School Uniforms - The Debate Continues

A recent debate among senior high school students highlighted that there are a significant number of high school students who feel their individuality is compromised by having to wear a school uniform or comply with any kind of dress code. One student felt strongly enough to state she felt her human rights were under violation by having to wear lace up shoes instead of trainers.
Hmm.
The question of degree is at issue here I would suggest.

Violated human rights are something the holocaust survivors could tell us about, or the few surviving victims of the Killing Fields, or perhaps the tortured journalists held hostage by fanatic regimes throughout the Middle East.
Having to wear a grey pleated skirt and navy blue underwear hardly seems comparable.

Some of these students went on to criticise not only school uniform, but any uniform; sweepingly condemning the use of military and naval uniform as passionately as that of their local high school.

The debate fell into heated argument as soon as the words 'regulation socks' hit the microphone. Seemingly students care a great deal about their appearance at school - enough to raise the debating hall roof anyway. It does seem that school uniform is an excellent training for those who might have to don a military or service uniform later in life. Firemen, for instance, spend most of their lives in some kind of uniform and are proud of their appearance.

Refuse collectors might not be so proud of their appearance in their regulation overalls but it is, nonetheless, a uniform with a practical purpose.

And show me a lady who does not find a white naval uniform sexy and I will show you a liar! A recent survey of professionals in uniform revealed that ninety per cent of these people have absolutely no objection to their uniform and in fact are proud of wearing it. The survey covered pilots, air stewardesses, fire service personnel, security guards, and police.
Uniforms have their place in modern society and most of the population accepts the necessity of uniformed personnel in day to day life.

Why is it, then, that some school children find the wearing of a uniform in any way demeaning or a threat to personal style or identity? It is true that a uniform wipes the school slate clean on individual style, and perhaps that is why so many teenage students object so stringently to having their imaginative style preferences so effectively controlled. After all, what is the point of owning screaming lime green and lilac spotted Doc Martens if you cannot wear them to school? My only objection to school uniform is one of economy; most complicated uniforms cause parents unnecessary expense in my opinion. However, I have no objection to a simple dress regulation set within a reasonable budget.