A-plus Writer
khalid alkhalid
UniformsLeadto
UniformMinds?:
SchoolUniforms
andAppearance
Restrictionsin
KoreanMiddle
Schoolsand
HighSchools
JudyPark
Abstract
Koreanpeoplepossessimpressiveskillsandabilitiesandaremakinga
markinmanydifferentfields,buttheyarenotusuallyconsideredthe
mostcreativeinagroup.Theremaybedifferentreasonsfortherigid-
nessorlackofcreativityofKorea,butthisarticleespeciallyfocuseson
theeffectofschooluniformsonthecreativityofKoreanstudents.
Schooluniformsareintroducedformultiplereasons,includingdisci-
pline,eliminatingclassdifferencesbetweenpeers,andbetteracademic
performance.However,basedonanexaminationofthehistoryof
uniformsinKoreanschoolsandtheattitudesandhabitsofstudents
JudyParkisCEOofAtelierEleven
(
www.ateliereleven.com)anda
lectureroffashiondesignat
SungkyunkwanUniversity,Inha
UniversityandKoreaNationalOpen
UniversityinKorea.ShehasaPhD
andMScinclothingandtextilesfrom
SeoulNationalUniversity.
[email protected]
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FashionTheory
,Volume17,Issue2,pp.159–178
DOI:10.2752/175174113X13541091797607
ReprintsavailabledirectlyfromthePublishers.
Photocopyingpermittedbylicenceonly.
©
BloomsburyPublishingPlc.
2013
in relation to their uniforms, this article concludes that school uniforms and appearance restrictions do not improve grades, but deny students the expression of individuality and creativity.
KEYWORDS: school uniforms, Korea, Korean fashion, creativity
Introduction
Korean people have many skills and abilities and an attractive culture that includes beautiful dance, fashion, art, and customs. However, Korean people are usually not found to be the most creative in a group. In fact, a recent study on thirty-three countries found that Korea was the fifth most rigid society. In other words, Korean people tend to be self-conscious of how they appear to other people and society, and this strict atmosphere makes it difficult for Korean people to be creative (Kim, Do-hyoung 2011).
Different views have been presented on the reasons behind the rigidness or lack of creativity of Korea. Some say that the Korean education system lacks focus on creativity and creative skills, while others say Koreans teach their children to live a “safe” life by working hard for a big company and not taking the risk of venturing out to try something new, while still others even say Korean people are naturally not as creative as people from the USA or Europe, for example. This is supported by the observation that young Korean students who attend schools in foreign countries often excel in mathematics or computer classes but do not perform so well in drama or sports because of their shyness and unwillingness to move out of their comfort zone.
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What about school uniforms? Could they have an effect on the creativity of students? Creativity, as with other aspects and abilities of the mind, largely develops during school years, and clothing is frequently described as an expression of creativity. Despite the observation above about Korean students overseas, students with foreign experience prove to be more creative than their peers who have lived in Korea all their lives. Perhaps the observation is due to the awkwardness Korean students feel as a minority in a foreign place rather than the fundamental essence of Korean children. After all, mixed-race children who attend Korean schools in Korea, where more than 90 percent of the students are Korean, seem just as shy as Korean students in foreign schools. If so, a hypothesis can be made that Korean students are born with the same creative potential as students of any other country, but environmental influences bring out characteristics that make them appear less creative. Focusing on Korean students living in Korea, a further hypothesis can be made that since Korean students wear their uniforms almost every day and for the majority of their day, and since clothes are one of the mostdirect methodsof self-expression, school uniformsplaya role in restricting the creativity of students. This is an interesting field of study, especially in Korea, because school uniforms in Korea were almost identical by law regardless of school until the 1980s. They still generally tend to look alike, and Korean schools have additional personal appearance restrictions regarding everything from hairstyle to makeup, shoes, and accessories. For example, most middle schools and high schools do not allow students to grow their hair past a certain length, perm or color their hair, or wear any hair products such as hairspray, gel, or wax.
