Do Uniforms Make You Spend More?

[Candy]

Depends on the "level" of uniform.

My daughters attended a charter school until 8th grade. School colors were white, red, navy and khaki beige. Tops were polo style shirts. Bottoms could be pants or skirts. They could wear a variation of whatever they wanted as long as it was school colors. So one daughter could wear a navy skirt and white shirt and the other one could wear khaki pants and a navy shirt and they were still in uniform. The items were easy to find in any store anywhere.

On the other hand, I was educated in England. My school uniform was extremely strict...right down to underwear. It could only be bought in John Lewis in London...an expensive department store. It was painfully expensive and my parents loathed having to drive into London to buy it. Our outerwear was uniform, we had to have a blazer AND a raincoat....our shoes were uniform....gym wear was uniform, swimwear was uniform......etc etc......all identical like the military. It was a ghastly green and grey ensemble...

I personally think the IDEA of uniform is great. I also think that it should be easy. Jeans and school t-shirt in the summer and jeans and school sweatshirt in the winter!

This is true so uniforms can be different colors which is easier kids can still choose what color shirts and pants they want to wear and still be in dress code.

[Laurel]

odd = oldest daughter
mdd = middle daughter
ydd = youngest daughter

Here is the acronyms page... The initials throw me for a loop once in a while too. Sometimes I "get it" just by the content of the sentence/post but other times I am scratching my head...

https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16317

(of course reading over the list of acronyms, I see "odd" isn't included... LOL!)

Okay, thanks! I didn't think it meant her daughter was odd. ::

Laurel

[Michelle]

My daughter wears uniforms and each piece..polo shirt/shirt/skorts/pants etc. costs between $35-$45 but she goes to private school and can only purchase from one store in Orange County. They are only open from 9-4 Mon-Fri and a few random Saturdays

The public school's have informs and they can buy like a polo shirt for $8-$15
and any bottoms for about $15
They sell them in thrift stores and schools always give sets away to the neediest of families.

I like uniforms except for the white shirts.
I've seen kids come home looking like they were involved in a pizza/chocolate war at school and I cringe at the thought of their poor moms getting those stains out

[Leanna]

That's not exactly true. My elementary and middle school (all public K-8 schools in the county I grew up in) had uniforms and there were times my mom had to take my brother to school in his underwear because he refused to get dressed. Plus, if the child is overweight (as I was) it is hard to find uniforms that fit right (and the ones that do cost more) and the material that most school uniforms are made of wear out easily. NOTE: If they are expensive and hard to find, you most likely wont have many different pairs, which means you have to wash them more often (especially if you only have 2 or 3 sets of uniforms and there 5 days in an average school week). Which costs more for washing (we lived in an apartment; no in-unit machines & laundry mat= pay per wash) and it also causes the uniforms to fade and wear out faster.

Plus, most school uniforms are just plain ugly (Elementary schools were dark green {some were navy blue} bottoms and white tops; middle schools white shirts w/ black bottoms) which can lead to lowering self-esteem (which is already an issue with most children these days).

Another thing to think about, it may make it even harder to pin-point neglect because one of the signs of child neglect is not only wearing dirty clothes but the same clothes multiple days in a row. How can a teacher tell if all uniforms look pretty much the same?

Interesting. As a child who grew up very poor and also neglected, I think uniforms would have made a huge positive change in my life, especially in junior high school. I agree that they should be easy to wear/find and not too expensive, such as khaki bottoms with a polo shirt with the school name on it. There are a few schools up here that require just a uniform top (polo shirt) which you can buy directly from the school for only $5 apiece.

[countrymom]

our grade schools don't have them here, only the catholic high schools do (and no you don't have to pay to go to them)

I hate dress down days, that means my dd needs to find something to wear. So much easier to wear a uniform. Also, their school sells used uniforms which is great too or she finds them in the lost and found and brings them home. And in sept. my mdd will be going to highschool so she can wear the dress shirts that I bought and my dd never wore, I will have to buy a skirt and I can pick the pants up at costco for a fraction of the price (as long as they are the similiar grey) the shorts, well she'll have to wear a belt.

I really do think the pressure for dressing is taken off the kids when you all look the same. Like today 240 kids are going to see a movie at the theater and they all look the same, so it does look classy too.

[debbiedoeszip]

love uniforms

My DS wore a uniform for high school. I loved it (he despised it LOL). Initially, the price is high, but I bought shirts large enough that they could be worn two years in a row, and pants long enough that when hemmed and then later rehemmed, were also worn for two years. After school, he'd change into a t-shirt and pj pants most of the time (he's a homebody).

We were required to buy the uniforms from a school uniform company and they were really high quality. Not sure about the uniforms sold at stores like Walmart and Target, though. Their material and stitching might not last for several years, especially if it's young, active kids (vs. teens) wearing them.

[Play Care]

our grade schools don't have them here, only the catholic high schools do (and no you don't have to pay to go to them)

I hate dress down days, that means my dd needs to find something to wear. So much easier to wear a uniform. Also, their school sells used uniforms which is great too or she finds them in the lost and found and brings them home. And in sept. my mdd will be going to highschool so she can wear the dress shirts that I bought and my dd never wore, I will have to buy a skirt and I can pick the pants up at costco for a fraction of the price (as long as they are the similiar grey) the shorts, well she'll have to wear a belt.

I really do think the pressure for dressing is taken off the kids when you all look the same. Like today 240 kids are going to see a movie at the theater and they all look the same, so it does look classy too.

We had TONS of dress down days in high school. Anytime they held a fundraiser that was the prize. And of course those with well off parents who bought out the fundraiser were always dressed down in designer clothing

[hwichlaz]

No, only if you want 5 days of uniforms with every little extra possible. I always had school clothes and then had to change into play clothe when I got home as a kid anyway. My mom would have loved to buy my 2 or 3 uniforms instead of 7-10 school outfits.

[Rachel]

Here it costs me a lot less. The kids have t-shirts that are uniform and skirts or pants that are regular. The t-shirts & sweat shirts aren't any more expensive than regular shirts. The quality is fine if not great, and people don't save them to give to their sister's kids (since it's a different school), so I have gotten lots of hand me downs. I bought uniform shirts the year my twins went to 1st grade (they are in 4th now), and I can count on one hand the amount of times I've had to buy shirts after that.