Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2020 February 27

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February 27

How to make a protest

Who can I contact to make a protest or vote in the country or the world? For example, abolishing school uniform. 86.128.175.30 (talk) 20:14, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

What's stopping you from doing it yourself? Assuming you're actually in Ireland, which presumably has free speech, you could start small, for example by writing a letter to the editor. You should also see which politicians (if any) have had anything to say about this school uniforms question. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:59, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

If you want the protest to have an effect, you should first make sure that you understand the topic your protest is about. For example, if you want to protest the compulsory wearing of school uniforms, make sure that you are aware of its positive sides also, so do the necessary research. You need to formulate a demand – just stating that you are against something will not get much done. Choose and formulate a demand in such a way that it is pithy (easily understood; memorable) and likely it will appeal to sympathizers and attract supporters. You will need supporters who participate in the protest. Finally, you will need publicity, or no one will pay attention. There are many forms of protest – a picket line, an occupation of the principal's office, a walkout – but make sure it is well documented so that you can post it on social media. It may help to tip off journalists something may be going to happen, but this can also backfire. Read further our articles on Activism, Protest and Protest movement, and study the history of the school strike for climate.  --Lambiam 09:19, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

Change.org Anton — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.198.187.35 (talk) 10:13, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

I think you've got two options: 1. Form a popular movement of aggrieved youngsters who generate press and gain supporters, or 2. File a nice little lawsuit. These dress codes are almost always gendered, and are therefore inherently discriminatory against people of all sexes and genders. The administration would be scared to death. The courts would be sympathetic. Temerarius (talk) 05:49, 29 February 2020 (UTC)

I don't see BoJo the Clown being scared to death by such a lawsuit, not do I believe the courts would be sympathetic. Even the dress code for the Clerks at the Table is different for men and women.  --Lambiam 08:46, 29 February 2020 (UTC)

Or maybe they'd just pass a new law, following the Welsh example. Alansplodge (talk) 18:06, 29 February 2020 (UTC)

[1] although written from a Scottish perspetive and not a Northern Ireland on may be of interest. It mentions that the ECHR has found that the requirement to wear a school uniform is not itself a violation of the ECHR. (Sadly it doesn't mention which court case this was.) While it's true the UK is looking likely to abandon both ECHRs, it seems unlikely rights in this area will increase as a result. In fact, as mentioned there, courts in England and Wales "have found it is not necessarily a breach of human rights to restrict the wearing of particular clothing or jewellery, even where these are a manifestation of a pupil’s religious beliefs."

From what I can tell, gender-uniform issues haven't yet been really tested e.g. [2] [3]. However in the US, such tests don't seem to have generally resulted in uniforms being considered unconstitutional point blank [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]. Rather they have resulted in restrictions on the requirements schools can place on school uniforms, especially an inability of schools to require students to dress in accordance with the student's gender identity. (And definitely not the school's view of the student's gender identity.) And even within the various parts of the UK, the trend seems to be towards removing requirements for students to dress in accordance with gender norms rather than removing uniforms point blank, as the example of Wales from Alansplodge and the links I provided suggest.

So yes, I agree with Alansplodge and Lambiam that this does not seem to be a useful way to challenge the issue in Northern Ireland, at the time, no matter Temerarius's belief to the contrary. Assuming of course the OP really wants to abolish school uniforms rather than simply change certain requirements. While I think it will be very difficult to convince anyone to legislate against school uniforms, at least it seems to be something which could theoretically result in change.

BTW, that last link, despite the dodgy looking site with those ads, actually covers a number of court cases in the US so may be of interest if anyone wants to know about the situation in the US. Unfortunately I could not find something that deals with the situation in Northern Ireland.

Nil Einne (talk) 11:44, 2 March 2020 (UTC)