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US PRESIDENT BARACK Obama today sought to capitalise on a moment of sharp Republican unpopularity by pressing his foes in Congress to pass a stalled immigration bill this year.
Obama demanded action in the knowledge that the Republican Party is under pressure to improve its standing among Hispanic voters for whom immigration reform is a cherished political goal.
He spoke at the White House as polls show House of Representatives Republicans, who have declined to act on a Senate immigration reform bill, are paying the heaviest price for a stalemate over a just avoided debt default and a government shutdown.
“Let’s see if we can get it done this year,” Obama said in a White House speech on a plan to bring millions of illegal immigrants out of the shadows.
Let’s not wait. It doesn’t get easier to just put it off. Let’s do it now. Let’s not delay.
Despite Obama’s calls, most Washington experts believe there is little chance of prompt action on comprehensive immigration reform, since the proposal is viewed as tantamount to an amnesty for illegal immigrants by many conservative Republicans.
(Standing next to Vice President Joe Biden, Obama urges Congress to take back up comprehensive immigration reform. Pic: AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Time is fast running out to pass the bill, which would bolster Obama’s political legacy, before the return of hyper partisan campaign politics in the run-up to mid-term elections next year.
Republican Party leaders are acutely conscious though that if they don’t improve their standing among Hispanics — an increasingly influential voting demographic, they will suffer in future presidential elections — a vulnerability Obama is trying to exploit.
“They should take a closer look at the polls,” Obama said. “The American people support this. It’s not something they reject.”
Political winner
Talking repeatedly about immigration is a political winner for Obama: if the bill is passed he will get credit and a legacy achievement. If it is not, Democrats can continue to exploit Republican weakness on the issue in elections.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner has said that he will not move the Senate bill in its entirety, but is open to smaller individual reform efforts.
“The speaker agrees that America has a broken immigration system and we need reform that would boost our economy,” said Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck.
He’s also been clear that the House will not consider any massive, Obamacare-style legislation that no one understands.We hope that the president will work with us — not against us — as we pursue this deliberate approach.
Obama also indulged his own frustration at the realities of divided government in Washington, which has stalled most of his second term agenda.
“Just because something is smart and fair and good for the economy and fiscally responsible and supported by business and labour, the evangelical community and many Democrats and many Republicans, that does not mean that it will actually get done,” he said.
“This is Washington, after all. So, everything tends to be viewed through a political prism.”
The Senate bill passed in June would create a pathway to legal status and eventual citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.
The plan, crafted and approved with Senate Republican support, would strengthen the border with Mexico and reorganize the visa system to give priority to high-demand fields, including engineers and farm workers.
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In 2013 Ruari Quinn asked all schools to survey parents about this. In our own school 93% of our parents wanted a uniform. Feedback was competing for clothes brands, trainers and in the end it would cost much more.
Just look at phones. Kids are coming in with the newest iPhone a few days after it’s launched from families I know well can barely afford it just to compete.
@Edward Ucator: What I can’t understand is, don’t they wear fashionable clothes in the evening and at weekends anyway?
@David Stapleton: with friends ….not everyone at school is a friend
@Edward Ucator: As someone forced to wear a uniform throughout my schooling and hating it, uncomfortable and expensive and forced to wear a skirt as the school made them gendered I disagree. Children should not be forced to wear a uniform for their parents convenience. If parents don’t want to buy expensive clothing to ‘compete’ then don’t, that is their role as parents to teach and reinforce principles rather than simply avoid the issue. Additionally, Uniforms can be quite expensive too and for those of us who had to make them last it was just as bad having a worn out jumper as not having the ‘latest’ fashion. I once got screamed at and sent home for not having the correct uniform. My skirt had gotten dirty the previous day and I had washed it the night before, it had rained while it was on the line and wasn’t dry enough to wear so I wore jeans and the rest of the uniform for the day. Went in with a letter from my Dad and it didn’t matter. It was bullying and I missed a school day because of it. Another time the Vice Principal told me I needed a new jumper because the sleeves were worn (a common issue with them), I said to her “Are you going to buy me one?” and she shut up. Uniform enforcement methods are often bullying and disrespectful to students. Just because they are your children doesn’t mean you can treat them like souless automatons devoid of personality and undeserving of comfort. Let them express themselves while they can and have some individuality as many will have to wear uniforms or workwear in adulthood and they should be able to enjoy that absence as long as possible.
