Uniforms cause student attacks

Are all those who insist school uniforms are so great going to pipe down now?

To my knowledge, there has never been a case in which uniforms were implemented to erase social and economic class distinctions, despite what uniform apologists claim. In fact, this story proves that these sumptuary rules only make the distinctions more obvious.

In London, England, schools are now telling students to change out of their uniforms and don normal clothes before going home from school. This is because of an increase in assaults and fatal knifings this year between students of rival high schools - who identify each other based on their uniforms.

For one thing, a ruling by education officials says that British state schools (the equivalent of American public schools) may not punish students for "breaching school uniform policy" - so students should already be protected if they attend a state school. The more important point is that uniforms have not only failed to prevent youth violence but have actually made it much worse.

I know what the rightist response is going to be. They'll say the uniform policy isn't strict enough, and that this is proof that schools should all move to the same uniform. Their answer as usual will be more regimentation.

But where does that stop?

Often you see uniform supporters boasting of the need to identify students, a goal that they say uniforms accomplish. But maybe the rise of interscholastic violence shows that forcing people to identify isn't always such a good thing.

(Source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23522326-details/Change+out+of+uniform+to+keep+safe,+pupils+told/article.do)