School Uniform and its Relation to Bullying

School Uniform and its Relation to Bullying
12/05/2019

Introduction

Today, some argue that school uniforms take away a student’s individuality and self-expression. Others claim that school uniforms help students focus on their academics and not get too distracted by how they present themselves. Japan is known as a country of school uniforms. Cultural influences such as anime and manga have created an image of Japanese high schools all around the world, including the specific Japanese style of school uniforms. At the same time, Japan is known for its high rate of traumatic bullying in schools. It also has one of the highest suicide rates among developed countries, which bullying could be contributing to. The purpose of this study is to reveal the social meaning behind school uniforms in Japan and whether or not they have a purpose in reducing certain forms of inequality and decreasing bullying in high schools in Japan.
School uniforms play a huge role in group behaviors within schools, and bullying is an extensive sociological problem all around the globe. So, do school uniforms decrease bullying? There are different elements to why groups of students become in the position of bullying or getting bullied. This study will take a step to find out whether or not school uniforms creates a main factor of the issue.
Uniforms may appear to promote equality, though they could actually be promoting inequality.
If you imagine two different situations at a concert, this becomes clear. In one, people with different heights are standing on the same height of stool steps, which makes the shorter person not able to see the stage. In the other, they are given different height of stool steps so that when they stood on them, they become all the same height and everyone can see the stage.
Does inequality motivate to create equality, or does equality create inequality?

