science @lemmy.world Wilshire @lemmy.world 9 mo. ago

School uniforms may be barrier to physical activity among younger girls

www.theguardian.com School uniforms may be barrier to physical activity among younger girls

Fewer pupils of primary-school age meet WHO minimum in countries where uniforms are the norm, Cambridge study finds

46 comments

It’s fucking backward to force little girls into skirts.
- And kids into uniforms
  
  They have their pros and cons. I wore a uniform to a public school (Australia) and it definitely meant that I had one less thing to worry about every day: being judged by what I wore. As an adolescent that meant a lot, and getting the freedom to wear whatever as an adult has meant that:
  
  I got to learn what's appropriate before I got that freedom and
  
  I had the maturity to not care what others thought about how I dressed.
  
  I went to a school uniform school (uk). It had its pros and cons but having 5 polo shirts, 2 sweaters, 3 pairs of black trousers (pants), a pair of shoes and a backpack wasn't the craziest ask for a decade of schooling.
- School uniforms promote a more classless society. In retrospect I definitely would have favored them. Of course they should be unisex.
  
  Only when the kids' parents can afford the uniforms, which has historically been used to divide the poor from the middle and upper classes.
If uniforms are absolutely necessary make everyone where the same thing. Pants and shorts for all.
- Put the "uni" into the "uniform"
  
  Unitards for all?
- This is how the schools are here in Arizona. Uniforms, but pants and shorts for all the students. Girls can also wear skirts, but really its just shorts that look like skirts.
  
  If you were curious, there’s a name for those: skorts! They were very popular when I was a kid.
- The standard child school uniform should be a michelin man costume.
  
  Identity: protected
  
  Safety: ensured
  
  Chefs: embittered
  
  Bullies: confused
Kilts for everyone
Clearly, the ability to be outside in appropriate clothing for activities isn’t being mandated. This is where a temperate climate enables ridiculous practices to persist.

All I can think about when I see this image is how in Ontario, the responsible provincial ministry requires all schools and ‘day nurseries’ (read day and after school care) to put the kids out in the yards twice a day unless the weather conditions are severe (Less than -20 or more than +30 Celsius.).

Parents are responsible to send their kids with suitable clothing for the cold. One rarely sees little girls in skirts in schools unless they are wearing tunic dresses over leggings.

In an earlier era, pre 1970s, when skirts were mandatory for girls, that meant switching to pants or snow pants from the skirts 3 times a day to go outside in winter (two breaks and leaving end of day).
What I think is absurd, at least around here, is that schools are allowed to require that students wear a specific uniform, but they're not allowed to require that students have a coat
- Forcing kids to bring coats is weird to me
  
  Maybe it’s different elsewhere, but I was born into a relatively cold+wet climate and moved to San Diego in elementary school. I didn’t bring a coat because it made me hot, I was acclimated to colder weather, and I didn’t want to carry it around.
  
  They refused to let me go outside for recess for weeks because I didn’t bring a coat and refused to wear one from the lost and found. Finally, one day, they sent me to the principal’s office and called my mom in for a chat to discuss my misbehaving.
  
  My mom’s response was, “You called me in from work for THIS?! If he’s not cold, he’s not cold! He has warm clothing at home. He’s capable of deciding whether or not he would be more comfortable with a jacket on. Let him go outside and leave me alone”
  
  See, that makes sense, but the problem here is when it's cold, they don't let the kids go outside at all because some of them may not have coats
Either this article is poorly researched, the study is scuffed, or both. It isn't the uniform but the type of which that the school enforces. There are plenty of schools with gender neutral uniform policies, heck the one I went to in Aus had 3 options, one of which is sports specific for all genders.
- The last paragraph
  
  Sarah Hannafin, the head of policy at the school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Physical activity, PE and sport are an important part of the school day and curriculum for pupils. Schools do much to help ensure all pupils are healthy and physically active and break down barriers to participation, including among girls – and this includes considering the uniform choices available for children.”
But but... They need them uniforms! They definitely need to be taught that their identity doesn't matter from a young age. How else would we get a society that obeys authority?

Clothes are inherently classful. Kids should not have to worry about class and what others think of what they wear and whatnot. Therefore, it's totally a good idea to rip away this freedom! In fact, I have an even better idea! Let's make all citizens of the country wear "citizen uniforms"! That way, there would be no class. No one would have to worry about what they would have to wear to work today if that choice didn't exist in the first place! Such a bright idea, no?

It is totally not draconian to tell others what to wear on their body (unless they wear clothing that can cause legitimate harm). Right? RIGHT?

/s
Oh god. Getting rid of school uniforms really will be the end.
- The end of...?
  
  School uniforms
  
  Basic standards and not having abject consumerism everywhere.
  
  People wear they bloody pajamas to go to the store now.
I'm pretty sure the dudes who are making this a requirement just believe the skirts are for easy access to their physical activity. 😡

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