In my view school uniforms are a great idea. Everyone dressed the same so no issues with jealousy/shame/bullying about clothes and no parent/child battles about what to wear to school.
What do you think?
I donât (as a teacher) see that clothes cause problems here in France (compared to in the UK where accessories culture, eg what trainers etc. was far more materialistic in schools), but I am not somewhere clothing is particularly socially significant.
Iâd be more worried about a school using uniform as a sneaky way of addressing ethnic or religiously influenced clothing.
I donât have a problem with uniform but certainly donât see it as a panacea either. If school has a bullying culture then it needs to be addressed otherwise.
If a school wishes to carry out a consultative process with the parents and put a uniform in place then it is up to them. It will not be my job as a teacher to police it.
As a parent I havenât ever had a battle with any of my 5 children about what to wear to school.
I spent my school years in the UK wearing a series of very silly elaborate hideously expensive uniforms, available only from Harrodâs or messrs Forsyth of Edinburgh, nothing sensible or practical about them. No point to them at all except social differentiation.
Good quality though, I still wear my school games jersey some 40 years laterâŚ
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I knew you would have a sensible and reasoned view Vero.
I went to secondary school with a nasty bunch of little sh*ts and was bullied for all sorts of reasons. We had uniform, including blazer and tie, but not including shoes/socks/tights and wearing the âwrongâ ones were sufficient reason to be bullied. I went to a different school for sixth form where there was no uniform for sixth formers. It was a grammar school with much richer kids and the silent disdain for my âpoorerâ attire was probably as bad as the name calling/physical abuse at my previous school. I guess this influences my views.
I have had little experience of French schools (unlike you of course) but I never hear from my step-son about bullying of any kind and we have asked him about it. I assume it exists but donât know the extent. He has always worn âcivviesâ and never had or witnessed any problems.
Children in France seem to just be better behaved. My step-sons friends have always been ultra polite and respectful and well-behaved. I never see groups of roudy kids anywhere. Different culture? Better parenting? In the DNA?
Hope you are feeling better 
I donât think schoolchildren are as materialistic here as in UK, also not as formatted image-wise, I am always amazed to see these UK teenage girls with their identikit peculiar eyebrows and fake nails etc. And the sheer quantity of make-up they wear!
I donât think French society in general is as materialistic actually, I think the UK is a lot more taken up with what car you drive, how old it is, what your house is worth etc etc etc etc all very dull topics of conversation if you ask me and which go some way to explaining the crippling amount of debt UK people have around their necks, if they feel they have to be out there blinging.
Obviously we also have trashy people with trashy priorities here but far fewer.
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I think youâre right Vero. Far fewer people seem to want to make a âstatementâ with their clothes, houses, cars etc. UK girls, in particular, seem to be slaves to fashion and the latest âlookâ. Maybe they are more influenced by American trends than French girls, a language thing perhaps.
Havenât read read all the posts, but I and my Broâ had school uniforms, Him Grammer, me Tech College, I only recall the uniform, blazer etc, was ridiculously expensive, fortunately, our parents could affoerd it, sure others struggled.
In the report it says that the whole uniform will cost around 145⏠and that help will be available for poorer parents. It shouldnât be a massive issue.
Hope the help is enough for families with growing kids Mandy 
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I simply do wonder why they want to go back to the uniform ? 62% is a good majority. Iâd like to know what motivate them. Equality ? They can still choose their shoes, and we all know some kids have shoes that run faster 
!
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2 possibilities seeing it is Seine et Marne 1 thereâs a lot of parental conservatism and 2 poverty so it is an aspirational measure
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Intesting, donât know if it will level conservatism and poverty, but they can only try. It is just a bit of a revolution for me, just a bit scared about some fashionable mouvement of âit was better beforeâ, driving people back in reactionary behavior 
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A wee fella, Tommy Fleming, at the Tech, had his uniform paid for, new blazer, more times than I had, I had to wait 'til the cuff were halfway up my arms, but Tommy suffered as he went to school in âblack welliesâ summer and winter 
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The biggest fan of school uniforms have always been parents because they stop a lot of arguing at breakfast time. Itâs much easier to point out to your child that they have to wear their uniform than arguing which of their expensive and delicate clothes and shoes they are not going to wear that day. For the last x years of my experience the uniforms were so practical they never seemed to cause anybody any trouble.
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Except, the person paying for it perhaps, or the poor kid in the âblack welliesâ, and posh blazer. My parents were not fans either, being âripped offâ for stupidly priced school blazers, ties, etc
No blazers or wellies, just simple sweatshirts and trousers.
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Sounds more reasonable Dave, as long as the supply of them is not confined to one supplier, as it was with the uniforms Mam had to buy!
The sweat shirts did come from one supplier, the school, but they were as cheap as chips. Certainly no ties. Even my school uniform as a secondary school pupil didnât need a tie, or a blazer; in fact the rules were simple, scarlet and grey.
We had to have cap plus badge, Blazer, plus badge, white shirts, school tie, grey socks, with tops in school colours, short grey trousers up to 4th year, then long ones, this lot was not cheap, price dictated by the single outlet, a complete âRacketâ
As an aside to this conversation. Has anyone noticed that on both sides of the Channel teenage pupils have lost the ability to stand up for any length of time preferring to sit down on the most unlikely of surfaces , pavements etc. and then come and sit on thschool furniture bringing their muck with them.
Not âall of themâ Dave
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