Do Clothes Make the Student?

Crass conformity

But uniforms are by no means supported by everyone. Critics reject the idea of a uniform as a panacea that will cure all that is ailing Germany's school system, saying administrators should be focusing on lack of books, deteriorating facilities and unmotivated teachers.

They argue uniforms are an encroachment on individual expression, and that mandating what students have to wear on school days deprives them of the opportunity to learn how to be responsible for their own clothing choices. In other words, the nanny state invades the closet.

"If it were a part of our culture and tradition, fine, but it isn't," said Ingrid Stahmer, formerly Berlin's senator for school, youth and sports. "Anyway, kids wearing uniforms are still going to figure out ways to differentiate themselves, be it through mobile phones or purses. We have to address the problems in the classroom in other ways."

She added that while a few schools across the country have adopted some kind of uniform or standard clothing rules, making it a widespread regulation would be difficult, because it would likely run into opposition from parents, many of whom are uncomfortable with the idea.

Hitler Youth - not a model of uniform-wearning kids Germany wants to repeat

It reminds some of the youth organizations of the Third Reich -- the Hitler Youth and the German Girls League -- whose members were forced to wear uniforms.

According to Dickhäuser, some immigrants to Germany who have school-age children would also likely have bad memories.

"I have had discussions with people from former Eastern Bloc countries, for example, a woman from Romania who said, 'I definitely do not want by child forced to wear a uniform. I went through that long enough'," Dickhäuser said.

De facto uniforms

Proponents counter that the uniforms under discussion in Germany are not the plaid skirts and breeches of an English boarding school, but rather outfits that the students themselves would vote on and which correspond to current styles -- at least the ones adults find acceptable. Besides, said FDP politician Gersch, standardized clothing is nothing new to today's kids.

"Looking at students today, they're already in uniforms of a sort," he said. "If (clothing designer Wolfang) Joop is in, Joop has to be worn by everybody, or they're not cool. And if that's the only criterion for individuality, then our society really has a problem."

The principal of a primary school in Potsdam about to introduce uniforms actually approached Wolfgang Joop, a local resident, about designing a uniform. The designer turned the school down, claiming a lack of time. Now the school is putting students to work, who will create a series of designs that will be passed on to a professional designer.

"Well, school uniforms have to be timeless," said Gudrun Wurzler, the principal. "They should be stylish, too."