...Is getting tied in knots over uniform a peculiarly British problem? "There is something extremely peculiar about the British obsession with uniforms, which is part of something bigger," agrees Professor Efrat Tseëlon of Leeds University. Uniforms are far less common in almost every European country although they have increased dramatically in the past 20 years in the US, linked to attempts to control gang culture. Tseëlon, a social psychologist specialising in visual appearance, says the British devotion to uniform reflects "a general etiquette towards children" defined by power, control and a lack of trust. There is no evidence that uniforms increase discipline and arguments about "levelling" are just "conscience laundering" – uniforms are used for precisely the opposite purpose by fee-paying (and an increasing number of specialist state) schools: as a badge of distinction. What about tussles over uniform being irrelevant distractions from learning? "The only party who is obsessed with it to the point of distracting schooling is the school itself," says Tseëlon. "By excluding pupils or sending them home they are the ones disrupting the education, not the children themselves..."
- From "School skirt ban is just the latest battle in the uniform wars", The Guardian, 23 August 2011
This gets extremely dodgy, to the point of underwear inspections at Sparta College - err, I mean, King's School in Winchester. One can't help but be reminded of Frank Zappa's maxim that "if you want an education, go to the library." The rest, one way or another, is bullshit.
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