"To wear or not to wear a kind of school-uniform - that’s the question I could never imagine our pupils wearing a really unified and absolutely identical kind of clothes like in Colwyn Bay. During our last stay there, some pupils were talking about the fact that they had just started rather a competition concerning status symbols excluding clothes (such as: which kind of watch does sb. wear, is a person able to buy all the modern Apple-products...). So in my opinion there will always exist differences between pupils, we cannot exclude them totally, but these differences should not be so much dividing. My second impression is that we could use our existing and attractive collection of school clothes instead of a uniform. I could imagine each pupil in our school wearing one of these nice pullovers (T-shirts, jackets or sweat shirts) for each day, no matter which colour or which style. The main aspect should be (that is my suggestion) that everybody at school (!) - possibly teachers included in a different way (?) - can be identified by his/her clothes with the logo of the school and begins identifying oneself with school a little more than before. I am sure: in the beginning this would be a strange feeling, but this compromise between a military-like uniform and no restrictions (and therefore a non-identification system) could be an interesting experience."
" Keeping in mind each country's own history, i.e. the German Nazi background, it becomes quickly clear why Germans nowaday tend to be subliminally "allergic" to uniforms in general. This peculiarity not being the case on the British Isles, school uniforms are regarded as totally normal in the British hemisphere. I personally do not object to school uniforms, could even imagine some kind of special, voluntary uniform for our school, as we offer a special clothes collection with our school logo on it. Nevertheless I believe one should not exert any pressure on anybody when it comes to expressing one's own individuality through one's individual style of clothing. This means: Granting a certain freedom of clothing to everybody is fine, although I am aware of a number of disadvantages this brings about, as well. "
"How I feel about school uniforms… A school uniform creates identity. The uniformed students recognize each other as members of one and the same school, to all the other people the uniform reveals the students' affiliation; it fills the students with pride and demands a commitment. A school uniform creates equality. No expensive brand-name clothes, no cheap sloppy look any more: the uniform levels social differences. A school uniform is opposed to individuality, having to wear, what others consider as chique, expecting punishment, if you do not wear, what everyone wears. A school uniform is an expression of tradition. If it is no self-evidence in a certain culture, you cannot introduce such a tradition into a plural society. So far, we got along without it..."
"Regarding the question if students should wear a school uniform I cannot give a clear answer but have to consider arguments in favour of and against the topic. Starting with the pro arguments one can say that by wearing a school uniform students are not confronted with a certain ranking at school about who wears the coolest shirt, the most expensive jeans or one of the top branches. In consequence parents who cannot afford buying the latest fashion will not have to worry about that. Life could be a bit easier in a society which already puts pressure on kids to embody a respectable image. On the other hand one could argue that clothes are an important way of expressing one’s identity. The way you are dressed can show the peer group you belong to, the music you listen to or just the mood you are in. By introducing a school uniform there would be a conformity among the students replacing individuality. In my opinion, there is no general answer to that question. Every school should take the pros and cons into account and think about them carefully to come to an own individual decision. But most of all you should ask the students."
"Personally, I am not an advocate of school uniforms, even if I consider aspects as corporate identity and prevention of consumer stress and the pressure to wear brand-name fashion as reasonable. But in my opinion, children and adolescents, as well as adults, have got a right in individuality and should be able to dress themselves -complying with the current rules- according to their personal taste."