The aim of this article was to find out whether or not school uniforms and other appearance restrictions have an effect on the grades and creativity of Korean students. It also aims to investigate and create a record of how students feel about their school uniform and what design preferences they have, and to reveal the positive and negative effects of school uniforms and appearance restrictions.
The research methodology included documentary research, Internet research, and focus group interviews (FGIs). Documentary research was conducted using books, articles, dissertations, and newspapers to examine Korean society and culture, the concept and mechanism of creativity, and clothing behavior. Then documentary research, Internet research, and visits to schools were conducted to study Korean school uniforms from the past to the present day. Newspapers, dissertations, and books were examined to find out how society has felt about school uniforms since they started, and the Internet was additionally used to examine the aims of schools that have school uniforms and whether they reach their aims, including better academic performance and improved discipline. Lastly FGIs were conducted with Korean middle school and high school students to learn more about how they feel about school uniforms, what they want, any complaints, and whether or not they think school uniforms have a connection with lack of creativity in Korean students.
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Relationship between Clothing and Creativity
Fashion is often considered as something that covers up the “true” nature of the body (Craik 2005: 1). For example, fashion photographer Juergen Teller is known for shooting designers, models, and people around him in the nude because he thinks nudity shows them as their true self. If school uniforms can be considered a part of fashion, they can indeed be considered a type of fashion that covers up the “true” appearance of students. Some may argue that school uniforms are clothing but not fashion, as they do not follow trends but are clothing set by the school. However, considering that the school uniform designs change and, as we will soon see, there are different school uniform brands, students often alter their uniforms according to current trends, and they are clothes that Korean students wear for most of their day almost every day, school uniforms will be considered as a type of “fashion” for Korean students in this article. The question is what relationship school uniform has with the creativity of students.
In order to answer this question, we first need to define “creativity” in this article and what “more creative” and “less creative” mean. Creativity is the ability to devise new, surprising, and valuable ideas (Boden 2004: 1). Generally, people associate creativity with artistic fields like art, music, or drama, and call people “creative” when they conjure up a design or idea that feels fresh and new. Then there is also the aspect of creative problem-solving. This is where one has the ability to approach and solve a problem in a new way that others fail to think of, leading to better and effective results. There is a cognitive factor approach and definitive factor approach to the development of creative problem-solving skills. The cognitive factor includes an expansive range of thinking and knowledge in both general and special fields, the definitive factor includes motivation and faith in possibilities, and different scholars support either side of this argument (Kim, Chung-ja 2006: 25–6). So if Korean students are as uncreative as they are generally perceived to be compared to students of other races, perhaps this is due to a lack of training and knowledge in a wide range of fields, and lack of faith in possibilities, leading to a lack of original ideas.
The argument that is generally made in Korea is that there is a problem with the Korean education system. Students sit at desks that are lined up in a uniform way facing the blackboard; there are rarely discussions in class, students mostly listen to the teacher and take notes, and are accustomed to memorizing everything when studying for exams in almost all subjects. These are all elements that certainly appear as if they could lead to a lack of creativity, but the Korean education system is largely modeled on the Japanese education system. Yet, while Japan is known for producing innovative products, including creative high-technology gadgets, automobiles, and everyday items such as stationery, Korea does not have the same reputation.
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A 2009 study that analyzed a creativity competition found that elementary school students had better creative ideas in terms of both quality and quantity than middle school or high school students, based on analysis of problem-solving results, and that foreign students had more flexible thinking abilities than Korean students (Kim and Ha 2009: 179). One major difference between elementary school students and middle school or high school students is that almost all public elementary schools do not have a school uniform, while almost allmiddleschoolsandhighschoolsdo.Therearemanyotherdifferences, of course, but this is the most obvious and visual difference, and although creative thinking does not always result in something visual, the hypothesis can be made that people need to see and experience many things in order to gain expansive knowledge and develop faith in possibilities. For example, one major difference between Korea and Japan is that Japan has a very visually stimulating culture, including widespread pachinkos, video games, and mangas, and is open to individuals expressing themselves in exaggerated ways, as long as it does not offend or cause damage to others (Park 2010a: 18).
