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Uniforms were first instituted in 16th Century England at the charity schools for poor children. It was not until the 19th Century that the great English public schools began instituting uniforms and even later for them to be widely accepted at state schools--especially state elementary schools.
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The English public school in the 18th and early 19th century had become anarchic, dangerous places in which boys from aristocrats and wealthy families as they wished and played voluntary games in whatever worn and battered gear was to hand. Conditions were so bad that many parents refused to send their boys and instead had them educated at home until they were ready for university.
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Once the idea of school uniforms took hold, it was seized upon by the British as obsession. The new uniforms were a visible symbol as a way of establishing their social status. No where else in Europe or in America did distinctive uniforms for school boys become such a uniformily accepted principle.
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More than is generally recognized today, children from affluent families in the 18th, 19th, and even early 20th Centuries were likely to have very extensive wardrobes.
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The English state schools followed the lead of the prestigous public schools also began requiring uniforms. The initial public schools to require uniforms were boarding schools, but many private and state day schools also began requiring uniforms. The Education Act of 1870 finally commited Britain to financing a modern school system for every child.
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It was within the public schools that uniform destinctions were most significant. Small destinctions in the uniform were used to delineate status within the school itself. In a peculiarly English fashion, uniform defined the hierarchy and reminded the new boy of the deference he owed to the prefect and the 'blood'. As late as the 1950s, unwritten rules about dress: how many buttons done up on the blazer, what angle to wear the straw hat etc...
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The social revolution of the 1960s ended much of the English obsession with school uniforms. In most schools, uniform remained, though modified in the direction of informality. A few public schools abolished uniform altogether. Most later regretted it.
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Several countries have been influencd by European, primarily English, school uniforms. Many former English colonies adopted English school uniforms. British school uniforms had some influence on American private schools and as some elementry schools began adopting school uniforms in the 1980s, British styles were influentil, especilly for girl's uniforms.
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1st Public School to implement a Shool Uniform Policy
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1st urban school district to adopt a mandatory uniform policy
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvsrZWTDhq0In his State of the Union Address, President Bill Clinton emphasizes the significance and rights of school systems across America to implement a mandatory school uniform policy
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School uniform remains an issue between pupils and school authorities. It would be odd indeed if this were not the case. But it is wrong to imagine that the adolescent rebel really wants uniform to be abolished or that abolition would put a stop to the arguments. Most Amereican schools have dress codes. Often parents and students participate in setting the code. But that is not to say there are fewer disagreements over clothes at American schools than at British schools.
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The end of the 2005-2006 school year provided information that 55 percent of the school systems has a very strict dress code. This was an increase of 47 percent from the 1999-2000 reports.
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It was reported at the end of the 2005-2006 school year that 14 percent of the schools in the United States required students to wear a uniform. This was up 2 percent from the school systems that reported on the wearing of uniforms at the end of the 1999-2000 school year.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_uniform#United_StatesBy 2010, the proportion of US public schools requiring uniforms has increased from 3% in 1996 to 25%.
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It is believed that school uniforms reduce assaults, thefts, vandalism, and weapon and drug use in schools.
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In Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Department of Education requires all students to wear school uniforms, with only medical exemptions.
