Time to scrap school uniforms, says Democrat

[WeekendRaider]

it might not be a baby step.  it could be a good first step, the first one since the attempt at decentralization of the schools in 2004, was it? or 2005???

a big part of "being a student" is wearing those uniforms.  so if dropping it entirely that "being a student" means more as in reading books that could be a real good thing.  

Edited May 13, 2019 by WeekendRaider

[inThailand]

Why not have both? Give them the option of wearing the uniforms or not. Making decisions is part of learning. 

[monkeycu]

4 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Saving money too, this girl is wearing the same uniform as she wore in grade 3. Explains why those skirts just seem to get shorter and shorter, tighter and tighter.

And she can wear it at her evening job at the local bar

[SuwadeeS]

School uniforms are ok, because it prevents what happens other countries that kids look only om the brand wearing... Nike, Puma etc.

 

Since I do know that all the clothes on the market, including school uniforms are made for a little of the sales price, the government school limit the price. That would be more helpfully.

[jingjai9]

Uniform literally means - one shape. Unforms promote an equality among students. If uniforms are worn appropriately, loose fitting and conservative, there is less focus on the body and more on personal attributes not physical endowment. I taught for many years in America and it is often like a fashion show. What does it say about our values when middle school girls aged 12 and 13 wear low cut and tight shirts to school? Also, boys wearing the gangsta style pants revealing underwear. I admit Thai students do alter uniforms to make them appear sexier, but to do away with uniforms is opening the proverbial "can of worms." 

 

Also, I understand one reason for uniforms is that of identity. When students are in public places uniforms display their status as students and their contrubution to society. 

 

Finally, uniforms can minimize class differences among people. I have heard girls in America gossip about clothes and styles of their peers, "She's wearing that blouse again?" There are so many wholesome reasons for keeping uniforms. 

 

Of course this article calling for the scrapping of uniforms was no doubt just a need for something to say, a rattling of the chains to stir us up. I have polled my students here in Thailand over the years and most are in favor of wearing uniforms.

 

[davemos]

Wait till parents face the bill for the latest fashion and shoes etc and the poor will be segregated by style .

[Sydebolle]

It is the rip-off by the "assigned" or "appointed" or "authorized" tailor which blows everything out of proportion.

School uniforms have the great advantage to keep the "fashion show" element off the school yard and makes pupils - clothwise at least - equal; something not to be sneezed at in a country where face and social status is so terribly important.

I had three kids through international school and had their uniforms cut by professional tailors off the school compound and had to buy the entire regalia of patches at an exorbitant price from the school. I still opted for that solution as the quality and wearability was considerably healthier and more comfortable than this polyester shirts, shorts and shoes for more than 3'000 Baht a set.

[Toscano]

School uniforms are about much more than uniformity . School uniforms make children identifiable out of school , they give a social equality among students , so that even children from the poorest families are not exposed as such . School uniforms set a habitual dress sense that one hopes will be continued in adult life . School is not exclusively about academic study , it is about general education and social education .  I am British a parent and grandparent I have seen the ragbag of students who attend state schools where no uniform is required . I have to admit that I myself never liked school uniforms ; however I was an earlier pupil at the very expensive English Public School that Thailand's present King attended . At Millfield there was no set uniform , but a very strict dress code that required boys to be very neatly dressed whether in country tweeds or pin striped city suits , collared shirts with a school tie or a navy blue tie . My nephew attended the same school , my sister used to cut all the labels out of his clothes , so that other boys could not see that they were not designer . As a parent I saw the need for school uniforms . Thai students look very smart in their school uniforms that must give them a sense of self respect .       

[pauleddy]

Uniforms are a great leveller. All kids wear the same, even if Dad is a zillionaire. So an Armani-kid cannot wear it at school.

 

One way to ease this a little is to allow M6 to wear what they wish on Fridays (so long as the skirts are not high-high and the sissy gays don't wear drag)

 

Eddy

[toenail]

How about schools getting rid of their pageants & spending that money on updated books instead? 

[kcpattaya]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

...Democratic Party member...

Really? I though party-members should be a little bit more sensible? 
Instead of scrap the uniforms:
Why not fight the exorbitant profits that most schools make in Thailand or subsidize school uniforms?

[Orton Rd]

Keep the uniforms and scrap the Schools, most of them learn more from You tube anyway ????????

[dlclark97]

Quote

I agree with some previous posts about keeping the uniforms.  There is still and always will be peer pressure when it comes to children whose parents can afford the days fashions versus those whose children are wearing older less fashionable clothes.  What I am strongly opposed to is that young girls are forced to color their natural hair color black which must be frequently redone and is also a financial burden to parents.  There is also the concern that in the long term this may permanently damage the hair.

 

[recom273]

Having seen both sides - worked in decent and bad bilingual schools that had Freestlye Friday’s - the parents must have spent a fortune on street clothes. 

 

On the other side - village schools where kids starting out in P1 would wear a new uniform that will fit them in P3 and the same uniform that would be too small for them in P4-P6 .. where the schools ran their own uniform exchanges. 

