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I think uniforms are a good idea, it equalizes everyone and it prevents distractions (writing on clothing, for example). I think kids have other outlets for showing their personalities.

Not all places in Europe do uniforms for public school, though. Where I live, public schools don't have uniforms.

My high school just started wearing "semi" uniforms. They have to wear certain colored (school colors) pollo and their shorts have to be to their knees. It's weird to me because when I went there we didn't have uniforms. It kind of makes me sad because if kids dressed with a little more respect and modestly..... they wouldn't have had to do that.

I think I'd rather my LO go to a school without uniforms, but it's not a deal breaker.

@Mrsbells: I am in Switzerland. No uniforms in public school. I also don't think they do uniforms in Italy, but I could be wrong there.

i love uniforms! getting ready in the mornings must be faster since you don't have to worry about what you're going to wear. but our kids will be going to public school so they will not have uniforms. you'll save so much money on clothes too!

I'm 50/50. I think when they're younger, I'd appreciate the ease/saving $$/etc. But, as the kids get older I'd want them to have the freedom to choose their style (within my modesty rules). Our kids will go to public school, so no uniforms for them!

I love the idea of it, but it can be pricey. Our daycare also has private PreK and Kindegarten. Those classes wear uniforms. The uniforms must contain the school logo. This means there is one vendor to get the tops or dresses from that have the logo. And they tend to be more expensive than what I would normally spend on a top or dress.

I'm not sure what we will do when LO gets to be that age as far as keeping her in the private preK and K or going public. I don't believe our public schools presently have uniforms, but I won't be surprised if that changes in the next 4 years either.

I love the idea of uniforms. We didn't have name brand clothing growing up and trying to fit in and look cool was a struggle. I don't want LO to go through that, I feel like kids these days are meaner.

She'll go to public school in NYC so I'm not sure if she will be at a uniform school. Some public schools do require uniforms, but it's not a policy that is citywide. My husband teaches at a school that observes a uniform dress code--but I believe it's the kids can dress down on Fridays.

I went to Catholic school and always liked wearing a uniform. I don't know about them being "equalizers", but I do think it makes things a hell of a lot easier when dealing with getting a kid dressed for school. LO will go to Catholic school, too, so she will be in uniform, too.

I wore a uniform in middle school and high school. It was awesome. I was actually really sad when the school changed their policy to a "dress code" after I graduated.

@looch: Oh, definitely! I guess what I meant to say is that I'm not sure that they worked as an equalizer in my particular school. As others noted, kids will usually find a way to compete, i.e. with accessories, shoes or bags. That said, it's true that in general there is slightly less focus on fashion/keeping up with each other, which is good. Every little bit helps, I suppose.

I went to private schooly whole life and wore a uniform until high school where it changed to just a "dress code". Honestly the dress code was harder than the uniform! I think it makes things so much easier.

@meredithNYC: gotcha!!!

I think uniforms are awesome! I went to public school, so I never had them, but I always wished we did. I hated (and still hate) having to pick out something to wear. It would have been so much easier with uniforms. And I know my mother would have loved it.

My younger siblings have had uniforms for their entire school career, as they attend a charter school. I think they all like it, and I've never seem them care about "expressing themselves" during school hours. My little sister is actually a really cute dresser outside of school, so it didn't hinder her at all. My 15 year-old twin brothers couldn't care less.

@MamaG: but all you need is 4-5 outfits and they're set for the year, right? Then the only additional clothes you need are pajamas and some weekend outfits. Wouldn't the cost mostly even out?

@prettylizy: Oooh very true. Good point. I suppose it would be easier to "splurge" on a few nice accessories if you only have to buy uniforms and a few weekend outfits. But I imagine some families "expensive" is totally different than what we consider "expensive". Especially in a private school.

I wouldn't mind a school with uniform, I think it would be easier.

I don't care either way.

I went to private school in high school and we had uniforms. I loved it! I hated free dress days- they really stressed me out because of the competition factor. The school I went to was also pretty high end so you stuck out like a sore thumb if you weren’t wearing the latest and greatest trend. On uniform days (which were almost all the time) people definitely would compete over shoes, purses (girls would bring in their Coach purse with their backpack for example) and definitely cars. So in my school it really wasn’t a huge equalizer but it eliminated a lot of stress.

Also, our uniforms were expensive!!! My brother is in private school right now (8th grade) and his are even more costly because he grows so quickly that they have to be replaced fairly often. And they have to have the school logo/be bought by a specific vendor. In my high school we’d get written up for a dress code violation if our uniform pants/shorts/skirts didn’t have the little tag on the side that advertised that they came from the mandatory school vendor.