to the merits or otherwise of school uniforms, and the validity or otherwise of claims made about school uniforms.

-- rom

"Uniforms take the focus away from sexuality and focus it on academics in a school setting for girls." I disagree. School Uniforms force adults to focus on the sexuality of girls. Male staff are objectifying the students. Female staff approach the students when they notice their male colleagues ogling them. -erudito


 * You may think that, but are there any reliable sources supporting your view? That's what Wikipedia needs. HiLo48 (talk) 01:04, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

Grammar.
"School uniform are common..."

"No way!" Seriously. Capitan Obvio 00:31, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

School uniforms are common around the world, because many countries make their students wear uniforms.

They are sort of common. ♥- Sarah

This has a POV!!!!
This article needs more on the cons of school uniforms.

We are Uniform of Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.--Planetary 03:23, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

Uniforms in other countries?
Australia also has school uniforms, as do a number of other countries - should they also be mentioned under a subheading of their own?

Germany / History
The article claims that school uniforms were "quite common" before the Second World War and fell out of use afterwards. To my knowledge there never was a significant presence of scool uniforms in Germany in the 20th century, and I guess not in earlier times either. Trying to verify that, I image-googled for strings like schulklasse 1920 etc., and could only find very scant evidence of school uniforms (this page has some examples, this image is more typical of the pictures you find). I think that school uniforms were an exception. --SKopp 23:32, 13 October 2006 (UTC)


 * When Hitler came to power, he made uniforms universal and compulsory.67.150.50.104 02:37, 6 May 2007 (UTC)


 * No, that is most certainly wrong. --SKopp 13:55, 21 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Actually that was correct. Hitler made uniforms universal and compulsory when he took power.


 * Well, then perhaps you can name the title or date or text of the law or decree where Hitler did that? Or explain why it's so easy to find pictures of non-uniformed schoolclasses from the height of the Nazi rule? No you can't, because it's nonsense. I have in the meantime updated the article with a short historical overview of German school clothing, mostly taken from M. Freyer: Geschichte der Schulkleidung, in: H. Liedtke: Handbuch der Geschichte des Bayerischen Bildungswesens, Bd. 4, S. 273 ff. – the obvious regional bias notwithstanding, it seems to be one of very few good sources on the matter. --SKopp 11:36, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

USA - Incomplete Sentence
Although many private school uniforms are similar to the ones described below for public schools, a few still require more formal British-style school uniforms

(See words in Bold)

There appears to have been some deleting/moving done at some point which led to there being no description of public school uniforms "below" the quoted sentence. Mip | Talk 15:11, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Do you think that this site deserves a mention in the resource links? “Singapore Home Tuition” — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alipapa123 (talk • contribs) 04:30, 11 December 2011 (UTC)

Me Me Me Me
It says Malta requires kids to bring pets to school or they face the death penalty. This is ridiculous. It looks like blatant vandalism.--theRealdeal


 * There was some vandalism that wasn't completely reverted. That's now been fixed. Thank you for pointing out the problem. BlankVerse 13:24, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

relevence of your opinion
i dont see how whether you like/support school uniforms or not is relevent to an encylopedia article. as far as i can tell there is no raging controversy or public debate about the use of school uniforms in the countries in which they exist. there certainly isnt in australia. maybe some petulent schoolkids dont like them but really, who cares? it really isnt worth noting. i dont like the dentist. i dont expect ppl's oppinion of the dentist to be in the [dentist] article. i want to know the 'facts'. apparently everything on wikipedia is a topic of hot controversy. aussietiger 12:39, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Vandalism?
In the Efficiency section:

The study also found that uniforms had a negative effect on student attitudes because the students feel like everyone else, whereas Mufti tends to improve students attitude towards school and allows them to express their personality.

What should "Mufti" be replaced with? Samurai 004 11:14, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I see someone's now wikilinked it &mdash; it's a word for casual clothes. I've certainly used it for as long as I can remember. I don't think it's vandalism. Angus Lepper(T, C, D) 18:28, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
 * This sounds to me like a localised colloquialism and should probably be changed to something more formal as I have never hear the term and the only source cited for mufti was Australian. 82.41.15.93 (talk) 20:35, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

Efficiency
This section sounds a bit like it may be in need of some citation, if people agree, maybe we could whack a label or something on...what do we think? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Dragonkillernz (talk • contribs) 11:16, 24 April 2007 (UTC).

Under the Efficiency heading, what's up with this? "Unfortunately, many researchers find his study and data flawed. Interpolation of data for his own means brings into light his objectivity. The fact that he has represents the ACLU in numerous court battles as an advocate against school uniforms cements his position, and his belief in his research, no matter how erroneous."

