School uniform. We've all experienced this
unwelcome hassle at some point in our lives. Whether it be for 'a sense of
solidarity' or to look 'smart' for some higher up who decided what looks good
and what doesn’t for schools, most people have felt the half-covered oppression
that is being forced to wear ugly clothes for no real reason at all. It's time
we stood up for our kids and put an end to it. It may be too late for us but we
can at least improve their school life.
Being used as a form of oppression for centuries
now, the school uniform effectively crushes any and all sense of individuality
for the students. Having to wear the same thing makes the students all blend
into one large mass, no longer people themselves, they become reduced to
numbers and statistics on reports that seem to be the only thing the schools
care about. Self-expression is very important for the children at this time in
their lives and clothing is one of the best ways to do that, completely denying
them of it could have catastrophic consequences on their development into
maturity.
A common excuse for it is the 'school trip
scenario'. A class in on a trip to the zoo. One child gets lost. The child is
found by somebody recognizing the uniform. Happy ending. I can see several
flaws in this argument. First off why is a teacher so incompetent allowed to be
caring for several children in a public place? When your entire job is teaching
and controlling children every day, surely this should be the type of situation
you’re prepared for? Secondly, the ‘buddy’ system is an excellent way to keep
the group together. If a child has someone they must stick with they are much
less likely to wander off. Anyway, this argument isn’t even applicable to
anyone over the age of 11.
Recently there has been a rising number of
overly-territorial secondary school students attacking people affiliated with
rival schools. While the best course of action would be to stop these with help
from the school and police, there will always be replacements for this on-going
problem in the community. If students didn’t have a particular piece of
obligatory clothing associating them with a school, they would be much less
likely to be targeted.
We need to band together and fight for our childrens
right to wear whatever they want. We need to make our voice heard by the
schools. We need to save our kids!
Anaphora
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