Do American schools have uniforms?

Depends on the school. Generally if there are uniforms, it's private schools, although there are some public schools that have switched over to uniforms.

I would say that better than 75% of American schools do not require uniforms. The only schools I've heard of that do are in major cities or are private/religious schools (Catholic schools, most notably.)

The answer to almost every question starting "do American schools have/do/require X" Is, 'it depends on the school district.'

American public (taxpayer funded) schools are run by local districts and there often isn't uniformity in how they are run even at the state level.

I taught in a small, middle to upper class school system for 35 years, and am only recently retired.

No to school uniforms in my school and all the surrounding, similar small towns. No to the closest two 'cities,' Taunton and Brockton, MA.

But yes to the several parochial or Catholic schools in the area.

And I have read that some public schools were switching to uniforms, though they were of this kind: Kids can wear dark pants - black, blue, dark brown. Or khaki pants. And the choice of shirt colors might be white, light blue, etc. (Shirts must have a collar, so polo shirts are okay, but not t-shirts.) In other words, a 'loose' sort of uniform. Girls could also wear dark-colored skirts. Sweaters are plain, dark colors. These 'looser' rules were to make it easier for lower-income parents to afford the uniform.

In schools like this, no sneakers, sweatshirts or jeans.

Teachers are expected to dress conservatively: For men, tie and jacket or tie and sweater, and dress pants or Chino-type pants. Women, dress or skirt, pant suit or 'slacks' with a shirt or blouse, maybe a jacket or sweater. For all teachers no jeans.

A dress code, however, is common in most schools, public and private. This is different from uniforms, however.

They are much more common in the South than they are in the Midwest, but I can't speak to other areas of the country. Both private and public schools use them, and although they are more common in cities many rural schools, in Mississippi at least, required them.

Also, "uniform" is not a hard and fast term. My kids' public school in Mississippi didn't have uniforms in the sense of a standard issue sweater, tie, etc but a really strict dress code where the trousers had to be tan but the shirts could be black or white button down, pullover or polo style and were required to have collars. The shirts couldn't have any writing execpt for the school name or the team mascot (a yellowjacket wasp).

I don't know if this will be helpful, but my youngest was about 13 when her school started to require the uniforms. She was livid about the school squashing her personal expression and turning everone into robots. Within a few weeks of the new school year starting, however, she said "You know, it's a pain but it's really helping. It's made things better."

No school in my state requires uniforms. There is a dress code, but it's as relaxed as you can possibly get. It allows shorts, and pretty much anything else, as long as the girls aren't exposing anything above mid-thigh. No cut off blue jeans at our local schools, and you have to be careful about slogans on T-shirts.

I know of only one school system that requires "uniforms", but it's basically just a dress code, as well. Girls must wear pants or skirts below the knee, and boys must wear slacks and button down shirts.

Even the private schools I've been around have no uniforms, though all have a dress code.

Some schools have tried introducing uniforms, but it always gets shot down by parents.

I teach at a public elementary school in a large district in Central Texas (65 or so schools). Approximately one third of the elementary schools in my district require what we call 'standard dress' (aka uniforms).

The students are allowed to wear polo or long sleeve shirts with collars in white, red, navy blue, or sky blue.

Pants, shorts, skirts, in khaki, navy blue, or black.

Like someone else said, local school councils often get to vote, so there are a lot of different uniform policies even within the same state/city. A lot of it has to do with socioeconomic status--the school I work in (Chicago area) voted for uniforms because they are "the great equalizer". Students who can't afford lots of clothes aren't embarrassed when they wear the same thing everyday, because everyone is wearing it

I also wore uniforms when I went to a private school for a few years. So basically, you can choose--just consider poverty levels and religious affiliations.

One fairly new rationale for school uniforms in those public schools that have them is that it eases bullying by blurring the line between students from more affluent families and those from families with less income. All that attention on who's wearing the latest, most expensive fashions and who isn't is muted. Uniforms also make it more difficult for students in gangs to display their affiliations. The school district in which I teach does not require uniforms, but from what I've heard, many students come to appreciate how much less of a hassle it is for the reasons I've outlined above.

Magnanimoe said:

One fairly new rationale for school uniforms in those public schools that have them is that it eases bullying by blurring the line between students from more affluent families and those from families with less income. All that attention on who's wearing the latest, most expensive fashions and who isn't is muted. Uniforms also make it more difficult for students in gangs to display their affiliations. The school district in which I teach does not require uniforms, but from what I've heard, many students come to appreciate how much less of a hassle it is for the reasons I've outlined above.

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I think it also helps to reinforce a school focus, and dressing for an occasion in general. "When I'm in uniform it's time to learn. When I'm wearing my work clothes it's time to work at my job. My going out with friends clothes are for going out with my friends."

When my high school floated the idea of uniforms (public school in Florida that is north enough to qualify as the South) it was argued down to having students just wear a solid color polo shirt for boys and girls could wear a polo or a (within reason) solid color dress/skirt.
They did also try to ban flip-flops...but that didn't a month in Florida heat.

Ellie, if you're writing about a real school district, chances are you can Google them and find either their dress code guidelines, or at least a school district email address.

If you're not writing about a real one, I'd still say you're safe having a specific dress code. But actual uniforms? Very uncommon in public schools.

Private and parochial schools often do, or at least have very strict dress codes. Public schools don't as often, but there has been a move in some districts in some states (often urban areas where there is a problem with crime and delinquency) to require them for younger kids. They tend to lose them by high school age (last four years of education, grades 9-12, ages 15-18).