This looks like an unsupported slam against some researchers. Ideally someone would actually cite some study that criticized the original research; otherwise, this language should simply disappear. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 156.99.95.253 (talk) 16:44, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

mufti
Why does Mufti in the Efficiancy section link to a position of power within the Muslim tradition?! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.31.133.169 (talk) 04:31, 25 April 2007 (UTC).

History of uniform
There is nothing about history of school uniform in this article. We need to add it here. --Andysoft 11:28, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

NPOV in Efficiency
I tagged the section Efficiency with a NPOV tag as it is totally biased against school uniforms. It sounds like whoever wrote this was totally biased against uniform, and a counter to this study should at least be put up, as it is not broad enough in its coverage. It makes it sound like Nazism, illogical, which it is obviously not, as most schools throughout the world adopt uniform policies. Chat to me and give ideas. SS 12:47, 21 May 2007 (UTC)


 * If it makes uniforms sound like Nazism...then it's because uniforms ARE Nazism.


 * That's not NPOV. SS 04:03, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Malaysian School Uniform Pictures
There has been a 'revert war' between Egard89 and I over whether to keep the Malaysian school uniform pictures. He claimed "well..i just see a bunch of hoo-haa's wants to see themself on the *internet*.....geez, get a friendster or something...".

This is my defence:

1. As school uniforms are a form of apparel - it is best illustrated when they are worn.

2. I think we should appreciate that the subjects are willing to contribute to Wikipedia as opposed to a bunch of show-offs. Furthermore, their names are not published - I do not see how a person can derive fame or ego out of it.

I recognise that improvements can always be made. However, until then - I believe that the pictures should be kept, until better ones could be found and published. Thank you. Cavernosa 11:23, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Looking at the situation, I am quite disappointed with what Egard89 was doing.

1. He did not seem to have proper reasons except to purposely delete the pictures from the page. Initially the reason was "Due to the uniform image in malaysia only shows a certain type of uniform. Someone should send aan image which show more comprenhansive malaysian uniform". I agree that a picture showing not just secondary uniforms but also primary school uniforms will be ideal, but to keep the current pictures until a better one could be found. Subsequently, he gave a reason that "well..i just see a bunch of hoo-haa's wants to see themself on the *internet*.....geez, get a friendster or something...". I find that he has been changing the reason as to why he feel the picture is not suitable.

2. A picture speaks a thousand words. The best way to illustrate what the school uniform of Malaysia is like is by posting pictures. It is ridiculous why he claim that the pictures are an act of 'showing oneself in the internet', when he did not claim the picture of UK, or for this matter, any other pictures in Wikipedia/Wikicommons with human faces as "an act of showing off oneself in the internet".Cavernosa 13:34, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Comment &mdash; I have warned both the anonymous IP and Egard89 as they were both in violation of The Three Revert Rule. I urge participants in this discussion to reach a consensus on this talk page before making further changes to the article regarding the inclusion of this image. I've placed this article on my watchlist and will report any further violations without warning. Angus Lepper(T, C, D) 14:54, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

I apologize for that, I forgot about that particular rule. I won't be reverting that again today, but if need be, I'll keep it up tomorrow unless Egard89 can give us a good reason not to include those pictures. 142.176.46.3 15:21, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Do not continue tomorrow. This would be considered vandalism, and as noted at WP:3RR, is still a block-worthy offence as it counts as Gaming the System. Angus Lepper(T, C, D) 15:25, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

I gotcha. Let's see this turn into an actual intelligent conversation, folks. Bring your statement in here, Egard89, I want to hear it. 142.176.46.3 15:38, 17 June 2007 (UTC

Someone needs to check the validity of source #4. its arguments are both unsupported and illogical Dancks 19:28, 12 July 2007 (UTC)dancks

Hi. Did you mean the part where Malaysian girls, if they were to wear the baju kurung, are required to wear plain-coloured camisole? I can confirm that many schools, including the school that I attended, requires girls to wear a camisole under their baju kurung for reasons of modesty. In many schools, it is not really a 'written' rule, but an 'oral' rule that is enforced nevertheless - students have been told off, or even asked to get one before allowed in schools. Cavernosa 11:47, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Protected
I've protected this page due to the tremendous amount of edit warring going on. I would strongly advise all parties involved to use that time to discuss the matter or if need be seek dispute resolution, and not to continue the edit war once the protection expires. Hopefully this can be resolved without any further trouble. Seraphimblade Talk to me 03:37, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