I was also a trans student forced to wear a skirt (in a mixed school) with no other option making every day extra uncomfortable, while girls in my class avoided sport at lunchtime or indeed cycling to school for the same reason. Jumpers that are too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter in schools with poor heating or in which you are not allowed take off your jumper because of the heat. Ties that most students never learn how to tie and shoes that are either expensive or poor quality and do not facilitate exercise etc etc. There are so many issues but in the end, the fact that most students hate them and find them uncomfortable should be enough.
@Jensen Bhroin: Thanks for this articulate insight. I hadn’t considered that position at all really. Very interesting and illuminating. Well written, well said.
@Jensen Bhroin: @Jensen Bhroin: The results speak for themselves. As a student in 1997 girls were allowed to wear trousers. Most in the school I teach in wear them too. Some still choose to wear the skirt which is the way it should be. But your argument “for their parents convenience” is not a good one. It’s not convenience, it’s affordability. My school allow the crest to be bought separate and even ironed on if they choose. Again, how it should be. Never once did we send a child home for short trousers, tattered jumpers nor did we send a child home who had a note. I’ve hundred of e-mails from our secretary saying such and such is wearing trainers, a different jumper etc. because it was dirty, torn etc.
Express while they can? On non-uniform days we still have loads of kids wearing uniform. I know these kids, their families. The kid would rather wear their uniform than their own clothes.
Another thing that was mentioned by a parent but not a single cause. A mother said if they see a group of kids in town in their uniform they don’t feel intimidated walking past them but would walk to the opposite side of the street if a group of teenagers were dressed in all black and grey hoodies.
@Edward Ucator: agree with you 100%. Ive a 13 year old boy that only wants to wear designer clothes to keep up with his peers. I have 3 other kids… money is tight. If there was no uniform I know he would feel bad wearing the same 2 or 3 tops to school everyday or same jog pants. The school he is in is very understanding.
@Edward Ucator: Great points there.
@Jensen Bhroin: In fairness, most of those issues were due to problems with your school rather than uniforms. As a teenager, I was grateful of one less thing to worry about in the morning
@Kevin Bury: True, but why should that change the reasoning. I kind of agreed with you, but reading through the the comments I think the debate errs on the side of non-uniform wearing. I went to school in the seventies and early eighties to a non uniform school, at least for boys, (sexism is not being discussed, so I won’t mention it here), and it was never an issue. I live in France now and my daughter doesn’t wear one and it has never caused issues, but that is in France so…
@Jensen Bhroin: Every year my secondary school would have a no uniform day and I dreaded it and would try and stay home sick. I hated the pressure of having to dress for those days. As someone who dealt with an eating disorder, social anxiety and depression during those years the uniform was one less thing for me to stress over each day and almost an armor for me. I found the move to college difficult for the first year. My school was not super strict on the uniform being exact, as long as the items were right (shirt, jumper, skirt or pants), the colour was roughly right, no crest needed on the jumper, no comment on worn jumpers – – my mum knitted my jumper herself If someone came in the odd time wearing jeans etc they weren’t sent home. I don’t agree with schools being uber strict over a uniform, it should just be simple thing, no crests or anything that will add cost but I do think they help some students
@Edward Ucator: and how does a uniform stop the use of iPhones?
@Edward Ucator:
When I was in primary school, we didn’t wear uniforms I went to a convent school for my inter cert and had to wear a uniform, which cost a fortune, every year. Then I left and went to a non uniform school for my leaving cert. Never did anyone ever comment on what other people were wearing.
@Edward Ucator: Children should be taught not to compete. It’s anti-social, self-seeking and tedious.
