School Uniforms....THE CONSPIRACY

I'd like to take a minute to discuss my thoughts about the school uniform craze that is taken over our nation and catching like wildfire. I have been mulling this over for years as when we moved to Philadelphia they required school uniform (NAVY OR KHAKI PANTS AND NAVY OR BURGUNDY OR WHITE TOPS PRETTY CONSISTENTLY THROUGHOUT DISTRICTS). We again are in another area where school uniforms are required. Pinellas County, FL.

Where's the conspiracy, you ask? Well I posit that it never had to do with behavior, bullying, fitting in, bonding et al as public education providers woud have us believe. I believe that it was truly done because the corporations saw a whole new "demograph" they could extort money from. I have tried to research some of the top uniform sales companies, for instance Dickies, to see what they made before public schools implemented school uniforms as opposed to what they make now with so many areas now requiring school uniforms for public schools, to little avail. It's tougher than finding a needle in a haystack, which only helps to support that there is in fact, a corporate reason for the seemingly sudden change over in so many of our public schools in the USA. And finding out where this modern day movement started and by whom is even a bigger challenge. I smell a rat.

For those who have never had a child in one of the uniform schools, or those without children, since you may not know why I think this is a corporate cospiracy, well it's very simple. I could buy twice as much clothes for my kid if she was in a free to wear what you want district as opposed to where we are now living. The uniforms are quite a bit higher vs "Normal" clothes. For instance the cheapest khakis which she is required to wear cost $17.99 off sale and maybe as little as $12.99 on sale. I could get her jeans for $10.00 off sale sometimes and on sale for as little as 5 dollars. The shirts really aren't too much difference. But with the cost of the pants running so high, you have to get less shirts. The only difference in this district is they have to be solid with no writing or graphics as opposed to Philly where they had to be certain colors and had to be collared (here they can be plain crew neck t-shirts) win for parent -1 corporations - 0 on that one. Up north I do beleive it is a bit more strict as that is a more corporate friendly atmosphere they'll practically kiss the corporations buttocks while down here they may make some concessions, but won't bend over backwards for the corporation. JMHO.

Anyway I posit that the first parent to ever bring up the topic to go to school uniforms was a corporate brown noser shill. Probably some highly paid dookie stain that didn't even have to send thier kid to a public school but somehow got into a public school board meeting. Either that or a corporate shill on the board itself. That's what I think AND I hope to one day prove it!

I support it 100%

einstein famously had 5 identical black suits. so he never had to waste time or thought on something as silly as what to wear that day

give the kids the same advantage I say

heck, it would have saved me from parachute pants in 1984

Every School i attended required a uniform but here in Scotland it was different to what you are describing. Here we bought the uniform from the school and the school received all the money. So you could say it was the school imposing the uniform policy to make money. But in my area there are a lot of high school in quite close proximity ( Walking distance ) of one another so they don't want kids going to other schools and causing trouble as fighting between rival schools was common here. So being able to effectively tell pupils apart made sure any trouble that could brew was easily identified.

Too conclude my point. I think if uniforms are required the school should provide them free of charge or for a minimal charge as stationary, school bags and all other school supplies you need to purchase come to a pretty high price all ready. I really dread being a parent in todays current economic climate, as i can seriously see myself struggling with the price of everything now a days.

Everyone always says that the children are our future. Well how are we ment to help them achieve their potential if we cannot afford it.

reply to post by ldyserenity


Hi yes we have to pay $55.00 for 1 dress over here this year instead of normally $ 20 .00 . Most of our friends with kids at the same school are really pissed and i could buy a lot of clothes for that price. I wish i could afford a $55.00 DOLLAR DRESS for myself but thats a dream. They took away local supplier and gave to another company. $55.00 for a dress to be worn for 3 months and my daughter really wants to wear a dress and be a girl . Ripped off !%

Originally posted by syrinx high priest
I support it 100%

einstein famously had 5 identical black suits. so he never had to waste time or thought on something as silly as what to wear that day

give the kids the same advantage I say

heck, it would have saved me from parachute pants in 1984

I swear a few years ago, I considered wearing nothing but Middle Eastern inspired "thobe" and abaya type clothing..only form fitted just a bit and sans headgear. I too, get tired of selecting an outfit to wear. It's really just pointless egotistical bull malarkey and expensive to boot. I bet if I, or someone else started doing this in the USA or western precincts, it would become a fad in a short time. A lot of people are over this aspect of living. Back in the day, people more or less, wore a cultural costume, or "uniform" if you will. Like in old school Korea, women wore hanbok, Japan they wore kimono, in the UK they wore smocks and breeches. It's all about the $$$ these days.