It is common knowledge that a large number of Singaporean female students wear shorts underneath their uniform for a variety of reasons. This is true for many other countries.213.48.73.89 09:17, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

a theory
in theory school uniforms makes students wear similar clothing therfore i theory there should be less bullying about clothes. Just because you were a uniform dose not meen that they will be no fights. there is still bulling and the problems still do not go away. they did test on the fact that if you ware a uniform there are no figths but there are. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.220.102.253 (talk) 15:00, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

In theory? The theory you are talking about must be that bullying is due to differences between students - perhaps - but school uniforms don't eliminate differences, by making a group homogeneous in one respect you may only be highlighting differences in other respects. Japan is ethnically homogeneous and has strict uniforms but is fairly infamous for severe bullying. Keep that in mind. In any case such generalizations need references, and the reference we have on the subject states that student relations are not improved by uniforms. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.253.78.98 (talk) 00:32, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

China?
How come no unformation about chinese school uniform? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 162.83.164.199 (talk) 03:46, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

China is moving away from uniforms. Check out this article here:

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200401/01/eng20040101_131668.shtml

69.61.220.146 (talk) 01:14, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

India
Most schools in India and schools that follow Indian curriculum usually always have a standard uniform code for students. Howcome there isn't a section for India in this article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.246.40.54 (talk) 15:23, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

South Africa / Africa
many african countries (former british colonies) have uniforms - in south africa, uniform is as strict as singapore can we please write about the forgotten continent , and what about s.america? they might not have school uniforms but if so, then write so. i was wondering also if we could make a table of countries who have school uniforms. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bezuidenhout (talk • contribs) 06:32, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

UK
As a UK student I'd say that the assertion 'almost all British schools require pupils to wear uniforms' is false, is there any evidence for this? From my own experience I'd say that most primary schools and sixth-forms do not require uniform. 82.26.21.81 (talk) 16:23, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

Where do you live??? I have never seen one primary school in Britain in my life that doesn't wear a uniform. After a large discussion on the Inbetweeners IMDB board we came to the conclusion that sixth forms wearing uniform was half and half. My school wore it (My primary school did and they have since introduced a non-compulsory nursery uniform consisting of a jumper and hat) Sweetie candykim (talk) 22:36, 25 August 2011 (UTC)


 * While not directly related to the above comment, I noticed that the picture associated with the UK school uniforms incorrectly identifies the students as from London. They may have been in London on a trip at the time the picture was taken, but they are from a private Roman Catholic girls' school in Farnborough, Hampshire . Can this information be corrected? I'd try to do it myself but I'm not entirely sure how these things work. Also, I'm not sure anyone else cares. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.140.146.182 (talk) 16:37, 21 March 2013 (UTC)
 * ✅ -- Alarics (talk) 18:16, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

Singapore
Why was the section on Singapore removed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.23.56.7 (talk) 20:13, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Nazi Germany
We need to re-add the part about Nazi Germany, and the fact that Nazi Germany required uniforms. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.49.4.11 (talk) 01:01, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

I agree. We definitely need to re-add it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.215.147.95 (talk) 02:50, 5 May 2009 (UTC)


 * While one can hardly disagree with the claim that "Nazi Germany required uniforms", they weren't school uniforms, and the country-specific section on Germany reflected that.


 * Someone felt that the section should cite sources, and tagged it as such. On 30 November 2008 DAJF deleted the section because it had been tagged as not referencing sources for too long. I have now re-instated the section, including the source that I used for the pre-Nazi era part. --SKopp (talk) 19:26, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

'Bad Uniform'
At my school (I live in the UK and am in year 9) by december year 7 nearly everyone, boys and girls, undo their top buttons, untuck shirts and roll up their skirts (in the case of girls, obviously). This is the same through out every school in my town, grammar and all. Admittedly I only recently started doing it. None of the schools are bad, in fact they are all ranked in the top 50 so why isn't this mentioned?

After year 8 most people never do their top buttons up when asked to, they just tighten their ties alot and push them right up. Ties aren't worn properly either. 95jb14 (talk) 19:25, 14 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Nobody is stopping you from mentioning it in the article, if you can find a reliable source to support it. Your own personal experience doesn't count, as that would constitute WP:OR. --- Alarics (talk) 20:54, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

France
Should there be information about school uniforms in France? Angie Y. (talk) 23:57, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Too Casual, Too short, Too uninformative.
This is in the Subheading "Indonesia":

In primary school, the boys wore the school shirt, school tie, school pants, school capand belt. The girls wear school shirts and school skirt.

