Should school uniforms be compulsory? We asked five experts

<h3>Whether schools should mandate a uniform is a controversial issue&period; Some believe wearing the same clothes smooths out inequality&period;<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<h2>Others see uniforms as authoritarian&semi; believing them a symbol of repression&comma; stifling freedom of thought and individuality&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>We asked five experts from various fields whether school uniforms should be compulsory&period; Rather surprisingly&comma; among the experts at least&comma; there was little division&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Four out of five experts said no<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"align-center "><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;224844&sol;original&sol;file-20180626-19385-9y1neu&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;fit&equals;clip" sizes&equals;"&lpar;min-width&colon; 1466px&rpar; 754px&comma; &lpar;max-width&colon; 599px&rpar; 100vw&comma; &lpar;min-width&colon; 600px&rpar; 600px&comma; 237px" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;224844&sol;original&sol;file-20180626-19385-9y1neu&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;99&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;1 600w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;224844&sol;original&sol;file-20180626-19385-9y1neu&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;30&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;99&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;2 1200w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;224844&sol;original&sol;file-20180626-19385-9y1neu&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;15&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;99&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;3 1800w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;224844&sol;original&sol;file-20180626-19385-9y1neu&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;125&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;1 754w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;224844&sol;original&sol;file-20180626-19385-9y1neu&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;30&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;125&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;2 1508w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;224844&sol;original&sol;file-20180626-19385-9y1neu&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;15&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;125&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;3 2262w" alt&equals;"" &sol;><figcaption><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><strong><em>Here are their detailed responses&colon;<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><iframe id&equals;"tc-infographic-429" class&equals;"tc-infographic" style&equals;"border&colon; none&semi;" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;infographics&sol;429&sol;5630e869c5ff0ee2e681e4443632106cfe4ffddc&sol;site&sol;index&period;html" width&equals;"100&percnt;" height&equals;"400px" frameborder&equals;"0"><&sol;iframe><&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p><em>If you have a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;yes or no” education question you’d like posed to Five Experts&comma; email your suggestion to&colon; sasha&period;petrova&commat;theconversation&period;edu&period;au<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"align-center "><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;210303&sol;original&sol;file-20180314-113452-h7un11&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;fit&equals;clip" sizes&equals;"&lpar;min-width&colon; 1466px&rpar; 754px&comma; &lpar;max-width&colon; 599px&rpar; 100vw&comma; &lpar;min-width&colon; 600px&rpar; 600px&comma; 237px" srcset&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;210303&sol;original&sol;file-20180314-113452-h7un11&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;399&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;1 600w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;210303&sol;original&sol;file-20180314-113452-h7un11&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;30&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;399&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;2 1200w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;210303&sol;original&sol;file-20180314-113452-h7un11&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;15&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;600&amp&semi;h&equals;399&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;3 1800w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;210303&sol;original&sol;file-20180314-113452-h7un11&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;45&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;501&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;1 754w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;210303&sol;original&sol;file-20180314-113452-h7un11&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;30&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;501&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;2 1508w&comma; https&colon;&sol;&sol;images&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;files&sol;210303&sol;original&sol;file-20180314-113452-h7un11&period;png&quest;ixlib&equals;rb-1&period;1&period;0&amp&semi;q&equals;15&amp&semi;auto&equals;format&amp&semi;w&equals;754&amp&semi;h&equals;501&amp&semi;fit&equals;crop&amp&semi;dpr&equals;3 2262w" alt&equals;"" &sol;><figcaption><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><em>Disclosures&colon; Renae Barker is the Diocesan Advocate of the Anglian Diocese of Bunbury and advises the Bishop&comma; Bishop in Council&comma; Trustees and Synod on matters of Church law&period;<&sol;em><&excl;-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag&period; Please DO NOT REMOVE&period; --><img style&equals;"border&colon; none &excl;important&semi; box-shadow&colon; none &excl;important&semi; margin&colon; 0 &excl;important&semi; max-height&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; max-width&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; min-height&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; min-width&colon; 1px &excl;important&semi; opacity&colon; 0 &excl;important&semi; outline&colon; none &excl;important&semi; padding&colon; 0 &excl;important&semi; text-shadow&colon; none &excl;important&semi;" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;counter&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;content&sol;121935&sol;count&period;gif&quest;distributor&equals;republish-lightbox-basic" alt&equals;"The Conversation" width&equals;"1" height&equals;"1" &sol;><&excl;-- End of code&period; If you don't see any code above&comma; please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button&period; The page counter does not collect any personal data&period; More info&colon; http&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;republishing-guidelines --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;au&sol;team&num;sasha-petrova">Sasha Petrova<&sol;a>&comma; Section Editor&colon; Education&comma; <em><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;theconversation&period;com&sol;">The Conversation&period; <&sol;a><&sol;em>This article is republished from <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com">The Conversation<&sol;a> under a Creative Commons license&period; Read the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;theconversation&period;com&sol;should-school-uniforms-be-compulsory-we-asked-five-experts-121935">original article<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;h6>&NewLine;

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