There are articles about how engendered school uniforms were, how girls had uniforms that restricted their movements, and that only during physical education classes were they allowed to wear sports uniforms. There was even a study conducted by the University of Notre Dame Australia about the effects of school uniforms on the physical activities of children aged 10 years old.
2. There are articles about how engendered school uniforms were, how girls had
uniforms that restricted their movements, and that only during physical education
classes were they allowed to wear sports uniforms. There was even a study
conducted by the University of Notre Dame Australia about the effects of school
uniforms on the physical activities of children aged 10 years old.
There was also a campaign called “Girls Make Your Move” based on the
Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey 2014-2015 that had
teenaged girls with ages ranging from 15-17 as their subjects. The data were as
follows:
55.9% of girls had little to no exercise, which was much higher than boys
with 38.3%
36.7% of boys have much higher exercise levels than girls with only
15.3%
Compared to 62% of boys, girls who were doing moderate to high
performances of physical activity only stood at 44%.
3. Recently, there had been news about Newton High School of the Performing
Arts in Sydney making their uniform policies genderless. This singularity in
school uniforms makes it so girls can wear pants in school and boys can wear
skirts. This earned the institution brownie points from Safe Schools Coalition
Australia.
The aim of the implementation of the new uniform policy was “to remove the
un-inclusive gender labels from the school uniform, make it so that anyone
could wear any aspect of the uniform without having to go through a long and
difficult process,” according to year 11 student, Jo Dwyer. But, before the
implementation came to fruition, students first consulted with psychologists and
asked for permission from parents, which was a struggle for those students with
parents who were against their child’s gender identity.
According to Safe Schools Coalition Australia, “It could be timely for the school
to consider how inclusive your current dress code or uniform policy is and
whether it could be updated… provisions should be considered by the school for
the student to wear elements of the uniform they feel most comfortable with.”
4. Not only do school uniforms symbolise the institution a student belongs to, but
the importance of school uniforms also provide the students with the following:
It promotes discipline – With the implementation of school uniforms, there
has been an improvement in students’ behaviour. Also, there has been
little to no reported cases of violence and suspensions.
With the insignia printed on the school uniform, it instils a sense of
belonging, pride and identity to the person wearing it.
It increases safety within the school bounds by making their students
recognizable as well as deterring potential intruders.
Resources:
http://www.permapleat.com.au
http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/newtown-high-school-of-
the-performing-arts-changes-gender-rules-for-uniforms-20160220-
gmz7fn.html
https://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/
health-mediarel-yr2016-ley28022016.htm