In addition, a study on the brain found that students with highly developed emotional sensitivity had higher levels of scientific creativity (Lee et al. 2010: 522). There are two aspects to emotional sensitivity: innate sensitivity and the sensitivity that develops later in life based on lifestyle and habits. Some people are born with more emotional sensitivity than others, but even the very emotionally sensitive frequently lose their sensitivity as they grow into adults because of the ways of society, such as how people are expected to dress or act in certain circumstances or as a person of a certain status. An employee in charge of life culture at the Department of Creativity and Character Education at the Daegu Office of Education, Kim Young-tak, says that uniforms and clothing regulations that regulate everything from hairstyles to even the color of socks and sneakers of students inevitably trap the sensitivity of students in a uniform cage (Han 2011).
Women frequently say they feel more “feminine” when they wear a skirt, not only because of how they look, but also because wearing the clothes actually requires them to act in a more “feminine” way, such as keeping their legs together or walking more lightly in high heels than they would in sneakers, for example. Clothes can therefore comparatively restrict or liberate a person because of the design, and people often choose their clothes based on their values and how they want to act. A study on Korean youth subcultures found that Korean skateboarders wear clothes that are more baggy than riders but not as baggy as hip hoppers, because they need the right amount of comfort to do tricks on the skateboard (Ha and Park 2011: 24). A study on Japanese youth subcultures found that gyarus, who pursue an exaggerated girlish style and enjoy nightlife and being young, like to wear big bows to show their girlish side and multiple layers of plastic necklaces to show a childlike side in a society where child-like innocence is considered a virtue (Park 2010b: 2–8).
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Korean middle school and high school students especially spend most of their time in school, and increasingly more time wearing their uniform to spaces outside of school, making it take up a significant part of their clothing life (Lee and Lim 2010: 180). Asia Economy reported that adolescents spend around thirteen hours per day in their school uniform (Park 2011). Classes finish in Korea at around 4 p.m., but most schools have afterschool studies, and even if students do not have afterschool studies, almost all students go straight to academic institutes to further study key subjects in the university entrance examination, such as math, Korean, English, and science, still wearing their uniform. Middle school students might make it home in time for dinner if they have lenient parents, but most high school students stay until midnight, or come home for dinner but have lessons with a private tutor afterwards. Korean students also attend school for half-days on Saturdays. Therefore, they do not have many opportunities to express themselves through clothes, try new looks and designs, and experience how they feel, act, or think differently from when they wear their school uniform.
Korean School Uniform Designs from the Nineteenth Century to 2012
Wearing a school uniform for most of their day almost every day looks like it could possibly have a negative effect on the creativity of students, but what about the design of the school uniform? Do different school uniform designs make students feel, act, or think in different ways? School uniforms may all seem the same to people in some countries, but in Korea, people are more sensitive about the different designs, including color, silhouette, and details, because the country has a brief history of diversity in uniforms. Although school uniforms started in the nineteenth century, they were generally the same regardless of school, and different designs for different schools were only permitted in the 1980s.
The first women’s hanbok, or traditional Korean dress, school uniform was the uniform worn by students of the American missionary Mrs F. Scranton in 1886. The first school uniform that was modernday “Western” clothing adopted from the West was the uniform of Sookmyung Women’s School in 1907, consisting of a purple dress and bonnet with a pink lining. Uniforms returned to the traditional hanbok in 1910, and modern school uniforms returned in the 1930s, usually consisting of a blouse, sweater, sailor’s top, and pleated skirt for girls (Lee and Lim 2010: 180–1). Boys first wore traditional Korean dress uniforms at Baejaehakdang School in 1898, and switched to military-style uniformsthey could wear both for studying and training in 1939, as ordered by Japan during Japanese rule (Naver Encyclopedia 2011).
