School Uniforms and Discourses on Childhood

This article reports an ethnographic study of the introduction of uniforms in the public schools of one US city. The issue of school uniforms intersects with wide-ranging issues surrounding childhood, including childhood as protected space, safety and violence, egalitarianism, social exclusion, family stress, individual vs community rights, high-powered marketing encouraging students in competitive dressing, and a power struggle over shaping the environment of childhood. Public/official discourse was found to mask problems addressed by the movement for school uniforms. Discussion of uniforms could be put to better use to unearth and explore the larger issues raised by students, parents and teachers themselves, which this article attempts to do.