At scout, the boys wore a hat, a scout shirt, a scout tie, scout pants and badges. The girl wears a scout tie, a scout skirt, a scout shirt and badges. Note this is not only siaga. At international school such as SBGG and Springfield, they don't wear attire. File:Imgres.jpg

This stub was poorly done. First, what exactly is a "School Shirt"? or "School Pants"? The writer didn't specify any style, cloth, or other implement used in the uniform to give it distinction with other uniforms from other countries. Same goes for the Scouting Uniform. Everybody knows what a Scouting Uniform looks like. It wasn't specified that they wear other types of unifrom then the ones prescribed by the Boy Scout Movement. And the Term Siaga, which I found out to demote Scouting badges, wasn't elaborated nor defined.

Second comes with the "Kinda Cool" phrase. Wikipedia is an Encyclopedia. It is not a forum. It must only contain fact and not Opinion. What looks cool for one may not look cool for another. Such informality is not suitable for a Wikipedia article.

Last is the mention of SBGG and Springfield. What is the meaning of SBGG? And what is Springfield? Is it Springfield in the Simpsons? or Springfield Massachusetts? One must ensure that the facts are cmplete so that users of Wikipedia won't get confused. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nejibana17 (talk • contribs) 10:26, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

A article or a gallery?
Well, the article contains a lot of stuff related to school uniforms, but it has became a great gallery of photos. Can someone remove non-neccessary photos, or adding to the gallery on Commons. Thanks. -- MisterWiki  talking! :-D  - 22:06, 30 November 2009 (UTC)
 * support some of the stuff here doesnt belong to an encyclopaedic article. the wikimedia commons caters to this stuff
 * I'd like to agree with you, and it looks like our calls have gone unnoticed...if nothing changes, I'll do it myself. Deagle_AP (talk) 09:51, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Privacy issue?
I'm not too sure about what Wikipedia says about privacy issues surrounding children, but some of the pictures, such as File:School uniforms GBR.jpg, might be a breach of privacy. Whilst I don't completely agree with some of the Politically Correct views of children on the web, we don't know whether permission was granted for the picture to be taken. I'm just wandering what other editors' views are... 95jb14 (talk) 18:55, 10 January 2010 (UTC).


 * They look quite pleased to have their picture taken. I say leave it unless somebody complains. If people appear in public they are in the public domain and anyone should be able to take a picture of them. -- Alarics (talk) 20:21, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Efficacy
The Efficacy section needs to be fixed. It seems to reference a source that argues how school uniforms are ineffective. It is immediately followed by a quote that supports the effectiveness of uniforms.

I'm only a passing visitor. However, someone needs to separate the pros and cons and provide a source for the second quotation. If the second quotation comes from the source above it, then the fact that that source provides different conclusions needs to be mentioned. It's poorly written.

I'd also recommend that the efficacy section be expanded. I would suggest that people will visit this article primarily to get information on the pros and cons of school uniforms, as well as if they are a good idea. The types of uniforms around the world are probably of secondary importance to visitors and researchers. While some may argue that point, there are certainly many studies available on this subject. A comprehensive sysnthesis of those studies would be a valuable addition to that section of this article. Airborne84 (talk) 05:28, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

I removed an oddly off-topic sentence (with a bad ref) and now this section consists only of one quote from a 15-year-old paper. Should the section be expanded or removed? Dante brevity (talk) 21:19, 7 November 2013 (UTC)
 * My inclination would be to remove it. -- Alarics (talk) 22:13, 7 November 2013 (UTC)
 * It should undoubtedly be expanded. It is far too short. I see absolutely no reason to remove it, and very good reason not to. The efficacy and purpose of school uniforms is central to the issue of school uniforms, and I rather agree with Airborne84's comment above. People who come to this article, want information of school uniforms. As such, the history of school uniforms, their purpose and their efficacy are things that should be included. A long list of what school uniforms exits, in each and every country that has them, however, is not really all that relevant. At best, that should be in a separate article. If any section should be removed, it's the "By country" one.--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 03:41, 8 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Speaking of the "By country" bit, I figured... why complain? It's now a separate article.--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 03:57, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

nonsensical additions by country
"Country X has school uniforms" doesnt constitute an article of encyclopaedic value. Im sure there are schools in every country that do and do not have uniforms (not to mention mufti days (which can be mentioned here). Some other sections have more info but are not or poorly sourced. We didnt need to add countries for the sake of it. the ones that are sourced are good to keep, the rest should be improved or taken out.(Lihaas (talk) 02:45, 18 April 2010 (UTC)


