school uniforms Options

[*mipadi*]

I think you're confusing "fashion sense" and "societal values".

[Spirited Away]

POOOOH.

i know.  i'm saying that uniforms don't do anything to teach about fashion sense- so that can't be given as a reason that they should be used.

and ease of wardrobe choices every day shouldn't be a reason either- because that's using not teaching something as a reason.

*frown at you some more*. My example wasn't to use 'teaching fashion' as a reason to implement uniforms, it was to show that "uniforms in school do nothing to harm a student's creativity, fashion sense, or 'individuality'." This was a direct response against the popular thought that uniforms hinder fashion sense.

[sadolakced acid]

no, michael said that uniforms help teach children how to dress better later in life.

[Spirited Away]

no, michael said that uniforms help teach children how to dress better later in life.

And that may or may not be true. There's no way to prove either, but what he says make sense. How can it NOT teach kids to dress better, or harm their style is what I'd like to know.

I brought up the point that uniforms influence kids to be neat and kempt a while back, remember? Being neat and kempt is what most of us need to be while interviewing for jobs or while attending major functions. So yes, kids do learn to dress better, in my opinion, but how they use that knowledge is a whole other ball-park.

[emazing]

No.
Uniforms that're in "style" in this part of the CA area is pretty hard to find; they're also more expensive than if you were to purchase clothes from Anchor Blue, Old Navy, sales @ Hollister Co outlets, and whatnot.
I suppose there should be some sort of dress code, but uniforms can be out of the question.
BTW - this is my last year wearing uniforms. SCORE!

[Spirited Away]

Uniforms that're in "style" in this part of the CA area is pretty hard to find; they're also more expensive than if you were to purchase clothes from Anchor Blue, Old Navy, sales @ Hollister Co outlets, and whatnot.

scholarships and/or financial aid are things I've mentioned before. and if enough schools enforce uniforms, they wouldn't be expensive.

[ComradeRed]

If enough schools enforce uniforms, it stands to reason that the demand for uniforms would skyrocket, which would mean that the price would in fact go up.

[*mipadi*]

If enough schools enforce uniforms, it stands to reason that the demand for uniforms would skyrocket, which would mean that the price would in fact go up.

Assuming supply stays the same.

[Spirited Away]

If enough schools enforce uniforms, it stands to reason that the demand for uniforms would skyrocket, which would mean that the price would in fact go up.

but will eventually reach an equilibrium because there would competition for supply.

even if the price is high, i've said this before, financial aid and scholarships would be available... at least until price is affordable to all.

[sadolakced acid]

^

that same mantra was seen in justifications for high textbook prices. now every student has a textbook and they all cost a lot.

there will never be a uniform state or country wide uniform, and therefore each specific uniform set will not be used by many, and the price will stay expensive.

[Spirited Away]

you have to pay for textbooks in highschool directly out of your own pockets like you'd buy your clothes?

[sadolakced acid]

^ someone still pays for them.

and yes, in college. and college textbook aren't any cheaper even though every college student has textbooks.

likewise, uniforms will likely have the school crest or shield on it, and cost much more because each school has it's unique uniform, shared by only a few other schools.

[Spirited Away]

^  someone still pays for them.

and yes, in college.  and college textbook aren't any cheaper even though every college student has textbooks.

likewise, uniforms will likely have the school crest or shield on it, and cost much more because each school has it's unique uniform, shared by only a few other schools.

... i wouldn't want uniforms in college so i don't see how this applies.

yes, textbook prices are high, but you must know that they're high because there are copyrights to be considered—they can't be replicated. that is why they're expensive. if my professor says i have to purchase Ken Black Ed. 4 Stats book, i don't have an alternative. however if my teacher says i can get any Stats book, i can buy the cheapest one available. the latter is not a choice and that is why textbook prices are high.

however, school uniforms aren't the same. if i'm the on the board of one school and the principal says the current supplier of our school uniform is charging too high of a price, we can ALWAYS find a cheaper company. this is very possible and thus, it IS possible for uniforms to be affordable for everyone because they can be replicated by schools without any legal complications.

in fact, one Y branch in houston just changed suppliers of their uniforms because of better fabrics. yea, i work at a Y.

[*disco infiltrator*]

We have to pay rental for our books in high school. My books were $105 this year I believe.

