Why Sweden holds that school uniforms breach human rights

The Swedish Schools Inspectorate ruled a few years ago that “students’ clothing and appearance should be regarded as an individual expression, decided by the students themselves. How a person dresses is a matter of the individual’s freedom and integrity”.

Sweden’s decision on school uniforms

After inspecting the Nordic International School, which required students to wear a uniform and could take disciplinary action if they did not, the inspectors concluded that these school rules ran counter to the principles of the country’s Education Act, which draw on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

Freedom and integrity. The values behind the Swedish education authority’s decision on uniforms

Based on the protection of the fundamental rights to freedom and personal integrity, the national law states that “education shall be designed in accordance with fundamental democratic values and human rights, such as the inviolability of human life, the freedom and integrity of the individual, the equal value of all people, equality and solidarity between people”.

Freedoms must be respected as part of the fundamental values of educational activities, and choosing one’s clothes freely is an expression of the respect for self-expression that we practice at Dragon American School.

What tends to happen is that, since our school sits at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama, most of our students choose comfortable, hard-wearing clothes to keep up with activities, many of them outdoors, in a unique natural setting.

Gender equality and school uniforms

Going a step further, there is also the standard practice of having different uniforms for boys and girls. Although some court rulings allow both sexes to choose the uniform they prefer, the fact that skirts for girls and pants for boys are the norm ends up disadvantaging girls: in a skirt, there comes a point when you do not want to climb, jump or scramble up a tree.

Something that affects boys and girls equally is that uniforms are made of uncomfortable, stiff materials… if the body is uncomfortable, our attention goes to those uncomfortable sensations and not where we need it when we are learning.

There are no uniforms at Dragon American School either

Uniformity goes against respecting the essence of what makes each of our students unique.

Respecting free choice has been part of the school’s philosophy for a decade now. We created a unique school —human and technological— because we did not want uniform children. We believe in personalized education, which we make possible with innovative methods and excellent teachers, because we know that no two students are alike.

Uniforms are “one size fits all”. We are all the same, we all learn the same things, we all have the same interests. Well, no. If you put a child in a uniform imposed by an adult, the message you are giving them is that we do not want to see their differences and originality.

Bárbara Serrano. Head of Dragon American School

Uniforms and freedom of expression

Clothing is part of how we express ourselves as people and is therefore protected at our school by the respect for personal freedom that runs through everything we do.

At Dragon American School, beyond the freedom to choose what to wear, other key aspects of our method also reflect this philosophy of not treating our students in a uniform way.

For example, it is clear in the fact that no two schedules in the school are the same. Each student chooses their electives according to their preferences, regardless of age, and we try to respect their freedom to decide as much as possible, based on their personal and academic pathway. It also shows in the fact that it does not matter how old your child is: they can take subjects in different grades depending on their level in each one.

This personal, non-uniform attention also rests on the educational support provided by each student’s “mentor”: mentors follow students’ personal development at all times, whether emotional, social or academic, supporting them throughout their school years.

Uniforms in the early years. Dragon-Fly, ages 2 to 5

The right to freedom of choice and expression is also key at the developmental stage of the youngest children at the school, our “Dragon Fly” children.

In other settings where uniforms are compulsory —especially if they are split into skirts and pants— very young girls may even fail to develop natural skills that can only be acquired in the early years.

In any case, we believe that both girls and boys can see their psychomotor and proprioceptive development negatively affected.

During these years, when the focus is above all on independence and the ability to make their own decisions, letting children choose their own clothes is something we work on consciously at our school.

Working on how young children express themselves through clothing, and reaching milestones of independence through choosing, wearing and enjoying it, goes hand in hand with other activities aimed at developing critical thinking and independent decision-making.