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The school uniform - that bastion of standards of keeping order in most schools; a way of keeping in line just like a lot of other occupations (after all, when sailors, postmen, and vets all appeared on the quiz show Busman's Holiday in the 1980s and early 1990s, they had to wear their uniforms on there as well). It was called "school uniform" but the school itself did not wear the uniform; it was the pupils and not the teaching staff who were supposed to be the ambassadors to the school that they are associated with, and Yours Truly felt almost like a right wally, almost feeling that I was wearing someone else's clothes on, even though I was certainly no second hand rose (neither was my family), and they all came, blazer and all, from the school outfitters in the August prior to the start of the school year. At least I didn't wear "fancy dress" (it might as well be called that, to be honest) in Infant or Junior School, although they were introduced many years after I left - it was only Comprehensive School where I was forced to wear my colours a little too close to my chest. What was Non-Uniform Day, exactly? School was full of double standards - being in school during half term is just as bad as being out of school during term time, (cf series three of Grange Hill).
Did the purpose of wearing school uniform inflict a sense of double standards when teachers did not wear uniform? A lot of youngsters hated school (me included), so what better to remind them of what they don't like by making them wear a tie and blazer with the school logo on it? Teachers were there on purpose: they had chosen the profession that they wanted to do for their working life, got the university degree, PGCEs and teacher training, and probably because they loved school themselves coming top of the class in their specified subject, but pupils had no choice but to be in the education system, that was unless one was middle class enough to be home educated. To be fair, there are rules that do work both ways: if a teacher assaults a pupil the are more likely to be suspended or even expelled from their job and perhaps not even be allowed to work in the same school again - if a pupil assaults someone, the consequences would be similar if not the same, fair enough. A racist teacher would be struck off and dealt with just like a youngster would. If they both broke the law, certainly they would be treated the same. The extra work that teachers have to do does equalise the fact that pupils do homework does make them the same as their adult counterparts. As for pupils being in the staff room, well, do teachers get detention for being the staff room as well? This is what I am getting at.
Pupils wear school uniform and teachers don't - full stop, and Grange Hill explored this many times in its 31 series history. An Art lesson, and one schoolgirl comes in, (Miss Trisha Yates, who else?) as if she has always done Art in a fashion sense. "Three hours' (detention)? But that's not fair - you wear them", a protesting Trisha exclaimed to her Art teacher Julie Mather in series one of Grange Hill way back in 1978, after she came to school wearing rainbow coloured knee socks instead of the traditional white "Nicole Franklin out of Home and Away" ones. "I am not in the first year - I am a member of staff, or haven't you noticed?" an assertive Ms Mather responded with anger to Trisha and gave her three hours' detention - but of course, Tucker also go the cane in that series as well. The "not quite the correct school uniform" happened again ten years later when Justine Dean substituted her white blouse for a pink one. "It never rains but it pours" Bridget McClusky responded to this fashion charade, although as it was 1988 Justine didn't get a detention (pity), only a word of "don't wear a blouse like that again". They grew up rather quickly by then... But don't forget that Adrian Mole also had a foray into school rules with his red socks in his Secret Diary series.
If one had to be on Trisha or Justine's side, then I would have stuck up for Trisha more than Justine, probably because she was treated a bit more assertively, but then again it was 1978 and not 1988, but that is from watching old episodes from a 1990s Sunday morning perspective, I thought that Justine was too full of herself anyway, starting the Hill in late 1980s Stock, Aitken and Waterman Hip Hop territory, and not Trisha's late 1970s Boney M territory. It's amazing that Trisha would have got away with her rainbow coloured socks a couple of years later when the liberal Llewellyn allowed school uniform to be optional - the best of both worlds. That seemed to be until that particular Gripper and Pogo incident in Adams' Wing in series four, and the punishment was disproportionate in both cases; Stebson who caused the most problems got suspended, and Patterson unfairly got the cane. Full-time school was reintroduced forthwith as of series five in 1982. Anyone would have thought that Bill "Scruffy" McGuffy was a pupil when McClusky almost came down on him like a ton of bricks in her office for wearing jeans (it was 1982, so some of the Shaky-sort?) - and so that almost did work both ways under the McClusky-ism of the 1980s.
School was just as much my "workplace" as one of the "young ones", as well the teacher's, but we were obviously on opposite sides of the fence - it could not be helped; teachers were the leaders and pupils were the followers, and I even thought of people in my class more as "colleagues" rather than friends. Pupils had more rules than teachers as a way of catching them out and to make them behave even more. Some female teachers in the 1980s did dress in a uniformed way in some schools where youngsters did not have uniform, probably to set an example. I would see a teacher doing something, and assume that if it was alright for her to do it, then it would be obviously be alright for me to do it? No, it doesn't work like that. What was I supposed to believe apart from taking orders from them?
Since leaving school, I have always wanted equality in everything we see and do in life, and in hindsight, equality was the main "truant" at school for a lot of good reasons - the teacher was an adult and the pupil was not, hence the teacher getting the benefit of the doubt. Also, the teacher had worked his or her to their position, earning their right to be called Sir or Miss. Mind you, thinking about occupations that have to wear uniform, police officers, nurses, members of the armed forces - again, they got to where they are by achieving, studying and training for where they got to in their careers, and so they have decided to wear the relevant uniform by choice. But a school uniform feels like a sense of demotion and being at the bottom rung of the ladder, education wise, ridiculing the person who has to wear it- imagine a CID officer being demoted to uniform, it feels like a step backwards.
