Todd: Marion, at the school you work at, do the children wear uniforms?

 

Marion: Yes they do.

 

Todd: Ah, that's terrible.

 

Marion: Do you think so?

 

Todd: Yeah.

 

Marion: I think it's a good thing that they wear uniforms. For them, and for their parents too.

 

Todd: Why?

 

Marion: Well, because when they wake up in the morning, they don't have to think about what they wear for that day. So, it saves time, they can have extra time in bed maybe, and for their parents it saves them a lot of money, I think.

 

Todd: See, I disagree. First of all, when children are young, they're starting to be creative for the first time. So, just by choosing what they're going to wear every day, they're can show their creativity, or their individuality, you know? Also, it helps students learn to make choices, to make decisions, to make decisions for themselves. I don't know, like a uniform you take that away from children.

 

Marion: I think they can learn how to choose in other ways, maybe, I don't know the accesories they wear, but basically that everybody is in the same clothes I think is really good, just to make everybody equal. Did you wear a uniform when you were at school?

 

Todd: No I didn't. And looking back, I'm glad I didn't, because you know, your clothes reflect your personality, and I think that it's important for kids to be able to show how they are as a person, through their clothes.

 

Marion: But maybe if you can show your personality through your personality, and you don't need your clothes to show your personality, then that's a bit better, I think.

 

Todd: That's a good point. I guess I just can't imagine wearing a uniform every day. Plus, I mean if you wear a uniform every day it must get really old, really repetitive, the same thing again and again and again. And I think that mentally, that can be tiring.

 

Marion: I think that it might be tiring, or worrying mentally if you, for example, if you see other children in your school who have nicer clothes, more expensive clothes, and your parents can't afford those kind of clothes. Then, it makes you feel left out when you're a child, and that's really, really awful if you feel that way as a child, just because of clothes and money I think.

 

Todd: Well, did you wear a uniform?

 

Marion: Yes.

 

Todd: Did you feel that way?

 

Marion: I went to school in Ireland, so almost all schools have uniforms, so for us it felt very normal, that when I was in primary school we had a uniform, and then in secondary school a different uniform, and my brother's school had a uniform, so it's normal for us. So, I thought it was OK, sometimes you do get bored, but I think overall it saved us time in the morning, which is good.