 * The "by country" section is just ridiculously long, listing an absurd number of countries and going into excessive detail for arbitrarily chosen ones. It needs to be severely trimmed to give at most a sample of a few countries, well sourced. A subarticle called school uniforms by country or something similar can be created if need be. Richard001 (talk) 01:38, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

Cuban schoolgirls
I dont think this image is of cuban girls. the sign indicates its venezuela, and che could easily be portrayed on a school there. image name may be misleading.Mercurywoodrose (talk) 08:10, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

USA
Hi all

After reading the section on school uniforms in America, I was under the impression that most Americans have school uniforms (or were forced to follow a very strict dress code). I just completed high school in Wisconsin, and have yet to encounter anyone who was forced to wear any kind of uniform. Yes, there was a dress code. For my school that was something along the lines of:
 * no showing boxers or bras
 * no gang stuff (I don't know what exactly this entailed..)
 * no adult content (alcohol, cigarettes, etc)

However, one was still permitted to come to school in any of these combinations
 * a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers (guys or girls)
 * a t-shirt, pajama bottoms, and sneakers (guys or girls)
 * a blouse, leggings, and flats (girls)
 * a suit (guys)

To the best of my knowledge, these rules were quite universal in middle class, suburban, midwestern American schools. I do not feel that the Wikipedia article reflects this reality. 129.22.18.203 (talk) 03:22, 23 March 2012 (UTC)


 * The article says of the USA "almost all schools do not have a uniform, and instead have a dress code of some sort". So that appears to be in line with what you have said here. But do please amend the article if you think it is wrong, and please cite reliable sources if you can find any. -- Alarics (talk) 07:41, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

I concur: as an American citizen and public school graduate in the 70's, I can attest that all vestage of uniformity in school dress was already gone by that time. Since then, students are ostracised by their peers for wearing out-of-place clothing (over-dressing) or by the establishment (under-dressing) but the rule of taste is ad hoc. BTW, Reference #1, which I wished to read today, is apparently a broken link. ~keh

Image overload
Whilst I agree that to adequately describe a uniform, a picture might well speak 1000 words, there are 28 images on this page. I have removed a few that are at the lower end of being helpful - partial uniform, etc. This article is just getting a bit too excessive when it comes to images. Chaheel Riens (talk) 14:38, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
 * I agree. This article has always been a bit of a random mess more generally, as well. Do feel free to clean it up. Apart from anything else, there are far too many unsourced assertions. -- Alarics (talk) 17:47, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

Why is there no history section?
The fact that there isn't a sizeable history section, with plenty of references, in this article, is baffling to me. It seems like something that would be vital, for an encyclopaedic article about school uniforms, to cover their history.--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 04:03, 8 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Anybody can add such a section to the article provided it is well-sourced. GeorgeLouis (talk) 06:13, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

Purpose
Why is there no section on the purpose of school uniforms? This would appear to be vital issue to cover and I don't see how you could have an article about school uniforms in an encyclopaedia, without mentioning the reason for their existence. Besides, how can you have a section of the efficacy of school uniforms, unless you first establish what they are supposed to accomplish? There should be a section about the purpose of the school uniform, placed right before the section on their efficacy. Covering the purposes people state for them now, and in the past. (though some of this should be covered by the history section ...which is, inexplicably, nowhere to be found)--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 04:09, 8 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Anybody can add such a section to the article provided it is well-sourced. GeorgeLouis (talk) 06:12, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

Long Beach
All comments pre-14:35, 19 January 2014 (UTC) have been moved here from my talk page.--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 14:40, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

Hi! Let's discuss this edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=School_uniform&oldid=591294216&diff=prev

I think there was a misunderstanding. Education Week is a reliable source and the article is not doubting itself. It is criticizing the Long Beach touting of uniform efficiacy and saying that it is shaky and questionable. And that has to be addressed because Long Beach was among the first and most influential to adopt uniforms WhisperToMe (talk) 18:25, 18 January 2014 (UTC)


 * To explain why the claims of Long Beach are wrong, makes no sense, if there has been no previous mention of Long Beach. Also: Why are you mentioning this in my talk page, rather than the article's?--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 20:29, 18 January 2014 (UTC)