[Spirited Away]

i got mine through my parents' taxes. not free, but not like how i'd buy clothes either. well, i'm sure if they implement uniforms there would be some kind of financial aid to help with these costs.



edit> my mom gave me a good point about uniforms. when Ys have summer camps kids where uniforms--same logo t-shirts--when they go on field trips. why? one of the many reasons is that camp counselors can spot kids if they're lagging behind. also, if a child does get lost, our Y's phone number, name and location is on the back of the shirt. this of course allows people to help lead the lost child back to our group because they can identify who the child's with... etc.

uniforms in school would have similar advantages for young kids.

[sadolakced acid]

i doubt that mass consumption of uniforms would actually decrease uniform prices. i don't think supply would be able to take a sudden increase, and i sure don't think that schools would consider price as the first requirement and thus drive it down, they'd focus on looks and stuff.

anyways; here's how to solve the dress code issue, and it's what my school does:

have good air conditioning.

if it's 60 degrees inside every day, no sane girl will wear a tank top and mini skirt.

[Spirited Away]

what i said about supply, demand and equilibrium is an economic principle.

i wouldn't call implementing uniforms throughout the US a sudden increase. it would take years, maybe decades for all schools to enforce such a policy because it has to go through state laws, getting grants and budgeting... etc. it would be a gradual increase, one that will give time for all kinds of people to go into the business of supplying uniforms to schools, thus creating competition. of course, competition means competitive prices, aka affordable prices.

uniforms would be a lot more comfortable than lowering the AC. i don't know if i could pay attention in class with chattering teeths and i'd be distracted with trying to find warmth.

[ComradeRed]

Assuming supply stays the same.

You are confusing supply with quantity supplied. The quantity supplied will increase, but the supply curve itself does not shift due to an increase in demand. This, more will be produced, but also sold at a higher price.

[Spirited Away]

then is it not within reason to say high uniform prices would attract more sellers to enter this business, and thus results in the shift of the supply curve?

[ComradeRed]

No, because those businesses also have costs. It would increase the quantity supplied, but it would not increase the actual supply schedule of the industry, so the price would also increase because there are increasing costs associated with producing more uniforms (you need to build more factories, hire more people, etc.) Businesses, which are trying to maximize profit, will increase production due to the higher price, but not so much that the price goes back down to where it started at (because if they did, they would be making the same amount of money, despite putting in investment into factories, etc.)

[Spirited Away]

And why wouldn't the price go back down is what I want to know. Prices went down in the agriculture industry mainly because of competition. And after a while, equilibrium takes over and a lot of people exited the industry. Agriculture is just one example of course, there are companies who go out of business because they can't afford to lower their prices--due to cost--to compete. You don't expect the same forecasts, and I'm a little confused as to why. Sure, if no one enters the market then only quantity supply will change, but the fact is that this is an open market and people can enter freely means there will be more suppliers, which will shift the supply curve. Costs and competititive prices will be one of the reasons why this market will reach equlibrium.

The supply curve can shift as conditions in the market change. In this case, the nonprice determinant of forecasting future producers entering the business is expected to increase, taxes and subsidies wouldn't be a problem since we are talking public schoos... etc.

[sadolakced acid]

^ because uniforms are still clothes. specialized clothes at that. and yes, the price of uniforms would fall, but that's the first selling.

you still have the costs of shipping it to the US and putting it in a store, or running an online store. you still have to lobby schools and states to adopt your uniforms, and as uniforms become more prevalant, the costs of advertising will increase, and offset any production price decreases.

[Spirited Away]

a lot of what you've said are fixed costs and overheads, which are not what businesses focus on. about advertising, you wouldn't want to advertise to the mass, that's wasting money. your targets are more specific: school officials and government. the cost of marketing your product to a specified group of people isn't as expensive as you think or else a lot of businesses would go bankrupt simply because they can't advertise to a small group of people. this defeats the purpose of you going into the business in the first place since you never had the money your forcasts say that you would need to spend. and you make it sounds like getting schools to buy your product is impossible. it's not, and that's when good marketing comes in and good marketing is definitely affordable.

as for the last part about offsetting production price decreases, this has everything to do with prices being competitive. if a company cannot pay for their fixed costs, they'd go out of business which is what an OPEN market is about: freely entering and freely leaving.

about everything else, seriously, if everything is that much of a deal, then the cheap cotton shirt at a second hand store would be too expensive for anyone to afford, not just uniforms.