Perks of school uniforms: The students' perspective

CINCINNATI - School uniforms are a way of life for many Tri-State students, but for others the thought of a uniform can make them cringe.

Many students will be wearing a school uniform for the first time this upcoming school year, and depending on how old they are, they may be giving their parents a lot of flack about the matter.

Students at Purcell Marian High School gave some advice to those students struggling with the uniform concept. After all, the Walnut Hills catholic school has had uniforms since it was two separate schools in the early 1900s.

Today students at Purcell Marian are required to wear a white or blue collared Purcell shirt with matching khaki shorts or pants. Girls have the option of wearing skirts.

"You're also allowed to wear sweat shirts over your collared shirt, so there's always people wearing different stuff in school. It's not just like a bunch of people looking the same, everyone does their own thing," said soon-to-be senior Chris Korthous.

He observed that students individualize their uniforms with their shoes or socks. Girls sometimes switch up their jewelry or hair styles.

Korthous said many kids do not realize how less stressful uniforms can be when getting up in the morning, and fellow student, Katie Tobin, agreed.

"I like having a uniform because I don't like having to plan my outfits before school, so I can just wake up and put on my uniform," said the incoming freshman.

"When kids get used to uniforms, it's so much easier. When we have "out of uniform" days, kids spend so much time trying to figure out what they're going to wear, how they're going to match. When you have uniforms, all you have to do is make sure it's clean. It's ready to go," said Purcell Marian Principal Paul Ramstetter.

There's also the spirit store, where students can buy any school paraphernalia to wear on designated days, depending on the school.

"Don't think of it as a bad thing, because you may think at first 'oh I want to be an individual' but once you get to know everyone you can do that by your personality," said Tobin. "It doesn't have to be the way you dress, and everyone can be different even though they're wearing the same outfit."

The students also say the uniforms create a sense of discipline, something many parents like. Overall, they agree the uniforms are not as bad as many students first view them to be.