Yes they should, it prevents the whole clothing trends taking over the school and kids picked on for not wearing certain clothes or wearing the same thing twice in one week. HOWEVER, uniform prices need to come way down and especially secondary schools could do with switching some of the uniforms to generic versions. My eldest girls uniform is about €20 a shirt!
@Helen O’Neill: ….too difficult, for teachers and parents, to educate that a brand doesn’t define a person? I grew up in Italy in the 80s. Flooded with brands, where you were a loser if you didn;t wear some of them. Guess what? We all learned.
@Helen O’Neill: agreed. Uniforms should be standardised and simplified
@Helen O’Neill: admittedly in France, but my daughter goes to a well reputed International school. There are no school uniforms in France and it has never been a problem. Some days I find she has found one of my old fleeces which is too big for her, is shabby and covered in dog or cat hair, she just slaps it on and off she goes. For every argument there are pros and cons. For example, while a school uniform may level the playing field in a school, it also potentially creates friction between schools, especially with aggressive, almost gang life behaviour. I believe that the overall argument is in favour of no uniforms.
Simplifies things enormously the night / morning before school.
No discssions / arguments on what’s being worn, why something is still in the wash, suitability for the weather etc.
A godsent for busy parents.
let them wear the school tracksuit. alot more comfortable anyway.
@Macca1986: That’s a very good point. As long as they are all wearing the same thing that’s all that matters.
@Macca1986: That’s the important thing. I 100% agree with needing everyone to have a type of uniform. But it needs to be made as comfortable as possible.
There’s no need for a tie or specific black shows. Just a generic tracksuit top and bottom and t shirt.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: why do they need to wear the same clothes?! I attended 3 schools one primary with no uniform, one secondary with a nun measuring the length of my skirt in relation to my knee (cos that was totally normal and acceptable?!) and one private non uniform school. The only place the clothing became a thing was the convent on the non uniform days. Primary and non uniform secondary you just got up and got dressed!! My kids have no uniform, they too get up and get dressed.
@Sarah Lou: it’s important they all wear the same clothes so that there is no competition between students. Having worked in a non uniform wearing school, it’s clear to see the divide between students in what they are wearing. Some students would pick on other students due to what they are wearing. It’s important they all wear the same thing to avoid this competition between students, wheatear it’s school tracksuit or uniform, it’s important all students wear the same thing. I believe school tracksuit is the best idea. Most students feel more comfortable in a school tracksuit that uniform. In my day I would have loved the chance to wear a school tracksuit. It’s essential though that all students must wear the same thing, Uniform or school tracksuit
@Macca1986: totally agree.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: have to say I’ve never experienced it either as a child or a mother. Perhaps the school should work on changing the bullying culture locally rather than ensuring all of the children wear the same clothing. Education is the key to change not conforming.
@Sarah Lou: Nothing to do with conforming, it just levels the playing field for all students, if you think you can control 100% of the bullying through education, I think you are a little naive
@Adam J: If you think a uniform eliminates it you my friend are the naive one, it just moves to the hair bank, ear rings, footwear, school bag etc. Zero tolerance to that rubbish would be much better than making the children all look the same.
Yes a uniform but I think it should be a generic uniform you can pick up in dunnes or tesco. Forget the school crest. Should be joggers and polo shirt and jumper. Forget the fussy pants and shirts and skirts. No need for them.
@Catriona Collins: that’s the way they had it when I was at school. We were told what colour jumper, shirt, skirt etc to wear, but it was up to us (or rather our parents) as to where they were bought or what style we wore.
I’m a secondary teacher and the mother of a secondary school student. Young people are huge slaves to “fast fashion” i.e clothes made cheaply, (mainly in Asia where workers are exploited and the environment destroyed by dyes leaching into their waterways) wear them a few times and discard them to landfills which destroy the environment and are huge carbon emitters. Kids need to be encouraged to buy less clothes, not more! I try to get my students to see the uniform as a statement of equality, not of conformity. Clothes are a status symbol for young people and also indicate a conformity of a different sort than conforming to the wearing of a uniform, which in my many years of teaching experience has never dulled the wonderful, colourful personalities of students that I have taught.
