Dress Codes: The Positive Effects Of School Uniforms

Instilling the value of higher education and the tools to achieve said education is the core of secondary institutions. It is the duty of the institution to provide a safe, healthy, nurturing environment for students to achieve their highest potential (Association of American Colleges and Universities Board of Directors). An important issue on the rise in schools today that is threatening this promise is student misbehavior and violence. Through various discussions of how to effectively correct this problem, school dress codes and uniforms has been hypothesized to have an effect on student conduct. However, whether or not that effect is positive or negative is the source much controversy. Some argue strict dress codes and uniforms aid students

A study performed on 64 Ohio high schools by the assistant professor at Youngstown State University, Virginia Draa, yielded surprisingly positive results. Draa studied schools that implemented schools uniforms as opposed to those who didn’t. She compared various statistics. She concluded that “those schools with uniform policies improved in attendance, graduation, and suspension rates” (Wildes). However, there is no clear explanation of exactly why this is true. This could be due to the students increase focus on school work. Particularly with uniforms, a strong advantage associated includes the professional atmosphere created in the classroom. By wearing uniforms, students are more likely to be more conscious of the core reason for going to school,

The main one being a severe limitation of self-expression. Neil Kokemuller of the Global Post argues that “psychologically, it is important for young people to feel like they have the right to a voice or opinion” (Kokemuller). Some argue that by enforcing strict dress codes and implementing school uniforms, students’ voices are suppressed. This can result in increased misbehavior. The students may lash out and rebel against teachers and staff. Rebellion amongst themselves may also surface. One of the main outlets of young adults, self-expression, is essentially taken away with the mandatory implementation of school uniforms. However, opposing arguments could be made that fashion sense is not the only outlet of self-expression available to young adults. Also, depending upon the severity of the uniform, there may be an issue with certain religious practices. For example, some Muslim women wear hijabs daily as a part of their culture. More strict uniform policies may prohibit this. Therefore, students in this category will be going against their religion and culture. This will undoubtedly cause tension between the student, the student’s family, and the school