It's about sequentialization of the children in the institution. Free creative express is limited even at the surface level. Look alike, think alike as a collective.

Originally posted by starshift
It's about sequentialization of the children in the institution. Free creative express is limited even at the surface level.

Agree 100% and the money of course!

There are no public schools that require you to buy a certain brand of clothing to fit their uniform policy. The policy is there to prevent bullying and class warfare just like the schools say they are. Instead of kids wearing designer labels, they all wear khaki pants or another color and a give color of shirts, usually a variety of three colors. Furthermore, the students who are unable to purchase the clothing can get assistance from the schools. It is written into their uniform policies.

It is not a money making scheme and the uniforms are usually much cheaper than other clothing options. Anyone who is opposed to the uniforms is someone who has violated it either by wanting to wear a special kind of clothing to "look cool" or a certain kind of clothing for their gang affilliation or their parents didn't read the handbook and bought other clothes and were called on it.

If you don't like the uniforms, pull your kids out of public school and homeschool them. I would say to send them to a private school, but most private schools have uniform policies that are much more strict and you wouldn't like that either.

If you don't like the unifrom policy and there are other parents who agree with you, then approach the school as a group of parents and get it changed. If you fail to do so, then you really have no choice but to abide by the policy or suffer the consequences. ... actually, you'll force your children to suffer the consequences because you didn't want to put in the extra effort to ensure they are following the policy.

If you don't like something, there is a process that you can go through to change it, not just demand that people do things the way you want them to.

reply to post by ldyserenity

I have tried to research some of the top uniform sales companies, for instance Dickies, to see what they made before public schools implemented school uniforms as opposed to what they make now with so many areas now requiring school uniforms for public schools, to little avail. It's tougher than finding a needle in a haystack...

Dickies brand makes and has always made work clothing. The tagline of their website is "Quality workwear since 1922"... www.dickies.com...

Where I live their pants are actually fairly common. Myself owning several pairs I purchased personally and some left over from when I worked in retail stock. They arent that expensive here either - I can get a pair of mens khakis at any small local family clothing shop for around 12-15 bucks.

I agree that there are corporations out there pushing agendas, but the specific brand of school uniform you purchase probably isnt one of them.

I would pay closer attention to the fact that the uniform itself can be a tool to discourage Individuality and encourage Collectivism.

reply to post by HopSkipJump


It's not about abiding or not...it's a scam and a sham...it's bull crap. We never had to wear them and there were never school shootings while us eighties generation went to school. And no it's not less money it's more and here there are only a few suppliers all within the very same price range which is HIGHER than the cost of a normal pair of jeans or what ever. If my kid would agree to homeschooling, she would be, because the piss poor education system in the States to begin with.

reply to post by henryleo


I was just naming one example. Yes 12 to 15 dollars and jeans are FIVE dollars. Point made. JEANS ARE CHEAPER.
Does anybody here speaka de englais?

I think there are many reasons that could be argued either way, I dealt with this issue over a decade ago but have much different thoughts about it now.

Looking at the public school system in the USA (because it's what I know), I view it like this:
- Daycare center for the parents to drop off their kids while they work or whatever
- Work Training center: Get the kids used to 8 to 9 hour days away from the house, so they will be good workers when they grow up.
- Propaganda center: Overload their minds with information (a lot of which is false), that they will never use in their lives.
- Obedience training: Always remember the administration is the boss. You cannot question their authority.
- Social skills: About the only thing kids learn in schools comes from other kids... But what are they learning?

And with uniforms included, kids get used to wearing "nice" attire suitable for jobs when they graduate... if they can find any.