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Then, in 1969, the standardization policy of middle schools came into effect, and all schools in all cities and regions had to wear the same school uniform. Girls wore a black or brown skirt and white top in the summer and double-breasted jacket and pleated skirt in the winter; boys had to shave their heads and wear black suits (Figure 1). All students even wore similar shoes and carried the same bags. The idea was to make all students look the same regardless of the school they attended, but they could be differentiated with a small name tag, schoolbadge, andgrademark ontheirchest (NaverEncyclopedia2011).
The strict uniform regulations started to ease in 1983, when the Ministry of Education permitted schools to select their own unique
Figure 1
A scene from the film Spirit of Jeet Keun Do showing Korean boys’ school uniforms in the 1970s. Copyright © 2012 CJ E&M Corporation, all rights reserved.
160 Judy Park
174 Judy Park
Do School Uniforms Lead to Uniform Minds? 175
school uniform design with the goal of relieving psychological suppression and isolation of adolescents, and encouraging individuality and a democratic mind. In the 1990s, as more and more schools started to adopt uniforms and young students gained more interest in fashionable uniforms, large companies started school uniform chains and major school uniform brands started to establish strong positions. The companies offered something new to consumers through marketing, such as “the uniform that makes your legs appear longer” slogan by Ivy Club in 1996.
In the 2000s, school uniforms started to be recognized as an important fashion code that could help youth express their identity, and more schools and uniform companies started to combine mainstream trends and different colors in the uniform designs (Lee and Lim 2010: 180–1). School uniforms vary these days according to school, but favorite colors are navy, gray, and maroon with white shirts (Figure 2). Some are solid while some have checkered patterns, and most of the skirts are pleated.
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Youth are especially highly influenced by the media in Korea. School uniforms portrayed in television drama series are often considered trendy, either in the designs themselves or the way they are coordinated with accessories, and many young people follow the school uniform styles worn by their favorite stars on television. The sitcom Bold High Kick was extremely popular in 2007, and the school uniform design worn by the “heart-throb” in the series, Chung Il-woo, or a similar version of the design, was actually selected as the new school uniform for around ten schools in the country (Lee and Lim 2010: 180). This was based on a survey of students’ suggestions, and not
Figure 2
A typical Korean middle school uniform. Courtesy of the author.
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only shows the strong influence of the media, but the lack of creativity and tendency for copying of Korean students, too.
Nevertheless, as Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel once said, “He who insists on his own creativity has no memory.” Being inspired by others and making their ideas your own is one way of exploring and developing creativity and individual style, and as students do all around the world, students in Korea have their own trends, usually inspired by celebrities, which they adapt into their everyday school uniform styles. There is a slight difference in style according to which area students live in Seoul. Students who live in the Gangbuk area in Seoul, north of the Han River, especially alter their school uniforms and wear them very tight. The clothes are so tight that some people joke that “they were probably stitched on to the wearer.” However, this trend is no laughing matter. Not only do some most schools punish students for their attire, but a study even found that tight uniforms cause stress and damage the digestive system of students (Cheong et al. 2003: 76). Meanwhile, some girls wear their school uniform skirts much shorter than the original design, and this is leading to complaints and, possibly, financial implications for some schools. Many girls get their skirts altered or roll up their skirts—something girls do in many other countries, too—but living in a quite conservative society, a skirt length around 10–15 cm shorter than ten years ago is making adults feel uncomfortable. The Gangwon Province Office of Education even has plans to spend around 820 million won in the second half of 2011 to install cover boards onto the front of about 5,500 school desks that currently have a simple top and four legs, allowing anyone standing in front of the class to see straight up the skirts of girls sitting wearing short skirts (Hankyung News 2011).
Every few years, schools update their school uniform and take the initiative to create fresh designs that will please students, parents, and teachers, but this is not an easy task. Students living in Daegu, promoted as a “colorful” city, complain about their dark and dreary uniform styles, but school uniform designers and fashion design professors asked to design new uniforms for schools point out that it is difficult to meet the many demands and suggestions. Since school uniforms are worn by all students, requests regarding silhouette, cost, design, and so on cannot realistically be met, and the end result sadly rarely breaks away from the usual colors or designs because of the many conditions and restrictions (Han 2011).
