try that where I used to live and chances are you'd find yourself beaten to within an inch of your life. Either by the kid and their friends or by the kids parents, depends on the age of the kids.

When I was a teen we responded far, far better to someone coming out of their house and asking us nicely to move along coz we were waking the baby up or whatever than to those who came out ranting and raving. These days it doesn't seem to matter how you ask, you'll get a mouthful of abuse at least and probably a broken window or a nice long scratch or two along your car.

Because these are generally the kids whose parents WON'T buy them proper uniform for whatever reason (sometimes money's tight, sometimes money's... ahem... misdirected, sometimes they just know the school will see them right anyway - I've known far far too many teachers actually end up feeding and clothing kids in their class out of their OWN pocket - not school funds, but their kids' old clothes, or stuff they've bought in the sales themselves to keep in school because they know this is what happens).

Sometimes there's such bad attendance anyway - it's a case of tactically ignoring it and trying not to put the family OFF getting their kid into school a bit more - you do it a bit at a time, first you get them through the door, then you gently start prodding for them to remember to bring their reading books to and fro, then you might hand them a school jumper "to stop his own clothes getting mucky and save you a bit of washing" and try to gradually softly-softly move them more into line - but with families like that, often it's not even baby-steps, it's baby tip-toes because if you come in hard with the "he's not wearing proper uniform" you can scare the parent in particular off ever getting into the school at all and either end up with absences through the roof - or a parent that dumps and runs each morning or just sends them to get themselves to school on their own.

Sometimes it's money and then generally school uniform jumpers discreetly find their way into the school bag to go home out of outgrown ones or abandoned lost property from last year.

Sometimes it's parents' own issues with school, authority and uniform coming to the fore - rebellion by proxy or however you want to see that.

Sometimes it's just three weeks till the end of term and I ain't going to bug anyone to buy a new pair of "uniform" shoes when the odds are they'll be outgrown by the first week in September (and I've taken a TONNE of flack from a head for my stance on this in the past)!

dizzi;
Sometimes it's parents' own issues with ...uniform coming to the fore - rebellion by proxy or however you want to see that.

thats not the only reason.
it can also might be due to some view school uniform as an odd idea, that doesnt hold any logic outside of british tradition.

Economy willing, i am hoping by the time my half danish baby is of school age to be living back in denmark, for the 2 reasons the standard of education and discipline and safety of schools is far superior to the Uk, whilst at the same time she wont have to wear a silly uniform.

What happens if the profession she goes into insists she wears a silly uniform.

Nothing. If she wants the job, she would probably wear it.
I dont understand the connection?

Uniforms at school in its own way performs a function, it instills discipline , respect ,

How and why? I dont see the connection?
Not being funny, i actually dont.
As i said, i want my daughter to go to school in denmark but the schools have a culture of discipline, respect AND not wearing uniforms.
See my post 416 which demonstrates a culture that is non-school uniforms yet has well behaved young people, yet another that also is non-school uniform based and has british style feral youth problem. So the prescence or abscence isnt a determining factor in discipline etc, its culture.

along with preventing the lesser well of feeling inferior to those who have the best /designer clothes.

Thats a problem in the culture of our society.
Kids in the inner cities can be shot in the Uk for not wearing the 'correct clothes'

Cost wise , its far cheaper in your yearly outlay for clothes for school.

That could be true, but some schools fix it so uniforms go waay beynd the simple white short and black trousers which you can buy cheaply anywhere. Some make you buy allsorts but only from one (expensive) supplier.
And if we didnt have a culture that values materialism, greed, celebrity, and labels so highly, kids could wear any old inexpensive everyday casual clothes

I think a school uniform (and how the children wear it) will tell you how well the schools ethos/discipline is upheld.

thats not the only reason.
it can also be due to some view school uniform as an odd idea, that doesnt hold any logic outside of british tradition.

how and why again?
(ditto my post 416)