School uniform policies violate religious freedoms

The argument

Proponents of this position argue that a mandatory uniform cannot be treated as a neutral requirement, because for some students it is at odds with the dress their religion prescribes. Where the two codes conflict, the student is placed in a position no school rule should create: a choice between adhering to the school's uniform code and observing an obligation of faith. On this view that is already an infringement of religious freedom, since a rule which forces a believer to set aside a religious requirement in order to attend school burdens the practice rather than merely regulating clothing. Schools are quick to proclaim that in cases of religious principle and expression they will make an exception to the dress code, and proponents argue that this reply does not dissolve the problem so much as relocate it. An exemption works by making a student's religious identity visible in the one setting designed to make all pupils look alike. The stated purpose of a uniform is uniformity, so a pupil permitted to depart from it is marked out by the very deviation the exemption allows. Students exempt from uniform regulations on religious grounds are therefore left vulnerable to prejudice and discrimination precisely because the accommodation identifies them. The further consequences proponents anticipate follow from that visibility. Exempted pupils become obvious targets for bullying; the religious groups to which they belong are pushed towards isolation within the school; and cultural intolerance increases rather than diminishes, because difference has been made conspicuous and exceptional instead of ordinary. A policy that produces this result whether it is enforced strictly or relaxed has, on this argument, no version that leaves religious freedom intact, and so school uniforms should not be mandatory.

Context

Many religions have strict dress codes. The rigidity of mandatory school uniform policies means many religious students are forced to choose between following school rules and adhering to their religious principles.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Most countries and states which allow for school uniform policies to be implemented have sufficient safeguards to protect religious freedoms. A school’s ban on religious clothing or religious attire would infringe a student’s right to religious practice, and therefore cannot be enforced. School uniform policies have wiggle room to allow for religious freedom of expression. Schools that have uniform policies prohibiting hats, for example, allow students who wear hijabs or yarmulke’s in the interest of protecting religious freedoms. Therefore, a mandatory uniform policy is clearly compatible with religious freedom of expression.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Mandatory uniform policies are always flexible enough to allow for religious freedoms.