If you're writing a novel and need your public schools students of any age to wear uniforms, you can certainly justify it by implying that there was some issue with discipline in the past, or that it's an experiment some politician, administrator, or parents' group cooked up to try and improve standardized test scores.

In public schools, uniforms tend to be simpler than at parochial schools. They'll often require something like dark, long pants that aren't jeans, or khakis, and a white, button-up shirt with a collar. Whether the girls are allowed skirts as an alternative to pants varies with the school.

School uniforms are a controversial issue in the US for all kinds of reasons.

Chris P said:

They are much more common in the South than they are in the Midwest, but I can't speak to other areas of the country.

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This. Reading this thread, I'm honestly kind of shocked to learn that uniforms are uncommon in public schools throughout most of the rest of the country. I went to public school in Louisiana and I had to wear uniforms pretty much since kindergarten (I'm 25 now). And I've never known of a school system in my area that didn't require uniforms. It's gotta be a highly regional thing.

Magnanimoe said:

One fairly new rationale for school uniforms in those public schools that have them is that it eases bullying by blurring the line between students from more affluent families and those from families with less income. All that attention on who's wearing the latest, most expensive fashions and who isn't is muted. Uniforms also make it more difficult for students in gangs to display their affiliations. The school district in which I teach does not require uniforms, but from what I've heard, many students come to appreciate how much less of a hassle it is for the reasons I've outlined above.

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I actually really liked having uniforms. I could wake up and be out the door within ten minutes because I never had to put any thought into the day's outfit.

A "dress code" at a school or place of employment is not synonymous with a "uniform". In my experience, and I think it remains largely true, real "uniforms" were worn primarily in private parochial schools.

caw

In New York City, some public schools require uniforms, but most don't. Most of the public schools that require uniforms are for elementary school kids. It's fairly recent. Parochial school kids wear uniforms--the girls who attend the Jewish high school wear long black skirts and button-down white shirts, the Catholic schools kids wear navy blue or tan slacks and a white collared shirt and blazer.

As everyone said - depends. Mostly Catholic and private, but some public and a lot of public charter, do.

Jamesaritchie said:

No school in my state requires uniforms. There is a dress code, but it's as relaxed as you can possibly get. It allows shorts, and pretty much anything else, as long as the girls aren't exposing anything above mid-thigh. No cut off blue jeans at our local schools, and you have to be careful about slogans on T-shirts.

I know of only one school system that requires "uniforms", but it's basically just a dress code, as well. Girls must wear pants or skirts below the knee, and boys must wear slacks and button down shirts.

Even the private schools I've been around have no uniforms, though all have a dress code.

Some schools have tried introducing uniforms, but it always gets shot down by parents.

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There are no Catholic schools in your entire state? I find that hard to believe. Also, parents in your area are odd - parents tend to love uniforms, in my experience.

Sunflowerrei said:

In New York City, some public schools require uniforms, but most don't. Most of the public schools that require uniforms are for elementary school kids. It's fairly recent. Parochial school kids wear uniforms--the girls who attend the Jewish high school wear long black skirts and button-down white shirts, the Catholic schools kids wear navy blue or tan slacks and a white collared shirt and blazer.

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The uniform itself varies HUGELY by school. Catholic school kids dress in school-particular outfits. You can identify the school by the particular plaid or shade of blue, grey or green that's primary in the outfit if you know what you're looking at. Same for Jewish schools. The colours and what's allowed (some schools allow only jumpers, some skirts and shirts and sweaters, some pants and sweaters, some require blazers and ties, and on it goes).

I never had to wear a uniform (except for gym class) when I attended school in California and Arizona, but we moved to Tennessee, and my younger sister is now required to wear a uniform to school. It's something along the lines of black or khaki pants/skirt, and a white polo shirt. The private schools are more strict, with fancier uniforms, like blazers embroidered with the school's crest.

School uniforms started gaining some traction out here in CA in the 1990s, long after I was done with K-12 personally (they were unknown except in private schools back in my day). Long Beach, CA was the first public school district to start requiring uniforms in 1994 (Bill Clinton visited and made the movement visible and respectable). I think the popularity has peaked out here, and may be in decline, but some districts still require them, though there is an opt out available for parents, as per some court cases.

Here are some statistics about school uniform use in public schools in the US, by state and city. As you can see, it really varies by locale.

http://www.educationbug.org/a/public-school-uniform-statistics.html

Roxxsmom said:

School uniforms started gaining some traction out here in CA in the 1990s, long after I was done with K-12 personally (they were unknown except in private schools back in my day). Long Beach, CA was the first public school district to start requiring uniforms in 1994 (Bill Clinton visited and made the movement visible and respectable). I think the popularity has peaked out here, and may be in decline, but some districts still require them, though there is an opt out available for parents, as per some court cases.

Here are some statistics about school uniform use in public schools in the US, by state and city. As you can see, it really varies by locale.

http://www.educationbug.org/a/public-school-uniform-statistics.html

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Interesting link! This in particular caught my eye:

A case study of the effects of adopting school uniforms in Long Beach, CA which appeared in Psychology Today in September, 1999, reported the following effects from the switch to uniforms in 1995:

Overall, the crime rate dropped by 91%
School suspensions dropped by 90%
Sex offenses were reduced by 96%
Incidents of vandalism went down 69%

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What in the world would uniforms have to do with vandalism?

Magnet and charter schools generally require uniforms...usually a polo shirt with the school's logo on it and khaki shorts or pants.

Both my grand daughters wear uniforms to elementary school. One is in Florida and the other here in Kansas. The kids in my high school do not wear uniforms --unless you count cowboy boots and blue jeans. --s6