Literature Review

CULCON (2003) informs the general information of Japanese school uniforms. It explains the idea of school uniforms, different types of uniforms, and in which situations or settings they have a significant meaning in Japanese school life. This solely gives the idea of school uniforms in Japan, and does not discuss any issues or many details about them. It informs that most schools in Japan require students to wear uniforms, and they are most common for junior high school and high school. The traditional boys uniforms are in black, Prussian military inspired style, and girls’ uniforms are sailor blouse with blue skirts. Most schools have strict rules on students’ appearance such as, not being allowed to wear any kinds of jewelry or make-up. To have some fun with their fashion and express their identity, some students roll up their sleeves, or shorten the length on their skirts, though these are also usually against the school rules. They have uniforms for summer and winter, and schools also have sports’ uniforms for gym classes, school excursions, or school cleaning. (CULCON, 2003)
Taki (2010) researched how stress and stressor are key components to as why “Ijime” (bullying) happens. He argued that the bullying in Japan; Ijime, cannot be explained the same way as people would explain bullying in Western culture, which usually consist of aggressive behaviors.
Yoneyama (2008) reported the social problem of bullying and Futoko (school absence) in Japan. Futoko is when you physically cannot go to school whether you want to or not, because you get a lot of anxiety from the classroom environment. This utilizes a qualitative method, reporting the history of
Japan and how it affected the education system. It also explains different types of bullying and how the numbers of “bullycide” (suicide caused by bullying) has changed over the past decades. One of the most important things to know about Japanese culture is conformity. The article’s thesis is that bullying is a key to understand human relations in Japan, where conformity and hierarchical pressures are very large aspects of the society. One data shows that the peak of number of cases on students who took their own lives after being bullied is recurring in ten-year intervals, which suggests that any kind of attempts the country made to reduce bullying has not had a long term success yet. The article reports that there have been some cases where local boards of education denied that bullying caused the students’ suicides. It states, “In six weeks in October and November 2006, six cases of bullycide, and the suicide of a principal who misled the media about the bullycide, were reported in the media. The media was flooded with images of principals and board of education members kowtowing in front of the altar of the deceased, or bowing low in front of the cameras, apologizing for their ‘inadequate response’ to bullying.” (Yoneyama, 2) As she also states, in classroom settings, students are constantly required to ‘read the vibes’ to know what they should say next or what would be the acceptable behavior. Taking a careful look at the mood or the atmosphere is the way to survive in school, work or any social settings. This is possibly very much a huge part of the Japanese culture, and maybe that is why it has been difficult to reduce bullying as a whole, because people want to feel secure and safe. It concludes that the key to reduce bullying is for teachers and other adults to notice the small signs of bullying that is happening. Though one case shows that before one kid took his own life after being bullied by his peers, he was actually first bullied by his own teacher. The teacher-student relationship is very important, yet it is even more critical for the board of education to listen to students and their parents when they have claims about the school.
In another study of hers, Yoneyama (2015) discussed types of school bullying. The first one focused on relationships of hierarchies, and the second one focused on group dynamics which surrounds bullying. Akiba and Shimizu (2010) also explained the importance of student-teacher relationships and its hierarchy which affects Ijime. They found that homeroom teachers tend to be reluctant to ask for help in difficult situations with students in middle schools.
Gregory (2013) analyzed the perceptions of high school students in terms of the academic engagement and their safety in one high school. He obtained the data from focus group and individual interviews. The study reports that student’s appearance is the primary reason for them to get bullied.
Whether students have uniforms or not, the bullying kids get extremely critical, such as pointing out a wrinkle on a clothing or fault in socks. The study finds that the students who were interviewed would rather wear non-uniformed clothing than uniforms, and they do not believe that uniforms have a positive effect on their academic engagement or their safety in school. They believe that some bad behaviors would increase without uniforms, and students would tease each other about their clothing. (Gregory, 73) It concludes that how well students do in school has very little to do with uniforms. 
Roguski (1997) conducted a research on pros and cons of implementing school uniform policy. He lists the pros and cons within the literature review of the study. The list of pros are, decreasing violence/theft, deterrence of gang influences, decreasing peer pressure, decrease in clothing cost, increase
in academic performance, increase student self esteem, promotes conformity to organizational goals, and able to recognize intruders. Cons are listed as, infringement of First Amendment rights, does not deter violence or gang activity, social classes among students will remain, school uniforms are an economic burden, and intrusion into lives of parents and students. He disputes all of the cons proving by his study on one school, and concludes that implementing a uniform policy has nothing but benefits. (32) 
Knight (2018) reported the fact that some Japanese schools have started to introduce school uniform options for LGBT students. The news does not go into detail and does not discuss the cons of this new change. It states that in 2015, Japan’s Ministry of Education issued a directive that suggested teachers
should “accept students’ preference of outfit, school and gym uniform.” In March 2017, the ministry announced it had revised the national bullying prevention policy to include LGBT students. (Knight, 2018) For the very first time, it protects sexual /gender minority students, and Japan also co-chaired the UNESCO conference on LGBT bullying and LGBT rights. It is a big step for the country, and it seems that slowly more students are identifying themselves as LGBTQ+, against the culture of conformity. Then a question arises if coming out as LGBTQ+ or wearing the gender-neutral uniforms would by any chance make bullying worse since the differences can be more noticeable.
Masaki (2019) reported on the current uniform situation with Naha high school. They decided to start a new system, which allows students to choose pants or skirts regardless of their gender. The school took a survey about what they think about the system prior to taking action. Over 70 percent of
students agreed to the new system. They decided to call the traditional Gakuran as “Zubon(pants) type,” and the traditional sailor uniform as “Skirt type.”
Ueshima (2018) reported on another new uniform system in a junior high school. In Chiba, Kashiwanoha junior high school started the system in April 2018, which allows students to choose any options of uniforms regardless of their gender. They made a “boys type” and a “girls type.” The “girls type” have a slightly slimmer blazer shape and a slimmer tie. You can choose either type, and you can mix and match with slacks or skirts, a tie or a ribbon. 
Suzuki (2002) researched the strictness of rules in high school in Japan based on types of high schools. (Private, public and others.) She also researched on the procedures of taking measurements of students for their uniforms. She reported that a private catholic all girls high school had very strict rules on
uniforms, other belongings, and manners. They took measurements at the welcome orientation. A public co-ed school didn’t have strict rules, though they were reluctant on changing the uniform system, because they were worried about how parents and the people in the area would react to it. Another public co-ed school didn’t have many rules, though they only had three options for their uniform sizing, small, medium and large. The last high school was also a public co-ed school, and they only had three size options as well. They take measurements only for those who did not match with any of the sizes, and make a custom sized uniform for him/her.
Fukumura researched on high school students’ attitudes towards school uniforms based on a survey she did. She found out that 1) High school students have this student-like, youth image towards high school uniforms. 2) The pro of uniforms is that students can feel the pride from the uniform as a symbol that he/she is a student at the school. The cons are that it is difficult to adjust the body temperature, and they own very few pairs of the uniform. 3) For winter uniforms, most students answered that they like the uniform, though for summer uniforms, only half of the students were satisfied with them. 4) For boys, half of them like the blazer type uniform and the others like the Gakuran. For girls, two thirds of them like the sailor type uniform. Only one third of the students responded that they admire to wear their own clothes to school. 5) Half of the students responded that they think little about the uniforms when choosing the high school they are going to, and others responded that they do not care at all. 6) The girls in high school are sensitive to the length of the skirt in uniforms. 7) For each student they own 1-2 pairs for winter uniform and 2-3 for summer uniform.
Finally, Brookshire (2016) questioned whether or not school uniform has an impact on school climate, which is a similar study to Gregory, 2013. Though this study concludes that school uniforms do impact a school climate. According to the findings, schools that do not have a uniform policy do
experience lower school climate, and students are not motivated to learn. (Brookshire, 64) It argues that researchers lack a conceptual agreement about what constitutes a “uniform,” which is an interesting aspect to consider. This study conducted surveys in two different schools, not asking any question about the uniforms.
Even though multiple studies about the impact of uniforms on school climate were conducted, there has been no studies that examined the correlation between uniforms and bullying or whether uniforms decrease bullying or not. It seems that some researchers believe uniforms decrease bullying, and
others believe that bullying is still present even when schools begin to have uniform policies. 