School uniform design and manufacturing companies may not be able to randomly change the design of school uniforms, but they are building competitiveness through less visual areas of design, such as function and comfort. For the 2011 summer season, Skool Looks provided clothing with a perspiration evaporation function, UV-ray protection, and ergonomic designs for comfort. Ivy Club presented a mesh lining for cooler and more durable boys’ pants and a concealed zipper inside girls’ skirt pockets so the pockets do not open up if you close the zipper, creating a smoother and slimmer line. Elite Basic added a lining with pictures printed in between girls’ blouse buttons to prevent exposure of skin in between buttons and add a fun design, slightly reduced the width of boys’ shirts for a slimmer line, and added buttons on skirt and pants waistlines for easy waist adjustments (Park 2011).
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With school uniform skirt lengths growing shorter and shorter, some schools announced that they would send girls home if they wore skirts that were too short. However, skirt length is not the only thing that is restricted in Korean middle schools and high schools. Students today can enhance their appearance even while wearing a school uniform in many more ways than the days when the standardization policy of middle schools was in effect, but the boys still have to keep their hair short, normally less than 4 cm long, and girls not only have to keep their hair at a length that is 4 cm under their ear or shorter, but are also banned from coloring, perms, and even using styling products, such as hairspray, mousse, gel, or hair wax. Students are not allowed to wear any makeup or accessories, except for a watch, and still have to wear certain socks and shoes according to school regulations. Considering that schools in the USA and Europe generally allow a single pair of earrings and other accessories, and have no problems with hair or makeup, the restrictions in Korea may appear harsh. This is the norm for middle school and high school students in Korea, but now that they are able to watch and indirectly experience Western culture via television and Internet, today’s Korean students have a stronger desire to beautify themselves compared to students did in the past—a desire they have to suppress every day.
Effects of Uniforms on Society and Schools
School uniforms were first adopted in Korea through the influence of other countries. People from the United States or Japan suggested or forced school uniforms on Korea, and the policy has stayed with the country and expanded over the years. Most middle schools and high schools have a school uniform and appearance restrictions policy, and implement these for a variety of reasons, including discipline, safety, and better academic performance.
The goal to restore order and safety in the school is a common goal in the USA. In his 1996 State of the Union message, President Bill Clinton said he would support school uniform policies if they help deter violence, and there is evidence that school uniforms not only control violence but also promote ideas and achievement as students focus more on academic pursuits (Stanley 1996: 424). On the other hand, there was a study in 1998 that showed that uniform policies did not have any connection to attendance problems, behavioral problems, substance use problems, academic preparedness, or pro-school attitudes (Brunsma 2004: xx).
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Some of the advantages of a school uniform include reducing the visual difference of wealth between students, lessening the economic burden for clothes on parents, and helping students focus on things other than clothing, such as their studies (Kim 2002: 16). Yet with the brand power of some uniform manufacturers gaining weight, uniforms are not necessarily reducing the economic burden, and are sometimes even adding a burden for parents. Recently, a major school uniform company started to add an embroidered company logo on their uniforms, which are generally a few hundred thousand won more expensive than smaller brands. This brand is very well-known and uses popular celebrities as models. A newspaper article reported that students are asking their parents for the expensive uniforms, and some who cannot afford them are even cutting the logo embroidery off other unused uniforms and stitching them on their own (Kim, Dae-young 2010).
