A non-uniform response
Posted on: May 3, 2017
Last week I tweeted this opinion piece.
The article makes valid and important points, but one example troubled me.
Take the wearing of the school uniform, a practice that has been in place since before independence. By enforcing a standard dress code, schools send a symbolic message that students are all equal in the school environment, and reduce comparisons between students based on the brands and provenances of their clothes.
You can make people wear the same thing, but you cannot make them the same. Individuals wear those clothes and they can tell each other apart not just on looks but also on status.
Wearing a uniform is more about alignment, not conformity. It is about the values you associate with whether you already have them or will learn them.
Uniforms should be about identity, not equality. Let’s not confuse the two.
Another dot in the blogosphere? 
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