@Hilary Lyons: Kids ahouls also be encouraged in NOT seeing the brand as a distinction. You should know better, as a teacher, that is your job also to educate on those matters, and teach that a kid wearing branded clothes is nothing more and nothing less than a kid wearing Pennyes…
@Hilary Lyons: the idea that uniforms change this is conjecture.
People (children or adults) don’t see uniforms as “their” clothes. Their own clothes is a separate category. If you can wear what you want, but it’s restricted by a dress code, you can actually shape how people think about their own clothes and attitudes to fad trends.
I used to think uniforms were a must especially for secondary schools. I assumed teens would be competing to wear the trendiest labels etc. My son started in 1st year last Sept in a school with no uniform, there is a dress code presumably to avoid anything outrageous. Both male & female all wear very casual clothes. My son has zero interest in what clothes he wears but from looking at the others coming to/ from school I don’t see any sign of them dressing to impress or in latest fashions etc. I think they look much more relaxed going into school. I’ve now done a complete uturn on my opinion of school uniforms. I don’t understand why so many schools still insist on them
@Elaine Gardner: Elaine I love this. I just commented above I went to 2 secondary schools. One had a strict uniform, literally excluded for the day fr the wrong socks the other had no uniform, the only time there was a competition on clothing was the non uniform day in the strict uniform school. Primary I had no uniform either. Noone cared in either non uniform school. My kids have no uniform, noone cares what they are wearing.
@Sarah Lou: totally agree. I went to an ET with ko uniform and my son is there now. No one gives a hoot what they wear
@Katie O’Riordan: My kids in the ET too. Not a hoot!
Uniforms are just another way of stunting the creative and colourful personally of a kid. It’s a hangover from the way the religious institutions want to drive any sense of individuality from children.
My kid doesn’t wear a uniform and there is no issue around branded clothes, kids don’t really care about that stuff unless the grown-ups do.
Poll: Should the Journal Stop posting articles about school Uniforms?
• Yes
•No
•Not Sure
•Maybe another one or two
@Colm Cork: or about schools, for let’s say a week atleast
@Gert McNulty: or twelve more polls about science-based sex education in schools. Bound to attract hundreds of sharp comments.
Yes, but only if the component pieces of clothing can be sourced on the general market and not confined to one supplier. Crests should be supplied by the school. “Cosy arrangements” have been known!
They should survey schools that don’t have a uniform. People are scared of the unknown and make presumptions, my childnis in a non uniform school and I don’t think there is a single parent who would want a uniform as we all know how well it works not having one.
The school isn’t a fashion show the kids just wear whatever is comfortable.
The arguments of people who are pro uniform are almost always based on assumptions hardly ever on experience.
It is assumed that there would be bullying for not wearing the right clothes along with fights in the morning about what to wear, etc…
Hardly ever do people have personal experience about non uniform schools.
In my opinion uniforms are not only totally outdated but also a tool of control.
@Katrin Elzmann: lmfao
@Katrin Elzmann: I grew up in Portugal where uniforms aren’t a thing. I can’t remember the amount of times my friends and I had our runners and jackets stolen for being branded. It got to a point where I had to speak to my older brother and his big friends to put a stop to it. I absolutely love uniforms. My kids’ school have asked and 95% of parents voted to keep them.
@Mónica Pascoal: maybe it would have been easier to wear non branded clothes? Cheaper too.
@Katrin Elzmann: now you’re contradicting yourself! I thought the whole point was for kids to wear what they want!! I wore expensive clothes and shoes because my parents could afford them. Why would I have worn cheap stuff just because others thought it was theirs to take!! I like uniforms because they’re simple, easy, and uncomplicated. Outside of school my kids wear expensive clothes and shoes because I can afford and choose to buy them. But uniforms are definitely a leveller and makes all kids equal!
