Petition against mandatory school uniforms in UK state run schools

Campaign Against Mandatory School Uniform (C.A.M.S.U.)
Website coming soon
A campaign by gen:Now

It has been a long upheld belief of the UK Government and school authorities that wearing school uniform boosts morale, prevents bullying, improves the learning environment and provokes pride.

Not one of these claims has any discerning scientific evidence to promote them, and the sad fact is that mandatory school uniform is a practice of totalitarianism embraced blindly by school authorities in the United Kingdom.

Even the faintest notion that forcing students to adorn uniform, especially as restricting and inconvenient as it is in the majority of cases, promotes morale and respect for a school is the most preposterous thought that could cross any persons mind. Obviously, forcing anybody to do something they don’t wish to will breed strong disrespect for the body inflicting that thing upon them. This is only amplified by the fact that that thing is so painfully and blatantly non essential and efficiency would be monumentally increased if that thing was nullified.

School uniform in fact neither provokes pride nor boosts morale, but instead breeds hatred for the authority the student is being dictated by. States of mind spawn like “I was born on this Earth and already have been made to go to school by others essentially equal to me, and am even made to wear a ridiculous uniform – why should I do either? I have a right to lead my own life,” and “If this world is dictated by such old fashioned and ignorant dictators, how am I helping by doing what they say?” spread like wildfire and problems like truancy and vandalism occur as a direct result.

School is an institution designed to teach young people, after all, and although discipline is an essential element in producing generations that are productive during their life, there is a fine line between discipline and denial of human rights. The idea that young people should have their time taken from them, in the form of a detention, if their parents do not purchase a uniform is absurd.

Here is what a parent can expect to pay for a uniform for an average secondary school student. These prices are from School Uniform Direct (http://www.schooluniformdirect.co.uk), a popular school wear distributor.

- Blazer : £59.99
- Sweatshirt £6.99
- Trousers : £8.99
- Shirts : £2.99
- Socks : £3.00
- Tie : £4.00 (Ricara)
- Shoes : £45.00 (Russell and Bromley)

That adds up to £130.96 per student, usually per year because this clothing just doesn’t last. That means in one students school life, about £1440.56 and above can be spent just on uniform. Guess why? Because a school just isn’t the right environment to be wearing such ridiculous garments of clothing.

Now we come to the most outlandish statement of all; school uniform improves the learning environment. I actually laughed when I was told this was one of the reasons school uniform was compulsory in the UK. How old fashioned! How short sited! How completely disregarding what schools are all about; young people and their education! The UK’s schools bear a disconcerting likeness to Hitler’s Germany; the stern belief that any smidgen of individuality should be smashed.

It has been scientifically proven that young people learn best in an environment they find comfortable; something school uniform most certainly isn’t. It doesn’t keep you warm in the winter, and in the summer you roast; this makes concentrating extremely hard.

In addition to this, the government actually believes that wearing a school uniform will prevent bullying because students from lower income families and social classes cannot afford fashionable clothing. This is nonsense. I have several t-shirts, shirts, fleeces, jackets, jeans and a perfectly good pair of shoes for out of school, and all together none of them cost as much as £130.96 – and each of the garments I wear at home have a lifespan of several years! They are also perfectly fashionable!