Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, or have ever been to a school before, you’ll no doubt have an opinion on how schools can deal with bullying. There’s been some debate throughout history about whether school uniforms could actually help to reduce bullying.
Let’s begin by acknowledging that bullying is a complex issue. It's not just about the bullies, and it's not just about their victims.
The school and home environments play an important role in bullying prevention too. School uniforms can be one tool that help to create a positive school culture, which has been said to help reduce bullying.
A 2019 study by charity Ditch the Label found that a fifth of young people had experienced some level of bullying in the previous 12 months. Three out of four people who were bullied said it affected their mental health and nearly half became depressed as a result. Nearly two-thirds (59%) believed attitudes towards their appearance were the likely cause of bullying.
Thinking back to your time at school, anyone can understand the detrimental effect bullying can have on a student’s ability to learn. Therefore, we all know bullying is an issue that needs to be considered when looking at the effectiveness and success of a school.
Appearance is one of the top reasons for being bullied. While the root cause of bullying needs to be dealt with first and foremost, there are ways to help protect students. It’s been debated whether a school-wide dress code could reduce the rate of bullying.
Here we take a look into how schools can deal with bullying via school uniforms and the arguments for and against them.
School uniforms and peer pressure
Uniforms could help students feel more comfortable and less judged by their peers. This can help them to feel safer at school.
Students who wear school uniforms are less likely to be bullied than those who don't because the uniform levels out social class and wealth disparity. School intervention programmes (which includes school uniforms) are reported to reduce bullying by 30-50%.
Children then can’t be singled out for not having the latest jeans, or expensive trainers, removing a potential point of friction with their peers. The uniformity eliminates a distraction, removes potential fashion anxiety, and therefore helps children to concentrate.
It reduces the feeling of being left out because everyone is wearing the same thing. This allows students to focus on their education instead of worrying about what clothes they're going to wear each day or how much money their parents can afford for them (or whether or not those clothes are considered "cool").
However, it’s been widely discussed that school uniforms are expensive. This could cause stress for families on lower incomes. While cheaper clothes that aren’t branded to a school can be available, there is the argument that some school uniforms are made using higher quality fabrics. As a result, less investment is needed further down the line.
School uniforms and positive school culture
The most significant benefit of school uniforms could be that they help create a more positive school culture and a sense of community within the student body. This means that students are more likely to feel like they belong in their schools.
On the other hand, it could be argued that conformity to a uniform reduces a student’s ability to act as an individual. Students express themselves through their appearance.
However, while wearing the same clothes as everyone else does limit this ability, this could encourage children and teens to express themselves in other ways. They might find accessories and hairstyles to elevate their personality. Or they might take the time to find new hobbies, interests, or opinions on current subjects, expressing themselves through socially or intellectually.
School uniforms and time to focus on education
Students in schools without a uniform policy can spend a lot of time thinking about what to wear. They have to decide on the right combination of clothes that will make it look like they care about their appearance, but not so much that other people think they're trying too hard. They also have to consider whether or not the outfit is appropriate for school and whether or not it would be acceptable as part of a school uniform.
The more time they spend worrying about these things, the less we can focus on their actual education. School uniforms help students focus by allowing them to get dressed quickly in their morning rush and reducing distractions from peers who might judge them based on their outfits (or lack thereof). Students can then spend more time developing their skills and exploring their interests rather than worrying about what they look like at all times.
This point relates to the above two sections. It also leads back to the notion that uniforms could have a negative effect on self-image. While uniforms may save time and stress in the mornings, peers could compare their physical development to each other’s as they may appear different while wearing the same clothes.
School uniforms and feeling safer
Another way school uniforms help to reduce bullying is by making students feel more comfortable and secure. There's no need to worry about what other students think about the clothes they wear or how much money their parents have spent on them. They have one less thing to worry about at school. Instead of focusing on what everyone else is wearing, now all of their attention can be put toward learning.
This freedom from worrying about appearances also helps reduce bullying among students who might otherwise be targeted because of their clothes or style choices. And it may help prevent bullying by reducing competition over fashion statements that some kids use as ways to establish dominance over others in their social groups (and thus gain power).
The alternative argument here could be that there is no evidence to suggest that school uniforms improve attendance. If students feel safe at school, they are more likely to attend and enjoy their time there, right? But there’s nothing to link this idea specifically to uniform.
Do benefits of school uniforms extend beyond school?
It can be argued that school uniforms help to reduce bullying because they make it easier for others to see past a student’s clothes and get to know who they really are. They’re not defined by surface-level perception, meaning deeper relationships can form. It also helps everyone feel welcome when they see everyone dressed similarly.
This can help cultivate social and interpersonal skills and develop confidence and wellbeing that can be carried into later life.
School uniforms encourage students' self-esteem by making them feel like they belong at school.
Although, it has been said that focusing on uniforms may actually take attention away from the root cause of bullying. This can mean that the real problem goes unaddressed. This is an area in great need of investigation, at every instance of bullying.
Conclusion
There are many pros and cons to school uniforms when it comes to bullying. How schools can deal with bullying is a huge topic and cannot be answered in one blog post. Due to a lack of research and statistics around whether school uniforms help to reduce bullying, it’s up to each school to decide whether a uniform will benefit the education of their students.