I personally wouldn’t mind either way. But I do think they would spend a lot of time thinking about their outifts, especially girls. It puts another layer of pressure on some kids, not all of course. Of course kids could pick on others for what clothes they wear so dismissing that because ‘bullying will always be in schools’ isn’t good enough because it adds another opportunity for bullies to pick on kids. At least when there’s a uniform, they don’t have to think about what they’re wearing that day because everyone will look the same. It’s easy to dismiss but, as a mother of 4 pre-teens and teens, no matter how you raise them, kids and especially teens have insecurities. Mine would probably be fine with a change to non-uniform but it’s others who wouldn’t that I would be concerned for. I do think schools should not require unusual colours/designs/blazers, etc. It should definitely be generic.
I think the point is surely that so many kids have outgrown shoes and up til v recently no one could have kids’ feet measured. No school should, in these times, insist on black shoes, just runners or flat shoes should be fine.
My son went to a school with a uniform. It was fine. He’s now in Educate together and theres no uniform. It’s also fine, not once has there been discussion about brands etc. So perhaps we are just incredibly lucky or perhaps kids are just getting on with life without getting caught up.
Absolutely wear uniforms! When I saw “business owner” i wondered if the article was motivated by folk who want that “market” opened up. Better for families who dont have to constantly shell out for more ordinary clothing, better for kids who aren’t then trying to keep up with other students in the latest fashion and fad.
Thanks TheJournal.ie for conducting this survey following yesterday’s article on the topic
Uniforms are fine but is there a need for small kids to be in shirts and tie. Maybe something more practical like the tracksuits they have for PE.
I do agree that children in school should have a uniform policy, kids these day would be putting pressure on parents for the best of the best of clothing to keep up with others.
However I don’t agree that they should have to wear a uniform to school when they go back to school on Monday because a lot of children will have outgrown there uniform since the start of the pandemic and they are only in school for 6 weeks and off for the summer when they will need another new uniform. This is an added expense to parents that they could do without right now. Fair enough if your child still fits into the uniform they had! but maybe give the option of clothing worn to school for the next 6 weeks. Then back to uniform at the end of the summer.
I find uniforms dehumanizing since they strip us away of our individuality. I understand children can be insecure and may feel social pressure to follow the latest trends but it’s that journey that helps one grow and become more comfortable with oneself. Why shelter kids to this extent when eventually they’ll have to face the world on their own anyway?
@Sana Diwan: couldn’t agree more!
It is totally out of time. If ever was.
It kills their creativity, which also pass through what they dress with. My 8 and 10 yrs old, already choose what they want when we go “big boys” shopping, and are frustrated they can’t wear their favourite pair of jeans.
The “bullying” question it’s ridiculous. Bullying has always been and always will be around in 8-18 boys age. At my time too, and the 80s were really an explosion of fashion brands that not many could afford. But rather than educate in creativity and think independently, they prefer to sweep the dust under the rug of the uniform!
@Proudly Italian: It’s not creative to simply wear the latest fashion
@Don Beyoutee: that’s up for debate, but who ever said “the latest fashion” ? I wear what I like, it’s called “good taste”.
@Proudly Italian: Justifying bullying now… sad.
@JustMeHere: Who’s justifying ? Quite the contrary… Teachers should use as a leverage to educate that differences between persons goes beyond fashion and money. It is WRONG to bully anyone, but since it WILL happen, it’s teacher’s job (at school) to educate students using this as a leverage, if needed.
it helps identdify where thier from, have met many past pupils based on uniform, great to catch up on how things are since 30 years ago.
No.
If competing on the latest trends were such an issue, why is it not a problem outside of schools now? Why isn’t it a huge issue in schools without a uniform? Kids will ALWAYS find something to compete on having the “coolest” brand of. Right now that may be backpacks or pencil cases. And in order to really be picked on, the ones without the flashy brands would have to be small in number, and judging from the number of parents concerned about this, clearly they will NOT be small in number.
Dress codes also help to make sure kids think of non-school clothing as more than a tracksuit.
