By Sara Ditta
At the end of the school day at Cambridge Street Public School, kids run out to greet their parents in a mosaic of outfits, from jeans and baseball caps to dresses and stockings. But the days of multi-coloured clothing could be numbered, if local school councils support the introduction of school uniforms.
Ottawa-Carleton school trustee Riley Brockington opened debate last month about introducing uniforms in elementary schools.
The issue has always been floating around and is worth discussing, he says.
“I think we, as a district, need to have a good conversation on this.”
Brockington brought it up because he’s been approached by parents about it. Some concerns include peer pressure for kids to wear brand names and inappropriate outfits, he says.
Discussion will begin at the school council level, where people can express their concerns and gauge support for the idea. It will run until the end of February.
Brockington says if there is little interest by schools, he will not pursue it.
“I am not interested at all in ramming anything through without support,” he says.
A school will need 85-per-cent support to initiate a uniform pilot project.
At Cambridge Street elementary, parents have mixed feelings on the subject.
Nishat Kabin has a young daughter who attends the school and she supports the idea.
Kabin grew up in Bangladesh and used to wear a uniform. She says uniforms look good and provide discipline.
Roxanne Clarke, another Cambridge Street parent, says forcing children to wear uniforms will take away their identity.
“Boys want to be boys and girls want to be girls,” she says. “It’s not going to go over easily.”
Her nine-year-old son, Nathan, is also against the idea.
“Wearing the same thing, everyday, it would get boring,” he says.
But Roxanne Clarke says she doesn’t think it will only be children who are against the idea. Regularly buying uniforms for young children, who are more likely to rip or dirty their clothing, could prove costly for parents, she says.
Cost was certainly an issue when Joanne MacEwan, a parent and co-chair of the St. Patrick’s intermediate school council, attempted to implement uniforms at St. Patrick’s elementary school when her children attended.
MacEwan was unable to get uniforms introduced at the elementary school and says there is difficulty implementing it at that level because continually buying clothing for growing children can dent parents’ pocketbooks.
“You cannot start in kindergarten and end up in the same uniform in grade six,” she says. “You are having to buy clothes all of the time and that is expensive.”
Brockington says he chose to initiate discussion at the elementary school level because the parents who approached him had young children and he perceived more resistance from high schools.
But expense becomes less of a problem for outfitting older students, says MacEwan. Her son is now a senior at St. Patrick’s high school and still wears a uniform that he wore in his first year.
Initial costs may be high, but once kids stop growing, parents can save money in the long-term, she says.
One set of school uniforms will cost an average of $175, she says. The number of sets needed can vary, but she says her children generally each have two.
At Growing Kids, an Ottawa uniform retailer, store owner Gino Caruso says he estimates parents can spend $175 per year on uniforms and can save money because they are not buying expensive brand names for their children to wear to school.
“Kids make a big fuss if they don’t have the same name brand pants their friend has,” he says. “So parents can save a lot of money.”
The store also has a program to provide less expensive uniforms to low-income families and sells in bulk to schools for special prices, he says.
But David Brunsma, a sociologist at the University of Missouri who studies the impact of uniforms, says they may not be the money-saver some perceive. Parents often have to buy multiple sets of uniforms because the outfits can easily become faded or tattered. They also have to buy clothing for nights and weekends.
“It may actually add yet one more thing that [parents] have to buy,” he says.
Nevertheless, some believe there are advantages to having school uniforms.
MacEwan, a supporter of school uniforms, says uniforms add a level of security at high schools because outsiders can easily be spotted.
Many kids also find comfort in wearing uniforms because they don’t have to worry about choosing a different outfit everyday, Caruso says.
Academic achievement, however, is not something that is affected. Brunsma says there is little evidence that marks are higher at schools with uniforms.
He says uniforms are often implemented because they are a visible reform, unlike changing the curriculum or altering standardized testing.
“We like to see change,” Brunsma says. “School uniforms allow us to superficially see that something is being done immediately.”