School uniforms | Imamother

shabbatiscoming

Thu, Jul 27 2006, 11:16 am

I think the idea of uniforms are great. there is no "oh, look, she wears xyz, that means that she is fgh".

that said, I went to an elementary school where there was no dress code at all untill those terrible bart simpson t-shirts came out and then there was a dress code.

in high school too, there was a very strict dress code.

so, I said I like the "idea" of a uniform, but in practice, I know that I would have detested it, having to wear the same thing day in and day out.

how does it come out to be cheaper with school uniforms? you still have to buy your daughters clothing for when they are not in school but it is not shabbat or yom tov, after school, sundays.

carrot

Thu, Jul 27 2006, 3:22 pm

Buddy wrote:

Quote:

are you Satmar too?

Yes I am

Welcome!

Having uniforms comes out cheaper because you do not need nearly as many clothes. The school uniforms are usually durable and if you buy it once it lasts for a long time. Many students don't change out of their uniforms when they come home from school so that leaves only Sundays, Motzei Shabbos, and days off. You don't need too many outfits for that. Sometimes you have a longer vacation so you might need more clothes, but during vacation time you are usually not seeing your friends every day so there is no peer pressure "forcing" you to wear something different and equally fantastic each day. Yes, Shabbos clothes stays the same.

frummom

Thu, Jul 27 2006, 3:27 pm

the only thing I would add to what carrot said is that if your kids go away to camp, you're starting with a smaller base of clothes than a non-uniform wearing kid, and have to spend a large fortune to outfit them instead of a small one. Rolling Eyes

imanut

Thu, Jul 27 2006, 7:38 pm

frummom wrote:

but you wouldn't send expensive clothes to camp would you? so much stuff gets lost/ruined.

shoy18

Thu, Jul 27 2006, 8:36 pm

my neices school has something I think is pretty smart, they have a brand of skirts in J stores that they are allowed to wear with any shirt. The skirts are fairly cheap and go on sale from time to time. Its way more comfortable than a uniform but its still some sort of order.

In High school I had a dress code, any dark solid skirt and an oxford shirt, you were allowed to wear any sweater or vest as long as you had a shirt or collar (if you dont take the sweater off) underneath

Raisin

Fri, Jul 28 2006, 5:18 am

The hard thing I find with school uniform is that I have to make sure every night that my kids have the right uniform clothes clean for the next day. Their uniforms also won't go in the dryer so it is always a challenge. I try and make sure they have lots of shirts, because they need a clean one every day. In vacation time there is always something that is clean so it is not nearly such a big job.

I had a friend who sent her kids to a very exclusive non Jewish private school. The uniforms were dry clean only, except the shirts, which I think needed ironing. They were also horrendously ugly, bight turquoise if I remember correctly.

frummom

Fri, Jul 28 2006, 9:15 am

Quote:

but you wouldn't send expensive clothes to camp would you? so much stuff gets lost/ruined.

no, I don't - but when you've been wearing a uniform all year and have only a few different outfits otherwise, having to acquire a 12 day (or whatever) wardrobe is expensive, no matter what.

having said that, I still love uniforms. too bad they don't wear them in camp!

chen

Fri, Jul 28 2006, 10:50 am

frummom wrote:

I still love uniforms. too bad they don't wear them in camp!

I fantasize about getting a job in which we wear uniforms. It would really simplify work life. I travel for work a few times a year and don't have a whole lot of clothes. I literally have to keep a record of what I wear to make sure that I don't end up wearing the grey suit with the blue blouse every time I go to the Minsk office and the blue suit with the grey blouse every time I go to the Pinsk office.

ceo

Fri, Aug 04 2006, 9:29 am

When I was in hs we did not have uniforms. Once, I asked the principal about it, and she told me that it's b/c she doesn't want the girls wearing uniforms at school, and then jeans or other not-tznius clothing on Sundays. I thought that that was a wise derech in chinuch, for the types of girls who went to my school.

In general, I do think that uniforms are a good idea. But some are kind of ugly- there is one elementary school in j'lem--- pnk shirts w/ burgundy skirts!

chen

Fri, Aug 04 2006, 11:02 am

ceo wrote:

she doesn't want the girls wearing uniforms at school, and then jeans or other not-tznius clothing on Sundays.

How does this follow? If a girl wants to wear untzniusdik clothing on Sundays, how is not wearing a uniform going to prevent that?

Crayon210

Fri, Aug 04 2006, 11:13 am

I think it's to discourage the concept of "school clothes" and "home clothes"; ideally they should be the same (in terms of tznius).

jewgal84

Fri, Aug 04 2006, 11:35 am

I loved having uniforms, aaah!

The pressure of not having to choose my outfit every morning, alone, gave me the extra 20 minutes to sleep in Very Happy

!!!

chen

Fri, Aug 04 2006, 2:31 pm

Crayon210 wrote:

I think it's to discourage the concept of "school clothes" and "home clothes"; ideally they should be the same (in terms of tznius).

interesting. I always had "school clothes" and "home clothes" just as I now have "work clothes" and "home clothes". woe betide me if my mom caught me lounging around in my school clothes, and I wouldn't think of starting dinner in my work clothes. no difference in tznius--difference in price, fabric and care instructions.

the idea behind uniforms is among other things, davko that when you are dressed for school in clothes you wear only to school, it primes you mentally for being more serious about your studies. If you wear the same thing to school as you do to go bowling with your pals, you lose out on that extra "oomph" that you get from having special garb for school.

amother

Mon, Jul 09 2007, 6:50 pm

Buddy wrote:

The Satmar Rebbe didn't allow uniforms, the point? that girls should know how to dress tznius after leaving school.

The Satmar girls' school in Boro Park certainly does have uniforms. I see the girls wearing them.

melalyse

Mon, Jul 09 2007, 9:11 pm

I have a big issue with uniforms. I think that there should be guidelines like any solid black skirt a certain length. Or either a pleated or a- line black skirt. And maybe any solid shirt. I think that it could do horrers for a teanagers self esteem if they have heavier hips and those drop waist pleated skirts look terrible on them. I would have felt terrible every day having to wear that every day and my self esteem would be through the floor. Also, I look terrible in white, pale blue or pale yellow. I think that a better think would be any solid botton down shirt, You can say only a certain brand.
I think that it is so unfair to make everyone wear the same thing that looks good on dark skinned skinny girls.

Seraph

Tue, Jul 10 2007, 5:04 am

I loved having a school uniform.

Rosh chodesh we could wear our own clothes, so long as they fit a certain guideline, so thats how the school "taught us" about dressing properly when not in uniform.

Marion

Tue, Jul 10 2007, 6:22 am

The PUBLIC school my mom teaches in has uniforms...and a "Muslim" version (more "tznius" lengths...) as well. The idea is to be able to identify who DOESN'T belong, as they had in the past a lot of intruders who did damage to the school and caused trouble with the kids. It's an immigrant population, and in a low-class neighbourhood, and my mom says she's seen a huge difference in the kids since before they introduced the.

We never had a uniform, davka because the admin in our school DIDN'T want us to stick out in public. I would have loved it.

greenfire

Tue, Jul 10 2007, 8:22 am

I'm torn between uniforms and not ... while I personally hate them ... they are a convenience ... although in high school they only have a plaid one and when dd was in 6th and under you could wear a blue skirt as well and they're are better materials out there than the "plastic" polyester plaids ... and the uniform definately comes off right after school ... I cannot stand when I see uniforms on the girls at birthday parties or running around in ...