The pressures of what to wear wind up surfacing in college and the workplace anyway, it’s a part of life and I think it’s much healthier if kids learn to embrace it and their style at a young age when everyone isn’t so self conscious.
Sent my kids to a school uniform on purpose. I hated wearing a uniform when I was in school .
People say a uniform is easier, but 10 minutes on a Sunday evening hanging up 5 outfits for the week is all it takes!! No worries of trying to wash and dry a dirty uniform in the evening time for the next day
The headline should be: Business Owner Louisa Meehan massively misjudges actual public opinion on uniforms.
Uniform is a great leveller ,
Many young people are slaves to “fast fashion” i.e clothes made cheaply, (usually in Asia where workers are exploited and the environment destroyed by toxic chemicals and dyes leaching in waterways) which they wear a few times before they end out on landfill, which are also very destructive to the environment and are huge carbon emitters. Young people should be buying less clothes and not more, which they would be doing if they didn’t have a uniform. I encourage my secondary school students to see the uniform as a statement of equality not conformity and in my many years of teaching experience, the uniform has not managed to quell the myriad of wonderful, colourful personalities of my students.
A generic uniform with an iron on crest, nobody needs to be spending 700 quid on uniforms!
Those who defend uniforms on the grounds that they prevent competition among children to see who has the coolest clothes seem to forget that children don’t spend their entire days in school.
Out of school, the pressures to dress well (or not) are there as well. All uniforms do is impose an extra cost on parents and give schools a lazy way of imposing discipline.
I went to two secondary schools. One had a uniform, the other didn’t. One had teachers who treated the students with respect and encouraged their development as individuals. One had teachers who bullied students and jumped on any independent thought.
Guess which one had a uniform and which didn’t.
Interesting that so many parents like uniforms. I wonder what the students want?
Louise is a business owner, great.
Now explain her in depth educational background or expertise in psychological or sociological studies and her numerous investigations into matter.
Where can I find her papers or surveys comparing and contrasting and studying the effects of no uniforms in numerous countries like the USA versus Japan for example.
I understand it’s an opinion piece but surely the person giving it should have an extensive background and knowledge base in the area at the very least.
That is my opinion piece regarding all “opinion” pieces
Yes for climate – or else new clothes every week
It is totally out of time. If ever was.
It kills their creativity, which also pass through what they dress with. My 8 and 10 yrs old, already choose what they want when we go “big boys” shopping, and are frustrated they can’t wear their favourite pair of jeans.
The “bullying” question it’s ridiculous. Bullying has always been and always will be around in 8-18 boys age. At my time too, and the 80s were really an explosion of fashion brands that not many could afford. But rather than educate in creativity and think independently, they prefer to sweep the dust under the rug of the uniform!
@Proudly Italian: why create another way for kids to be bullied? Schools are designed to educate not to go around sorting out bullying due to what clothes people are wearing. There is a clear distinction in thought between those who have money and those who dont. You can see even on non uniform days, attendance will drop off and many will still wear their uniform anyway because it is all they feel comfortable in. Some students dont know what the latest fashion trends are and are anxious about it. I have seen first years proudly show off their huge boss bag to a student that had an Aldi bag on the first day of school. Ireland is not some utopia where poverty doesn’t exist. It’s just privileged people dont want to see it or havent because of their background. Children should not have to be worried about this on top of everything else they have to worry about these days.
@Gert McNulty: you are not creating anything that is not already there. That sort of bullying always existed and always will. Yes, it’s shool’s job to educate that the kid wearing Hugo Boss has nothing more and nothing less than a kid wearing penney’s. My parent’s weren;t rich, but managed to send me to a private schools back in the early 80s in Italy. I can tell you I was one of the few “not branded” from top to toe, but the teachers did a great job in make everybody feel the same. So, yes, is their job too.
@Gert McNulty: inequality isn’t something that’ll go away when they’re out of school. Eventually we become comfortable in our own shoes and realize that it does no good to compare ourselves to others. Why not start doing that at a younger age? Surely this should be part of an education (to not shun those with less than you)?