 * I expanded the section some more and I want to know if you are interested in helping find the full texts of two school uniform studies I brought up on the talk page of the Education WikiProject. WhisperToMe (talk) 19:46, 18 January 2014 (UTC)
 * You mention the talk of the Education WikiProject ...but provide no link to it? Are you new to Wikipedia?--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 20:35, 18 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Why, I've been here ten years. What about you? :)
 * I prefer to start one on one discussions with editors and most don't have a problem with it. I usually move on to the article talk page if the issue can't be resolved with the other user. Also starting with the user talk page is a great way to notify the other party that there is a discussion. I should have linked the discussion but I guess I didn't because I figured you would find it on your own. If you prefer using the talk page, that's fine.
 * The "previous mention of Long Beach" is built into the paragraph. It introduces the Long Beach finding first, then goes into the criticism.
 * WhisperToMe (talk) 22:16, 18 January 2014 (UTC)


 * "Why, I've been here ten years."
 * You make such basic errors, despite ten years on here!?
 * "I prefer to start one on one discussions with editors and most don't have a problem with it. I usually move on to the article talk page if the issue can't be resolved with the other user."
 * A highly flawed, and frankly annoying, behaviour.
 * If it is taken up in the talk page, the issue that is relevant to the article is allowed to be known to other editors (as it should. They have a right to such information), and other editors can contribute (which helps the issue). By going to the user page, you deny those benefits. To be honest, by going to the user talk page, you are essentially denying the whole purpose of the talk pages of articles ...and I get notices about messages on my user talk page, which is usually a completely different category of thing, from discussing changes in an article. It is highly annoying.
 * "Also starting with the user talk page is a great way to notify the other party that there is a discussion."
 * That is both stupid and insulting. I don't wish to sound angry, but I am, so...
 * Why would there be such a need? Especially for a registered user, who therefore has the page in their watchlist (which also lists changes in the associated talk page).
 * "I should have linked the discussion but I guess I didn't because I figured you would find it on your own."
 * That is utterly wrong, on two accounts:
 * 1. It doesn't matter if I can find it. Rather than taking a second or two, to make a link, you force everyone who reads your message to go through the effort of going on a hunt for the page. That is very lazy, rude and inconsiderate.
 * 2. Sure I could find it. It took me a while though, as I had to go through several steps to get there. For you to add the link, would have taken almost no effort at all, however.
 * "The "previous mention of Long Beach" is built into the paragraph. It introduces the Long Beach finding first, then goes into the criticism."
 * Yeah, on closer inspection I've decided that it's okay, though I doubt its notability.--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 14:35, 19 January 2014 (UTC)
 * There are countless Wikipedia users who do what I do, contacting people on their talk pages about an issue with editing the article. There is the "pingback" feature that was recently introduced, so it's between that and using the talk page. I am quite aware of the purpose of talk pages (I post notes on talk pages all the time). While I understand it may be the benefit of the reader to read matters related to articles, I considered what I posted on your user talk to be a case of a simple misunderstanding involving a single user and not a complexity that every user should know.
 * You say that's it is "insulting" to use a user talk page to notify another user of the discussion. How on earth is he/she going to know? How do I know it's on your watchlist? I don't peek at people's watchlists.
 * I will tell you what to do next time something like this happens with another user. You go:
 * "Hi! Please continue the discussion on the article talk page. That way any user will be able to see the discussion. Thank you." and "Hi! To contact me, please use the pingback feature."
 * That's all you have to say, and that's all you should say.
 * Now, I started this to get feedback: Reliable_sources/Noticeboard
 * WhisperToMe (talk) 15:34, 20 January 2014 (UTC)
 * I've edited School uniform. Default settings would cause it to be in my watchlist. If I know enough to take it off of it, I presumably know enough to keep track of the talk page anyway ...or I am not interested in what happens. Either way, if you wish to inform the editor of the discussion: Put a short message, merely informing them of it.
 * Also, this is not an issue that has to do with one editor. It is an issue that has to do with what should or, shouldn't, be included in the article.
 * ...however. You are correct about one thing. I should have only given one answer in my talk page: "This belongs in the talk page of the article, not here. I will answer it if you repost this there, but I will not to so here."
 * That is my last comment on those issues. Now please restrict yourself to talking about issues concerning the School uniform article. If you wish to further discuss the etiquette of where to put messages, please do so in my talk page (any comments there, concerning the School uniform article, however, will be ignored, if not deleted).--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 17:04, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

To go back to the issue of the Long Beach thing: Why should it be mentioned?

It has no relevance to the efficacy of school uniforms. Thus it should be rather irrelevant to the section about the efficacy of school uniforms

Even in a section about the opinions, debate or controversy, concerning the issue of school uniforms (which the efficacy section is not. There is no opinions/debate/controversy section in this article, at present, though there probably should), it would still not be worth adding, unless it has had some significant influence/presence in the debate (i.e. it would have to be somewhat notable). Otherwise mentioning it would constitute undue weight.--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 18:31, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

Draa
The WikiProject Education talk page discussion did not conclude that the Draa study was a reliable source. That issue remains unsettled there.