Although most parents and teachers are still for uniforms in Korea in general, there is an opinion to be considered that middle school and high school students are at a stage in their life where they develop individuality and an interest in appearance and clothes, and wearing school uniforms that provide little room for choice in terms of design or color can interfere with development of individuality or aesthetic sense (Kaiser 1990). Korean designer Juun J. once said in an interview that he believes clothes are an important element that stimulates the sensitivity of students. He said that students choosing their own clothes, especially the school uniform they spend most of their day in, would help widen their range of thinking and freedom, but the Korean government and schools were indifferent to such needs. Major designer Noh Seung-eun said it pains her that Korean school uniforms are so rigid. She believes clothes are the result of art and philosophy, and a lack of fashion sense will prevent a person from developing insight into other objects, life, and creativity. Noh said, “I hope school uniforms will be the starting point to developing creativity and competitiveness” (Park 2005). Principal Kim Jong-mo of the alternative high school in Gongju, Korea, is another person who believes school uniforms can restrict creativity. Hanil High School is a boarding school that provides an alternative education, including cultural exchange with China and Japan, sports education, and special lectures by invited lecturers, unlike most high schools in Korea that focus on bulldozer-style teaching and memorization in preparation for the university entrance examination. Principal Kim says that Hanil High School has a “three nos” environment, “no school gate, no school uniform and no pollution,” which eliminates three major elements that the block creative thinking of students, and focuses on students learning to discipline and think for themselves (Kwon 2009).
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However, uniforms are known to instill a sense of belonging in people and lead to better teamwork, which is why Korean banks still have uniforms for their workers. Also, one can always see members of NASA wearing a uniform when they hold a press conference for any space project or successful satellite launch. Being unified and working together as a team is important, even when the world’s top scientists work together on something that requires great creativity from each individual.
Positive and negative effects of the uniform policy aside, are the school uniform and appearance restrictions in Korea too strict? The purpose of the school uniform and appearance restrictions is to eliminate the element of students having to pay attention to how they look, but strict restrictions sometimes make them focus even more on their looks, as they try to express individuality and look good within the restraints set upon them. It was reported in the news in March 2011, that a high school in Incheon held a hair length inspection for all students one morning in front of the school gate, and sent around 150 students away to get their hair cut before they could enter the school and take classes. Some students went to a nearby hair salon and got a haircut, but others just stood outside the gate not knowing what to do. Some parents complained that this was not a rational reason to deny their children classes, but most agreed that there is a need to restrict hair length for discipline and effective education. Almost all Korean high schools have appearance restrictions, and the only teenagers who have long and colored or permed hair in Korean society are those with special talents recognized by the school, such as professional junior dancers or those who attend international schools. Yet, there are no records to show that wearing school uniforms or strengthening appearance restrictions lead to better academic performance of schools, and students of international schools who have no uniform and wear their hair, accessories, or makeup as they please often go on to attend Ivy League universities.
Although Korean society may prefer to have youths in smart-looking school uniforms, with short hair and without makeup “fitting of a student,” there is no evidence that wearing school uniforms leads to better academic performance and the appearance of preferred uniform brands is leading to another form of financial burden for parents. Most think that school uniforms have a negative effect on the sensitivity and creativity of students.
School Uniforms from the Perspective of Wearers
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The most significant group to examine in order to gain a good understanding of the effects of school uniforms is students themselves. As people who wear school uniforms and experience the stresses of appearance restrictions or not on a daily basis, they can give a detailed and personal account of how they feel, what they want, what kinds of complaints they have, and what they think about the link between school uniforms and creativity. An FGI was conducted on two groups of students. The first group was seven middle school students—two girls and five boys; the second group was six high school students—four girls and two boys. All students lived in Seoul and attended schools with school uniforms and appearance restrictions.
None of the students interviewed said they wore their uniform without altering it. All of them altered the uniform because they wanted a better or more fashionable fit, and the major changes made were to the pants or skirt, to create a slimmer fit and shorter length. A 2002 study found that although parents and teachers have a strong preference for school uniforms, students do not, and a large percentage of students wear custom-made uniforms. Students were also least satisfied with design and comfort, and most satisfied with the significance of their uniforms (Kim 2002: 24). The results of the FGIs were similar. Most students were actually for school uniforms while some were against and some said they did not care, but none of the students were satisfied with their uniform.
