Give this head Teacher a 'medal'.

[Herr Tubthumper]

I cannot get worked up about this. I really cannot come to any conclusion about the pros or cons of school uniform. Whilst I believe children need to be taught to understand rules and discipline etc these can, and have been, taught successfully through other means. I also don't believe they suppress individuality. If anything I'd suggest it enhances it as greater creativity can be engendered when constraints are applied/variables are fixed. If you feel strongly one way or another add this to the list of items you want when looking for a school. If the policy changes then either live with it or move.

I never had to wear a uniform btw.

 

[dingodan]

We all at times need a kick up the you know where - left to our own devices, we do not always show self-discipline.

Nor will we while we are accustomed to external rules determining our behavior Instead of our own internal mechanisms of reason and conscience.

The whole point I am making is that by resorting to rules in the ways that we do, we replace the question, "is it safe to travel in this area at this speed?", with the question, "what's the limit here?". It's a subtle but important difference to me, and I believe that it will be the determinant of whether we live in a world where people "need a kick up the backside", or not.

I don't believe that you can foster personal responsibility with rules, in fact I think they stifle it.