...and the Reliable sources Noticeboard (which I only now paid attention to and read) had a lot of disagreement on whether or not it counted as a reliable source.

It did not reach anything even approaching consensus.

Thus you have two places where no one agreed on the issue.

I do not understand the disagreement in the Reliable sources Noticeboard, as one editor made a direct quotation from Reliable Sources, which clearly states that dissertations aren't necessarily reliable sources, though they can be. (i.e. for it to count as a reliable source, you need to show that it has the features that are described there. Otherwise it isn't). Thus the study is not a reliable source, or would need other sources to verify that it is a reliable source ...as per Wikipedia policy. This trumps any noticeboard.

Furthermore it was frequently noted in the Reliable sources Noticeboard discussion, that inclusion of the Draa study (and yes it is a study ...but it is not a peer-reviewed study) would probably constitute undue weight and thus not be appropriate to include.'--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 17:59, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

Schoolgirl fetishism?
With regard to this edit, schoolgirl fetishism is highly relevant to the article page. It relates to a fetish and practice that is inherently linked to the article of this page - the uniform. Why is an article directly referencing the topic in question not notable? Bearing in mind that wikipedia is not censored what are your arguments for distancing the topics?

A glance at your edit history seems to show that you and Zarlan are engaged in some kind of tit-for-tat war. Whilst I may disagree with Zarlan removing some sections of this article, this one is valid. Please clarify your motives. Chaheel Riens (talk) 21:32, 20 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Indeed. Uniform fetishism is a fairly common fetish and a common use for school uniforms is to wear them for sexual purposes. This fetish is one that is well known to pretty much anyone. Also it is very commonly seen in various TV shows, movies, comics and the such, of various countries. Primarily ones where school uniforms are used in schools, but it is not entirely uncommon in other countries too.--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 22:34, 20 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Zarlan's recent edit is a definite improvement. The prior specification to schoolgirl uniforms was esoteric (and mildly disturbing, although I know that does not influence its inclusion). Freeranging intellect (talk) 21:40, 20 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Thanks.
 * It was a bit badly written, as it said "Schoolgirl uniform fetishism" . The separate link to schoolgirl not really being directly related and also making the line misleading. Many readers might have clicked on "schoolgirl", thinking that the whole line was one single link, linking to "schoolgirl uniform fetishism" ...which it didn't. Also, it ignores male uniforms (though those are less commonly fetishized, AFAIK).
 * ...but esoteric? The use of wiki mark-up was bad, and the phrasing was a bit awkward and slightly too specific, but I don't really see how it was unclear. Still, as long as there are no issues with the current version...--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 22:34, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

Virginia Draa study, redux
I thought it was established as "reliable" on the RS noticeboard already. I just asked again: Reliable_sources/Noticeboard WhisperToMe (talk) 11:36, 18 March 2014 (UTC)


 * On what possible grounds did you conclude that it was established as "reliable"? ...and even if it is reliable, most people seemed to agree that it was an example of WP:UNDUE WEIGHT. Especially as it conflicts with all the more proper studies. It is a rare fringe idea. Either way, it is inappropriate.--ZarlanTheGreen (talk) 13:01, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

POV for Social implications of School uniforms on gender?
There doesn't seem to be in-text attribution for anything in this section. I assume the editor of this just forgot. Removing this might remove that pesky essay strike. Moreover, some of the sources are opinionated. That's fine, but I'm pretty sure there's some psychological articles the editors can cite instead of gender journals. -- (end of unsigned initial comment)

Gender Studies journals publish peer-reviewed Social Sciences, Humanities and interdisciplinary research on gender. They typically do not publish opinion, as they are academic journals, not magazines. Editorial content such as introductions to issues or book reviews are labelled clearly in reputable journals. Gender Studies journals are no more or less reliable or biased than Psychology journals or any other academic discipline's journals. They are, however, specialized, in that their content is focused on gender and written by scholars who have spent years in study to become experts on gender. I can't fathom why anyone would think expertise makes a source less reliable. -- Sarah 2001:56A:F6E6:8000:65F0:96C7:F2E1:4C16 (talk) 09:00, 23 January 2019 (UTC)

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Why are there no pictures of black students?
Why is there no picture of any black students in school uniform (African or Caribbean) in this article? Only pictures of white and Asian students are in the article. Have the creators of the article forgotten that black students also exist? I'm really disturbed by this constant and systematic exclusion of black people i keep seeing in all these wikipedia articles about human culture and history. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tammorrr (talk • contribs) 05:15, 12 October 2016 (UTC)


 * WP:SOAPBOX applies broadly here, but on the other hand you could slake your paranoia by adding some yourself or taking a gander at School uniforms by country which should satisfy.