The main complaints were that the design was not unique, pretty, or trendy, and too boring. One middle school girl said she really wanted to wear the school uniform in the recent television drama series Dream High. Dream High was based on an arts high school, and although arts high schools exist in Korea, the school portrayed in the television series was unlike any arts school in the country. The students in the series debuted as singers, had close friendships with their teachers, and spent most of their classes dancing and singing, which is something you would more likely see in a Western school. The school uniform included a slim-fitting brown jacket, slim trousers for boys, a big red and blue bow and a matching short red and blue checkered pleated miniskirt for girls, and no additional restrictions, allowing the cast to wear colorful shoes, outerwear, and accessories, and style their hair in a variety of different ways, including colored and permed hair and hair styled with gel or hair wax (Figure 3). Another high school boy said he wanted to wear the uniform in the popular Harry Potter films, which consists of gray trousers and a gray V-necked sweater with yellow and red trimming, a matching yellow and red striped tie, and a black cloak with a red and yellow school emblem embroidered on the chest, with a white shirt.
I don’t care if we have to uniform or not, but I really don’t like the color and design of our current school uniform. It’s navy, just like any other school. I like the colors and design of the uniform in Harry Potter. Korean schools never use bright yellow or red, and they always make us wear tailored vests instead of a cozy sweater. We’re not allowed to wear any accessories; we can’t grow our hair longer than past our collar … although this isn’t as harsh as 4 cm maximum, for example. We are not allowed to alter our uniforms, but we all do anyway. I think restrictions are natural in Korea, but if I could change school rules I would get rid of the uniform and all restrictions and make school a comfortable place like in other countries. With so many rules, we are so restricted that it is difficult to make our own decisions.
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He said he did not like that everyone looked the same, and instead of a sense of belonging, he felt trapped. He added that he believes wearing school uniforms decreases creativity in students, making them less creative than students who do not wear uniforms, and that students could probably develop in a more creative way if they did not wear uniforms.
How can we be expected to grow into creative adults if we are not even allowed to express ourselves in a creative way? We don’t really do art in art class or music in music class, we just memorize everything in the book. The least we should be allowed to do is wear our own clothes and accessories so we can experiment with visual things in daily life.
The biggest complaint of students was that they did not like the color of their uniform. One middle school girl said although she attends a better school and wants to go on to a general high school, she envies the uniform of the technical high school in her neighborhood—technical high schools are schools of a lower academic level than general high schools and mainly for students who do not wish to attend university but aim to get a job right after high school. The school’s winter uniform is maroon and beige, and they have dark gray trousers or skirts with a gray striped shirt in the summer. Two other girls said they wanted pink or red checkered skirts.
A study in 1981 found that 78 percent of female high school students felt the need for a school uniform, yet only 6 percent were “very satisfied” with their uniforms while 60 percent felt “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied” (Chung et al. 1981: 28). All the subjects interviewed for this study were dissatisfied, and some did not want a uniform.
Adults think we will just focus on studying if we wear uniforms and are not allowed to grow our hair or wear makeup, but in fact, this makes us even more obsessed. My friends and I are always trying to think of ways to grow our hair or wear makeup without getting caught, because even growing it slightly more than others makes you look and feel much prettier. Sometimes I think if we were all allowed to do whatever we wanted, there would be diversity anyway and we wouldn’t try so hard to compete and be the only one that is different.
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Not only girls, but even boys shared this view, saying it was considered very “cool” to have longer hair; they tried to grow their hair by tucking it in, and took it out after school.
This was one interesting comment that surfaced a few times only with the girls:
One of the positive sides of wearing a school uniform is that it narrows the difference between prettier girls and less prettier girls. A pretty girl would look much prettier if she wore tightfitting clothes and makeup, but she can’t so there is less pressure for average or less pretty girls.
None of the boys shared this view, which can be linked to the focus of appearance and self-esteem problems of young girls. A study found that Korean female high school students are more dissatisfied with expression of individuality when wearing school uniform if they are more satisfied with their physical appearance, and have an increasingly negative view on the sense of belonging that comes from wearing a school uniform if they have a higher sense of social self-efficacy. The higher the self-esteem they have, the less importance they place on the positive effect of the sense of belonging and gaining approval from peers (Koh et al. 1999: 36). So although the girls interviewed thought not being compared drastically with the prettier girls was a good thing, perhaps that is just a reflection of their lower self-esteem, and if school uniforms console their lower self-esteem in any way, perhaps this is a negative result as it fails to prepare young girls for the real world, where there are prettier girls and people sometimes get judged or compared based on looks.
