A somewhat biased view on China…
In Europe, we still have some schools where students have to wear the same uniform everyday. Well, in China, this rule is applied to most of the schools in the country.
Which is okay for me… But the news I saw today in China Daily made me wonder how far this rule may be applied!
Over 200 middle school students in Suzhou (苏州, Sūzhōu) of Jiangsu Province (江苏, Jiāngsū) were forced to have their hair cut recently when the school decided their hair, either too long or too trendy, didn’t match their neat student roles.
No wonder the students strongly objected to the school’s action, decrying it as a violation of their freedom.
Side note for people living in the Occident: This is not usual in China… 
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November 4th, 2006 at 1:35 am
It’s the same in Korea. Until highschool every student have to wear a uniform and there is also some rules on the hair cut. Girls cannot have hairs going under their shoulders for exemple. They cannot change their hair colour either. It’s very fun to walk in some places where there is a highschool and a university next to each other : there is only one year between girls there, but the difference is so incredible… As soon as they get to university girls get so beautiful here !
I hear that it was a rule imposed by Japanese during the occupation and that stayed (in fact every bad stuff in Korea is japanese in origin :D). Also as high school is very difficult here (I think it’s similar in China, they study from 7am to 11pm, homework included of course), I guess it’s a way forbid any attractiveness and thus to avoid any “distraction” due to the other sex and let students focus on the hard work…