 * This image for example, contains at least one black person, but I accept that he's not a student. Chaheel Riens (talk) 11:47, 12 October 2016 (UTC)


 * it may be good to find a freely used picture of a black child in a uniform. Some search engines let you do so WhisperToMe (talk) 03:07, 26 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Current version of the article is significantly different, and the concern seem to have been resolved by in the inclusion of African content. Klbrain (talk) 05:25, 1 October 2020 (UTC)

Critical information are not mentioned due to bias-blindness.
As a German who lived for many years in the UK, this entire page is one-sided, as it mostly (and quite naturally) reflects the views held by persons living in English-speaking countries. In my opinion the following information are lacking:

1) School uniforms are mostly present in countries that are, or were part of the Commonwealth of Nations. In contrast, almost no country in continental Europe has actually school uniforms.

2) The PISA results (https://www.oecd.org/pisa/Combined_Executive_Summaries_PISA_2018.pdf), in conjunction with my first point, are hard prove that school uniforms have neither any positive nor any negative impact on school results. Therefore, it is a purely cultural dimension.

3) From my second point follows also that school uniforms have no impact on behavior. There is no claim or even prove that French and Polish kids (who don’t wear uniform) are worse behaved in school, or at any other time, than English or Irish kids (who do).

4) About the point that school uniforms prevent bulling etc.: Various German teachers told me that there is virtually never a problem with boys. They just don't mind clothing that much. In contrast, some girls enter a phase of "show-off" that can last from the age of 11 to 14. However, as clothing is extremely cheap nowadays, even poorer girls don't get hung up for long. And from my experience, the kids in the UK have had various alternative ways to show off, like electronics or backpacks. (unsigned)


 * In accordance with WP:NPOV, Wikipedia takes no view on this controversy. Both sides of the argument are presented, in the section headed "Effects or uniforms on students", mentioning the conflicting conclusions of different research projects, and more generally in the sections headed "Positives" and "Negatives". Your point 1 is only partially correct. It is true that school uniforms have largely disappeared from continental Europe, but Catholic schools in France had them within living memory, and some private schools in Spain still do. Also, many schools in Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia have strict uniform policies, and none of those countries was ever in the Commonwealth. I do agree though that the article is somewhat US-centric, like most articles in the English Wikipedia. Your remedy is to add to the article more information about other countries. -- Alarics (talk) 17:03, 13 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your excellent reply. I agree on most points with you.


 * However, your arguments on continental Europe seem of low relevancy to me: I lived in 2019 for about a year in Nantes, a major city in France. The very vast majority of kids there did not wear a uniform, except for those that attended the one catholic faith school. I can't comment on Spain.


 * My point is that as long as there is freedom, there will always exist some private selective schools that want to differentiate themselves by such means. Those are however the exceptions. This should not prevent Wikipedia to state the fact that continental Europe, except for Russia, does not have uniforms for the overwhelming majority of kids.


 * Should you do not agree than please apply your rule in revers: In Edinburgh, Scotland, exists a very large state-run school that beats frequently all the private schools there and is proud to have no uniform. Thus, let us remove the reference to the UK as a country with school uniforms!


 * Why do I care: Because Wikipedia is a major input for kids researching this topic in preparation of essays etc. It is a very important point to state unambiguously that continental Europe can be taken as an obvious and hard prove (without the need for scientific sources which are usually costly to get by and too complex to handle for that age group) that school uniform does not improve either results nor behaviour. This seems very important to me because those false arguments are the main points of school governors when insisting on a uniform.


 * I do think that school uniforms are a very useful thing: they do have a major impact on how prestigious the school is perceived by parents and the community. Those status arguments are entirely valid. Also, in countries with extreme inequality, there can be valid reasons for a uniform - as long as the uniforms are subsidized for the poorest kids (as they need home clothes too) and all schools have exactly the same uniform to prevent kids attending low ranking schools to be identified easily which will negatively impact their self-worth.

Wiki Education assignment: LLIB 1115 - Intro to Information Research
— Assignment last updated by Joannaolsen12 (talk) 17:27, 5 October 2022 (UTC)