It would be boring if everyone dressed the same - imagine turning up to a party and someone is wearing the same outfit as yourself? In that respect, I am also so glad that I wasn't a twin considering how parents often dressed young identical twins in the same clothes - I have always said that I would hated being a twin because I don't want to wear a uniform all the time!
Did the purpose of wearing school uniform inflict a sense of double standards when teachers did not wear uniform? A lot of youngsters hated school (me included), so what better to remind them of what they don't like by making them wear a tie and blazer with the school logo on it? Teachers were there on purpose: they had chosen the profession that they wanted to do for their working life, got the university degree, PGCEs and teacher training, and probably because they loved school themselves coming top of the class in their specified subject, but pupils had no choice but to be in the education system, that was unless one was middle class enough to be home educated. To be fair, there are rules that do work both ways: if a teacher assaults a pupil the are more likely to be suspended or even expelled from their job and perhaps not even be allowed to work in the same school again - if a pupil assaults someone, the consequences would be similar if not the same, fair enough. A racist teacher would be struck off and dealt with just like a youngster would. If they both broke the law, certainly they would be treated the same. The extra work that teachers have to do does equalise the fact that pupils do homework does make them the same as their adult counterparts. As for pupils being in the staff room, well, do teachers get detention for being the staff room as well? This is what I am getting at.
Pupils wear school uniform and teachers don't - full stop, and Grange Hill explored this many times in its 31 series history. An Art lesson, and one schoolgirl comes in, (Miss Trisha Yates, who else?) as if she has always done Art in a fashion sense. "Three hours' (detention)? But that's not fair - you wear them", a protesting Trisha exclaimed to her Art teacher Julie Mather in series one of Grange Hill way back in 1978, after she came to school wearing rainbow coloured knee socks instead of the traditional white "Nicole Franklin out of Home and Away" ones. "I am not in the first year - I am a member of staff, or haven't you noticed?" an assertive Ms Mather responded with anger to Trisha and gave her three hours' detention - but of course, Tucker also go the cane in that series as well. The "not quite the correct school uniform" happened again ten years later when Justine Dean substituted her white blouse for a pink one. "It never rains but it pours" Bridget McClusky responded to this fashion charade, although as it was 1988 Justine didn't get a detention (pity), only a word of "don't wear a blouse like that again". They grew up rather quickly by then... But don't forget that Adrian Mole also had a foray into school rules with his red socks in his Secret Diary series.
If one had to be on Trisha or Justine's side, then I would have stuck up for Trisha more than Justine, probably because she was treated a bit more assertively, but then again it was 1978 and not 1988, but that is from watching old episodes from a 1990s Sunday morning perspective, I thought that Justine was too full of herself anyway, starting the Hill in late 1980s Stock, Aitken and Waterman Hip Hop territory, and not Trisha's late 1970s Boney M territory. It's amazing that Trisha would have got away with her rainbow coloured socks a couple of years later when the liberal Llewellyn allowed school uniform to be optional - the best of both worlds. That seemed to be until that particular Gripper and Pogo incident in Adams' Wing in series four, and the punishment was disproportionate in both cases; Stebson who caused the most problems got suspended, and Patterson unfairly got the cane. Full-time school was reintroduced forthwith as of series five in 1982. Anyone would have thought that Bill "Scruffy" McGuffy was a pupil when McClusky almost came down on him like a ton of bricks in her office for wearing jeans (it was 1982, so some of the Shaky-sort?) - and so that almost did work both ways under the McClusky-ism of the 1980s.
School was just as much my "workplace" as one of the "young ones", as well the teacher's, but we were obviously on opposite sides of the fence - it could not be helped; teachers were the leaders and pupils were the followers, and I even thought of people in my class more as "colleagues" rather than friends. Pupils had more rules than teachers as a way of catching them out and to make them behave even more. Some female teachers in the 1980s did dress in a uniformed way in some schools where youngsters did not have uniform, probably to set an example. I would see a teacher doing something, and assume that if it was alright for her to do it, then it would be obviously be alright for me to do it? No, it doesn't work like that. What was I supposed to believe apart from taking orders from them?
Since leaving school, I have always wanted equality in everything we see and do in life, and in hindsight, equality was the main "truant" at school for a lot of good reasons - the teacher was an adult and the pupil was not, hence the teacher getting the benefit of the doubt. Also, the teacher had worked his or her to their position, earning their right to be called Sir or Miss. Mind you, thinking about occupations that have to wear uniform, police officers, nurses, members of the armed forces - again, they got to where they are by achieving, studying and training for where they got to in their careers, and so they have decided to wear the relevant uniform by choice. But a school uniform feels like a sense of demotion and being at the bottom rung of the ladder, education wise, ridiculing the person who has to wear it- imagine a CID officer being demoted to uniform, it feels like a step backwards.
It would be boring if everyone dressed the same - imagine turning up to a party and someone is wearing the same outfit as yourself? In that respect, I am also so glad that I wasn't a twin considering how parents often dressed young identical twins in the same clothes - I have always said that I would hated being a twin because I don't want to wear a uniform all the time!
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