I refer to Anna Marie Galea’s article ‘Uniform Discipline’, (The Sunday Times of Malta, October 8).

I would like to point out that a dress code doesn’t exist as an isolated animal, it always serves a purpose. The obvious reason for a school uniform is to promote the school’s identity and nourish the spirit of belonging to and taking pride in being part of the school community.

However, there is another very important point which has been overlooked, and that is that school uniforms prevent status issues by making children wear the same clothes and no extras. The emphasis is on equality: there are obviously no rich or poor, they all look the same and all have equal opportunities.

Equality helps to make interaction easier and decreases the chances of jealousy, which can often lead to quite nasty consequences. William Shakespeare once said: “The apparel oft proclaims the man”, and in our everyday lives we see numerous examples which support that assertion.

During their tender school years our children will definitely be better off without time and nerve wasted on comparing clothes and making ill judgements for the wrong reasons; children need to concentrate on their studies, create friendships and take advantage of opportunities open to them.

I certainly do not argue against uniforms, but the issue of comfort when wearing uniforms cannot and should not be neglected. Let us not forget that our children spend around six hours a day at school, sometimes even longer, five times a week, and part of their time is dedicated to active physical exercises. They must have comfortable clothing.

Or do we want to use uniforms as a means of building a strong character through adjustment to discomfort? Well, this thought crossed my mind several times when I had to buy school uniforms that were made of synthetic fabrics that made my children sweat and itch, or when I had to unstitch parts of a uniform to open up extremely tight sleeves that almost disrupted normal blood circulation in the arms, or when I had to make a choice between non-stretch, pencil-shaped trousers that would only perfectly fit on a bundle of reinforcement bars, and culottes that had a button and a zipper on the back (probably strategically placed there to train flexibility of limbs of the upper body).

I must admit, nevertheless, that awkward uniforms may inspire creativity in children: my daughter quickly figured out that she can wear culottes the other way round with the button and zipper in front: aesthetically it doesn’t change much but functionality considerably improves.

We do need to think about the comfort and practicality of uniforms; our children must feel comfortable to be able to perform their best.