It was also indicated from the interviews that although Korean schools aimed to divert the attention of students away from focusing on appearance or relationships with members of the opposite sex by regulating their appearance—it may be natural for teenagers to have boyfriends and girlfriends in some countries, but it is frowned upon in Korea, and having a boyfriend or girlfriend is generally acceptable after one enters college—it does not work. Students are still interested in looking good to satisfy themselves, their peers, or members of the opposite sex, and said they focus more on aspects that are not regulated, such as the brand and design of their bag or shoes. One student pointed out, “Not everyone is interested in clothes and makeup. The students who are going to just wash their face and go study will still do that if we don’t have a uniform, and the students who are interested in fashion will still be even if we wear a uniform.” Another student said, “What clothes you wear and what you do with your hair or face is part of your freedom. I hate that the school tries to take away my basic freedom. Each individual is different, and I am so unhappy with how little I can express myself that it distracts me from focusing on schoolwork.”
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Most subjects said they purchased their uniform at the store that was closest to them, but they all had a preference for a certain brand because of the brand image. The favorites were Smart, Ivy Club, and Elite Basic. In other words, some of the elements considered to be the negative elements of not wearing a uniform still seemed to exist with school uniforms and appearance restrictions, such as students paying too much attention to how they look, spending a lot of money on clothes and accessories, and financially less well-off students feeling left out for not wearing a certain brand, with the added factor of school uniforms possibly leading to less creativity development in students.
According to Craik (2005: 10), fashion is a method people use to feel visually at home with their culture by dressing appropriately for a particular time, occasion, or place. This is an especially strong element for Korean people who have a strong groupist tendency and desire to fit in (Ha and Park 2011: 25–9), and therefore can be inferred as one of
Figure 3 The school uniform worn by the cast in the popular television series Dream High.
the reasons why some of the Korean students interviewed said they preferred having a school uniform to not having one. Talking more in depth with the students showed that they were all dissatisfied with their uniform, and either wanted “prettier” or “cooler” uniforms or freedom of dress and expression.
Conclusion
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There is no evidence that wearing school uniforms leads to better grades, one of the biggest aims of schools when adopting a school uniform and appearance regulations policy, and it is the opinion of students who actually wear uniforms for most of their day almost every day that overt restrictions lessen freedom and creativity. Needless to say, there are many other aspects that probably contribute to a lack of creativity in young Korean people, but with school uniforms and strict appearance restrictions, students are denied an outlet of expression of individuality, and the opportunity to experiment with new ideas on a daily basis and personal level.
Korean students are dissatisfied with their school uniform, and when asked about their preferences most give examples of what they see in films or television drama series, which gives another glimpse of their lack of creativity and eager willingness to copy and imitate. However, there is a difference between different areas of Seoul, such as between Gangnam, south of the Han River, and Gangbuk, north of the Han River, showing that different areas have different style aesthetics and giving a peek into the possibility of potential for personal creativity development. The way in which students alter their uniforms shows how they are affected by celebrities, peers, and trends, and indicates that there would be trends but also a much wider range of styles worn by students at an earlier age if they were allowed freedom of dress.
In the meantime, Korean students are mostly seen wearing similar navy or gray uniforms all day long, and Korean university freshmen often have exaggerated or awkward, strange styles for they only start to experiment with fashion in a creative way in college. Korean people establish their personal style at a later age than youth of other countries, and if this is the case with dress, which directly touches their body and is a primary method of self-expression, there is a good chance this is the case with other areas, such as matters of the mind, ways of thinking, and creativity. Therefore, there is a need to relieve or lessen appearance restrictions at schools and listen to the requests of students at a young age, before they start to lose their sense of individuality and creativity, and not discourage diverse methods of personal expression, for youth are truly the future, and Korea could use more creativity, color, and aesthetic stimulation.
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