 

There is no answer to this - apart from the perhaps the militaristic way that the school uniform is used. Stop butchering long hair, stop (using) scouts as paramilitary training, stop the punishment when kids don’t have a correctly embroidered shirt, stop the lining up of students in the sun ever morning.

 

Every parent in the world (and grandparent in the village schools) has difficulty providing school clothes, Democrats should work on bringing up the standard of living so people can afford the relatively inexpensive uniform and educate them so that they put these expenses before their monthly installment for the new car or new motorbike. 

[hotchilli]

Give up uniforms in the land of uniforms.... never in a million years will this ever happen.

Can you imagine the fall-out from the manufacturers who are kept game-fully employed making a uniform for every school & occasion you can think of in the Thai calendar year!

[mania]

1 hour ago, baansgr said:

Uniforms cheap......have you got kids...far from cheap can tell you that, I've just spent almost 10k on my kids...not so much for me but a months salary for many

Yeah but what I said was uniforms are "cheaper for parents than the latest fashion"

[BobbyL]

Nothing wrong with uniforms to a certain extent. They should do similar to schools in the UK and international schools here where it could be school uniform for 2 - 3 days, PE kit one day and then a free clothes day on a Friday. 

 

Whenever I notice kids going to a Thai school it seems they have a variety of different uniforms they have to wear which is ridiculous. 

[pauleddy]

I know kindergarten teachers who must (on certain days) wear more custard than a Vice-Admiral, along with medals and tabs. Even the guy in my car-park has more medals than my grandfather who fought at Ypres and my g-grandfather who was in the RFC at 17 and survived to get an MBE later.

 

Eddy

[malibukid]

4 hours ago, YetAnother said:

amounts to butting heads with a fundamental tenet of thainess; appearance over substance

appearances are everything here.  so fake

[malibukid]

reminds me of Catholic school????

[malibukid]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I like uniforms ;)

 

now i could get behind that????

[mlmcleod]

As a "democrat" and conservative, how can her children dress and show their wealth if they have to dress just like the poor children??  Might be better if the wealthy could just be taxed to subsidize the school uniforms!

[Scouse123]

They have got no chance of getting that passed.

 

Thailand has a deep-rooted fascination and love affair with uniforms.

 

It starts at school and then everybody from the Security at Big C to the night watchman is dressed like an Admiral or a General.

[canuckamuck]

The uniforms are a good idea, but why five different uniforms a week? That's the expensive part.

[spidermike007]

They need to rid the teachers of those ridiculous uniforms that make them appear to have some sort of rank within the military. It is a false sense of authority. It is inane. The best way for the country to progress, is to encourage the kids to start asking questions of their teachers. Challenge them. Otherwise you are stifling creativity at an age when it is natural for kids to manifest it. It is a huge detriment to society, and turns an inquisitive mind, into a dull mind. No wonder many Thai people are some of the least curious people I have ever encountered anywhere in the world. It is knocked out of them in school. Unless they go to University, or leave the country, they do not get it back. 

 

I think uniforms for the kids are simply a way for the government and the army to keep people from showing any personality, or character. Keep them all looking the same. Make them all think the same. Do not allow the kids to be creative or show individuality. 

[scorecard]

6 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Maybe she should get into the new world of social media, selfies etc., the reason for uniform, is that every student doesn't have to worry about peer pressure, when it comes to their clothes.

Subsidising uniforms for poorer families would be a far better idea.

Plus maybe the dems should be thinking about some other much more serious aspects of education which need attention, the most obvious being the need to reverse teaching methodology to push student participation, push analysis and questions, etc etc.

 

[Caldera]

If you take the neat uniforms away from Thai schools, there's nothing of any substance left - certainly nothing resembling "education". In that sense these uniforms are lipstick on a pig.

[Moo 2]

Finally something that makes a lot of sense. It's obvious that when people have to wear

what they are TOLD to wear then competition no longer exit, there is also the cost of uniforms,

degradation of self-esteem and personality. 

I always said, they want children to wear uniforms, ok but anyone working or involve with the

Education Department should wear uniforms also so everyone is at equal level, as in the

Military,  where everyone wears a uniform, including Generals!

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

6 hours ago, otherstuff1957 said:

As Thailand has a violent gang problem at many Tech schools, they should keep their uniforms.

 

Sorry, have you been in Thailand so long you've adopted twisted Thai logic? If there are uniforms you know who to target from another school. If no-one wears a uniform the target can't be identified. How, in your mind, does retaining the uniform help with the gang problem? Please tell us.

[Kasset Tak]

Where I work (vocational college) the school sell the clothes, roughly 2000 Baht and that is for 2 white shirts (long and short sleeve), 2 polo shirts, 2 pants/skirts, jacket, necktie, belt and all other accessories. Most students wear those clothes at least 5 days a week, 36-40 weeks a year for 3-5 years... And still the parents complain that they have to pay 2000 Baht for their childrens school uniforms when they start the first year in the school and, the parents also forget that (most of) the students live in our dormitory where they have 3 meals a day 7 days a week during the school year... for free! We also try to create on campus job opportunities for those who need/want so that they can earn money on their free time, for example: run projects to sell their own produce (vegetables, chickens, eggs, etc.), caddying at the local golf club, landscaping, and work for the local farmers.