@Sana Diwan: Exactly. That’s exactly my point. You’ve the opportunity to educate, since young age, that differences between people are not made of a brand or money
Many young people are slaves to “fast fashion” i.e clothes made cheaply, (usually in Asia where workers are exploited and the environment destroyed by toxic chemicals and dyes leaching in waterways) which they wear a few times before they end out on landfill, which are also very destructive to the environment and are huge carbon emitters. Young people should be buying less clothes and not more, which they would be doing if they didn’t have a uniform. I encourage my secondary school students to see the uniform as a statement of equality not conformity and in my many years of teaching experience, the uniform has not managed to quell the myriad of wonderful, colourful personalities of my students.
I see a lot of people saying uniforms need to be made simpler and more affordable.
I think you could take elements of this of both that, and non uniforms, by schools having essentially a dress code, that allows flexibility, comfort and colour, while avoiding the problem elements of complete non uniforms. Plain hoodies, T shirts, polo necks, jeans, cardigans, shirts etc, no big brand names.
I think parents can overestimate how much brands are a thing.
In my secondary school, we didn’t have a shoe policy, people wore whatever they wanted. This didn’t result in people becoming obsessed with designer shoes, there were just as many cheap pennies runners, we didn’t have a PE uniform either, no issues arose!
The schools with the uniform shoes we’re shelling out much more on proper school shoes and official PE uniforms.
And they should include masks until mass vaccination.
@albhbc:
It’s very simple the divide between social classes would be more obvious if there was no uniforms. That’s very unfair to kids and parents. What we need is a level playing field and all to be viewed as equal which uniforms in my opinion will achieve.
Totally agree with you Barbara.
Many young people are slaves to “fast fashion” i.e clothes made cheaply, (usually in Asia where workers are exploited and the environment destroyed by toxic chemicals and dyes leaching in waterways) which they wear a few times before they end out on landfill, which are also very destructive to the environment and are huge carbon emitters. Young people should be buying less clothes and not more, which they would be doing if they didn’t have a uniform. I encourage my secondary school students to see the uniform as a statement of equality not conformity and in my many years of teaching experience, the uniform has not managed to quell the myriad of wonderful, colourful personalities of my students.
Many young people are slaves to “fast fashion” i.e clothes made cheaply, (usually in Asia where workers are exploited and the environment destroyed by toxic chemicals and dyes leaching in waterways) which they wear a few times before they end out on landfill, which are also very destructive to the environment and are huge carbon emitters. Young people should be buying less clothes and not more, which they would be doing if they didn’t have a uniform. I encourage my secondary school students to see the uniform as a statement of equality not conformity and in my many years of teaching experience, the uniform has not managed to quell the myriad of wonderful, colourful personalities of my students.
Absolutely wear uniforms! When
So I went to a mixed primary school in England and while they got the uniform in, the kids didn’t have to wear it if they didn’t want to. But the teachers had to wear it, obviously theirs were adapted. I think it was a red polo shirt for the teachers and black or navy bottoms. (yes it was weird). My parents bought uniforms for me and my siblings, we didn’t wear them much, but we were absolutely not allowed to wear jeans. I feel awful that my parents paid for the uniforms and we didn’t get the wear out of them. We moved to Ireland in 93 and had to wear uniforms in every single school we attended after. I preferred having a uniform in school and even when I used to work in Dunnes Stores.
One form uniforms for all sorts of forms. Skinny forms, fat forms, tall forms and short forms. Clever forms and silly forms, hot rocks and pop rocks all sorts wear uniforms put what matters is the form we take.
I think that uniform should be worn but there needs to be a lot of flexibility around it. The cost for one. Generic uniform & tracksuit in colour of the schools chosing so that it can be purchased in any shop. No restrictions on wearing trousers or skirts. No restrictions on Trainers or shoes as long as they’re right colour. No restrictions on colours of socks. As long as the students look reasonably similar there shouldnt be an issue.
I’m not keen on the idea of boys wearing plaid skirts to school, even on rare hot summer and autumn days.
Should school students read books? Yes, lots of them.
have your say