In high school, did you ever feel judged by what you wore?

Question

I need a real life example to put in my essay about why school uniforms are benificial. So I was wondering if anyone remembers a time in high school, when they were judged by others based on what they wore. Or if you've ever felt intimidated by others, because of their clothing choice. And if you went to a school with uiniforms, what do you think were the best benefits of them?

Answer 1

Yes, constantly. I used to always wear a long black robe and I carried a gavel.



LR

Answer 2

Well, I'm not in hig school yet, but already in middle school, people are in cliques, wearing certain clothes to show the world they're on the A-List or something. I just wear Aeropostale or whatever I feel like wearing. School uniforms are good because everyone is wearing the same thing and no one can say that your clothes look crappy (Like this one girl. Her pants are too long to be capris, too short for jeans. My friends and I still wonder what they are.). You can tell that you should kind of stand ground when you see a guy wearing saggy pants and an oversized shirt. A girl wearing some super-short shorts or skirt indicates that she is a hooker (my opinion). Someone wearing something not-too-over-the-top clothes that don't want to stand out (which would be me) says that they don't care for fashion icons and all those trends.

Answer 3

yeah I have. I was politely minding my own business on day in a geography class in the 7th grade ( I am 25 now). One of the girls that set next to me looked me up and down and said where did you get your clothes? the salvation army? and then she laughed. I was so pissed. I came from a family of 5 kids and I had an older sister and I received her hand me downs. This is just one instance out of my whole high school year. I am not a materialistic person. I don't care about clothes, or money it is all evil. I think that uniforms are good in some cases but then again it is also stopping kids from being creative. I can probably argue with both sides. It gave me the strength to stick up for myself. By the way the girl that made fun of me is now a single mother on welfare and guess where she has to get her clothes (what goes around comes around)

Answer 4

Well, of course! Sometimes I would get teased because I didn't wear "brand name" clothes and things like that... it's silly, and happens to almost all high-schoolers. I've never worn a school uniform, but I always thought it'd be great to not have to think about what to wear in the morning!

Answer 5

Of course! I wore a uniform, but on casual clothes days it happened. Somehow you always knew how rich or what groups kids were in though - I guess through hairstyles and jewellery...

Clothes are used for identities and images - by wearing a certain item/s, you can associate yourself with a million things; your economic group, sub-culture, music, gangs....etc
People can be picked on not just for wearing the 'wrong' thing, but for not having enough clothes, wearing the same thing too often, for having cheap clothes, thrift shop clothes, hand-me-downs.

Answer 6

I heard someone say they thought I was gay because I wore SLIGHTLY tighter clothes. I went to a grade school that had uniforms and I actually kinda liked it. Although, I really don't care about what people who don't know me think of me.

Answer 7

Yes, but I will tell you that women I know who wore uniforms still had the same experience.
They would just be judge my their expensive haircuts, or diamond stud earrings, of expensive loafers. There really isn't a way around it. Parents need to teach that ostracizing is abuse.

Answer 8

Oh yeah...I went to a school overseas where it was half rich kids, and half like me who were there because of their dad's job. So we couldn't compete with their wardrobes.

School uniforms puts everyone on the same playing field.

Answer 9

i went to a school where we wore uniforms. there are so many "pros" to wearing uniforms, and i miss them now that i'm in college. when students wear uniforms it's easier for us to focus on school instead of what's fashionable.

education should be equal for all, so there are a mix of lower class kids and upper class kids, but with uniforms there is no obvious distinction between the "rich kids" and "poor kids". also, there is constant controversy about what's too "slutty" for girls to wear, and if it's unacceptable for boys to let their pants sag. girls wear slutty clothes to attract guys, but is that what school is for? no, school is a place to learn and build your future. students can attract a mate outside of class.

a common phrase is that kids should be able to express themselves through their clothing, but that is sending the wrong message to kids. we constantly tell kids that we want them to look on the INSIDE for beauty and "coolness". kids should be able to express their feelings personalities WITH their personalities, not something that money can buy.

i hope this helps you, good luck!

Answer 10

Most of the kids in my town had parents with a lot of money. My parents could not afford nice cloths for us. We had 2 shirts and one pair of pants for the week. One pair of shoes.
These of course became raggedy after a couple of months. Kids made fun of us, especially when they had to be patched. We would wear hand-me-downs from other kids in the neighborhood, and of course these same kids would take pleasure in pointing this out to everyone.
The moral of the story is, people suck.

Answer 11

My daughter bought a coat she LOVED last month. When it got cold she wore it to school. Her "best friend" laughed the minute she saw her.

Although she did wear it on a ski trip recently she will NOT wear it to school. She'd rather freeze first.