Just my opinion on the broken public school system. It is nothing more than a fancy daycare and training center to produce good hourly workers who do as they're told and don't question anything.

reply to post by Philippines


Yes I agree.

And who needs good little drones? Well it's not candyland...it's corporations that need corporate drones good little slaves. Pat on head here;s a scrap Fido...
But that's all another thread.

reply to post by ldyserenity


Hi. I went to a private school.. I wore uniforms.. There is no conspiracy. For starters: The prices you listed? Dirt cheap for clothes. The idea behind uniforms is that you can't have kids with $300 pair of jeans and someone with $10 pair of jeans. Everyone's clothes are roughly the same, eliminating that as a distraction for social interaction.

Do companies profit off of uniforms? Yes, because someone has to make them? It would be like me saying school without uniforms are a conspiracy because I can go to JC Penny and buy some clothes. Logically this makes no sense..

reply to post by ldyserenity


This isn't Nazi Germany....I would argue that point till they were blue in the face and just gave up and let me wear what I wanted...

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by ldyserenity

 

Hi. I went to a private school.. I wore uniforms.. There is no conspiracy. For starters: The prices you listed? Dirt cheap for clothes. The idea behind uniforms is that you can't have kids with $300 pair of jeans and someone with $10 pair of jeans. Everyone's clothes are roughly the same, eliminating that as a distraction for social interaction.

Do companies profit off of uniforms? Yes, because someone has to make them? It would be like me saying school without uniforms are a conspiracy because I can go to JC Penny and buy some clothes. Logically this makes no sense..

That is completely irrelevant....Should I get depressed and make a fuss over *insert random persons* car, is nicer than mine?

Someone drives a 32000 dollar car to work, while I drive a 500 dollar car...There is no difference between school uniforms, and instituting 'uniform' vehicles.....It's called buying what you can, and wearing what you want...

Perhaps unrelated, but don't various groups such as gangs, religions, political parties, people supporting different sides of issues, often wear clothing or colors identifying them and their positions? I understand that some are beat up, or even killed, because their clothing sends the wrong message to some one.

Maybe it's just a move to remove a possible source of aggression and distraction.

I went to Catholic School as a kid and wore a uniform. Instead of kids focusing on fashion or the new air jordans, what you wore became a non issue. I see this as an even better deal in public schools because of the discrepancy in income of the parents affects what the kids can afford to wear, which in turn affects the childs self esteem. (kids are cruel)

When I was in school, our school was contracted with a uniform company and you were only allowed to buy from that company so the prices were crazy.

In the district we're in now we have a Khaki/Navy/Black Trousers and Light Blue Polo/Button Up policy, but you can buy your unifroms anywhere. We buy em from Old Navy because the prices are decent.

Originally posted by VeritasAequitas
That is completely irrelevant....Should I get depressed and make a fuss over *insert random persons* car, is nicer than mine?

Someone drives a 32000 dollar car to work, while I drive a 500 dollar car...There is no difference between school uniforms, and instituting 'uniform' vehicles.....It's called buying what you can, and wearing what you want...

Don;t be daft, you must know what kids are like?

I went to a school with a strict uniform policy (blazer, tie, shirt and trousers with black shoes) and while we were all in Uniform, no-one could be singled out as "different" based upon their clothes, it all came down to personality instead. I do find it ironic that is an American complaining about this - a nation famously obsessed with how people look and not the person themselves.

Only during PE, when the rich kids got out their fancy trainers while I had the cheap £20 pair from ASDA did any kind of bullying take place regarding your clothes.

However, on "non-uniform" days (usually done for charity at the end of term) you could get many instances of bullying taking place as it became readily apparent who could afford the best gear, who could not etc...

My school had the worst uniform, out of all the respectable colours. They opted for brown. Brown trousers and brown v neck. Looked like a walking turd. Was also more difficult to buy, as all the other schools were the usual blue black or grey. It was almost like the headmaster wanted us to be the school that everyone could laugh at. Country bumpkins n their brown uniform lol.

I don't think there's any conspiracy, just a way of making life easier for parents. We did have a non uniform day once a year, when you could don your best threads in the name of charity.