Discussion 

Social norms are expectations that many of us hold to maintain the societal order. People often feel pressured by these norms, and act a certain way according to their social roles. Although bullying itself is a deviant act, the victims are bullied because of their own “deviance.” There are three deviances happening in the dynamics of high school uniforms and bullying in Japan.
The first deviance is the act of not fitting in among other students, or being inferior to others in terms of how you look in the uniforms. CULCON discussed that to have some fun with their fashion and express their identity, some students roll up their sleeves, or shorten the length on their skirts, even though these are against the school rules. (CULCON, 2003) The reality is that these behaviors are to make yourself look cooler, and they are ways of identifying yourself as someone who do not follow the rules and rebellious. This helps students to move up the caste system of among high school students. Gregory (2013) argued that bullying kids get extremely critical of pointing out a wrinkle on a clothing or fault in socks of the victims. These deviances show that utilizing a uniform system in high school does not decrease the numbers of bullying. Japanese people are known for being healthy and rather skinny around the world.
Because of this genetic trend, students are expected to be around the same size in Japan. There is much less diversity in sizes compared to the United States. Many private schools tend to have measurements before purchasing a uniform, though that is not always the case. Because you are wearing the same thing, it is easy to compare one student from another in terns of weight and other features of your body. The overweight looking students are seen as deviant, and punished through not only bullying from other students, but also daily judgments from teachers and other students’ parents. 
The second deviance comes from economical status; it is being in a lower social class. Uniforms are not affordable. Some students thrift their uniforms from older siblings or students who graduated. A popular argument among people who did not experience growing up under uniform systems is that incorporating uniforms would allow students to have an equal playing field in terms how they look, and we do not have to worry if one students’ clothing look cheaper and rugged compared to other students. Though there is always a way for students to pick on what other students possess. Shoes, bags, pencil cases are some of the things students get teased if they do not look like others’. This is caused by the difference in social power. The dominant group who holds power are the ones who are able to make choices, and establish a system which they can take advantage of others. People with resources often define what is deviant and what is not. In a situation where enough number of students wear a nice brand watches to school, the deviance will be not having a nice watch. The standards for deviance is something that changes constantly, and the economic background of a student tend to affect whether you get bullied or not even under the uniform system. 
The third deviance is the LGBTQ+ students and the uniform options available to them. Not identifying yourself as a heterosexual individual is seen as deviant. Some students feel extremely uncomfortable wearing a certain gendered clothing that does not represent their sexualities. This leads to students becoming “Futoko.” (Yoneyama) There has been cases in the past where a student was forced to drop out of school, because the school did not allow the student to wear a different gendered uniform. This is a punishment of formal sanction. To wear an opposite gender uniform is a form of deviance, though to wear a gender neutral uniform would also be a form of deviance. In the past few years, the subculture of LGBTQ+ has grown immensely. The labeled deviant in the society were not accepted and still struggle to be accepted, though because of the collection of movements, they were accepted by another culture. As multiple articles mentioned, a few high schools have implemented the system of having gendered neutral uniforms, or giving students the freedom of choosing the type of uniform they wear. Some are opposed to this and argue that it would create more bullying. This partially has to do with the conformity of Japanese culture. If one female student wears pants, which appears clearly different from other students, she stands out and there is a great possibility of getting teased or bullied for that. In order to feel secured and safe, Japanese students might rather stick to the rules and conform, instead of expressing their identities and prioritizing their own values. 
The extreme amount of pressure to conform and conform to the hierarchical system in Japan are some of the main reasons to bullying. The uniform system reinforces this pressure of conformity. Though if what Yoneyama argues is the case, even if high school got rid of their school uniforms, bullying would still be present, because of the culture of conformity and hierarchy in Japan, which has been part of their history for centuries. Although students wear uniforms in school, there are opportunities which students see each other outside of school when they are wearing their own choice of clothing. Again, there is a large amount of pressure for students to look good in their non-uniform clothing, because that would define their “true selves.” When their fashion and sense of style are questioned, they are seen as, again, deviant. Emile Durkheim stated that deviance is normal and constant. He also argued that conditions which promotes social differentiation promotes deviance. If we think about it, the school itself could be promoting a platform for deviance of bullying to happen. 

Conclusion

Uniforms and bullying do not have a direct correlation, though it does help to reduce some teasing in terms of the appearance. Stress and pressure are major components as to why bullying happens in Japan. The classroom environment which is created through the culture of “reading the vibes” and paying close attention to what behaviors are acceptable or not, affects the on going number of bullying. 
School uniforms might create different kinds of bullying such as how students wear them, how students express their individuality in other places, and how good they look compared to other students in the same clothing. It is the same thing as auditions. When you go into a ballet audition, or go to a modeling agency, you are required to wear the same type of clothing and do your hair the same way, so that it is easier for people to compare their looks, face attributes, and body features. If we think this way, the school uniform system is an uncomfortable and stressful system to have in classroom settings for youths and younger children. School is where you learn, not where you compete on your looks and your hierarchical status among students. 
For future research on this theme, surveys on Japanese high school student should be conducted in public, private, and other types of schools. They should also be conducted in all-boys school, all-girls school, and co-ed schools, because their perspectives could largely differ from each other. Lastly, since the new uniform systems in Japan have only started within the past year or so, we have yet to find if they would actually have positive results on students. We would have to wait and see for a few years and compare the two; the time when they had the traditional uniform system and the current system.

Works Cited

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