Uniforms vs. DIVERSEforms
School uniforms were originally created to prioritize studies. First introduced during the late 1800s in England, this social norm has spread all over the world. From South Korean public schools to boarding schools in the United States, uniforms have popularized into being an important academic study accompaniment.
Most secondary schools in South Korea mandate dress codes. A typical boy’s Korean school uniform usually consists of a jacket, long-sleeved collared white shirt, tie, dress trousers, and a winter outerwear. A girl’s Korean school uniform generally consists of a bow, collared white shirt with sleeves, vest, pleated skirt and winter outerwear winter, and white socks. Apart from mandated school uniforms, many schools have dress codes that consisted of looser, less strict rules. A high school student attending KIS (Ashley Roh 9) stated that, “In high school we have a dress code that our shorts have to be longer than our fingertips”. A group of SIS students have expressed their opinions on school uniforms in a survey conducted. Out of 18 students, seven of them (39%) had positive opinions towards school uniforms, eight of them (44%) had negative opinions, and three of them (17%) were neutral. Although SIS does not regulate school uniforms and dress codes, SIS does somewhat incorporate a dress code for physical education. Students either do not like having school uniforms because they cannot express themselves freely and how the uniforms wouldn’t match their preferences, or they like having school uniforms because it is not distracting from learning, efficient, unifies students, raises school spirit, no discrimination based on fashion, doesn’t consume time, and that it is comfortable. “People might argue that choosing clothes distract students from the work that really matters, and that is true. However, this is not an issue to be solved by uniforms. Rather, educate the students about what is really important, and why. There are many problems related to clothing. None of these issues are going to be solved by school uniforms. Especially in today's increasingly liberal society students are going to feel oppressed and broken apart if such rules are imposed on them. School spirit comes from within. Not from wearing the same emblem every day. Freedom from dress codes allowed society to band together for good causes. Clothes define quite a large part of a person's individuality, so it must not be suppressed.” said William Kim (8). |
STORY :: JIO JEONG AND SHINE LEE
EDITOR :: YEJUNE PARK DESIGN :: SEAN JS LEE |