Should School Uniforms be Required?
Students who go to public schools are more likely to experience gangs than students who go to private schools. Almost half of public schools students reported gangs at their schools vs. two percent of students in private schools. “In Long Beach, CA, after two years of a district-wide K-8 mandatory uniform policy, reports of assault and battery in the district's schools decreased by 34%, assault with a deadly weapon dropped by 50%, fighting incidents went down by 51%, sex offenses were cut by 74%, robbery dropped by 65%, possession of weapons (or weapon "look-alikes") decreased by 52%, possession of drugs went down by 69%, and vandalism was lowered by 18%.” (Should Students Have to Wear School Uniforms?
To see students wear what they want to school, you can really see their personality flourish. "Some girls love to wear their ball gowns to school. I say, 'If you like it, fine,' James said. To see them in their own clothing, I can see their personalities more, and I love it." (Chandler, 2015) This quote shows that students should be able to wear whatever they want whenever they want. Chandler says that students should be able to express their own personalities through wearing their own schools. However, Chandler said “Early advocates of uniforms in public schools saw them as a way to reduce gang violence and crime in schools. President Bill Clinton, in his State of the Union address in 1996, gave the movement a boost when he said, "If it means that teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms." before she pointed out "Some girls love to wear their ball gowns to school. I say, 'If you like it, fine,' James said. To see them in their own clothing, I can see their
Wearing school uniforms don’t stop students from stylizing them, which means the students can still add pizazz to their uniforms to express their
The history of school uniforms in the United States public schools begins with small underprivileged school of Cherry Hill Elementary in Maryland and the domino effect that happened soon after in the years after. The popularity of school uniforms can greatly be credited to the Long Beach, California study and President Bill Clinton’s speech on the topic. At first, school uniforms were only for the private or Catholic private schools however the school uniform trend spread to other public schools to adopt the “preppy look” and success. This has now set new standard for the United States school system. A brief history of school uniforms will give a significant insight on the growing development that is transforming American schools.
During the early 1990’s, American political and educational leaders saw that the US education system was experiencing low academic standards, rising violence, and disenchanted teachers. In 1996, President Bill Clinton discussed the increase in school uniform requirements during his State of the Union Address. Clinton called upon school leaders to make uniforms an important part of their efforts to improve school safety and discipline. In late February of the same year, he issued a memorandum to the U.S. Secretary of Education, directing that the government 's Manual on School Uniforms be distributed to each of the country 's 16,000 school districts. And in his 1997 State of
Ever wonder what it would look like to have all students wearing the same white polo shirt, black pants, and a district sweater walking in the hallway? Nowadays, public school and many districts are discussing the possibilities of enforcing the uniform policy. In most places, many private schools already require students to have their mandatory uniforms; however, there are only a few public schools adopting this mandatory school-uniform polices as one of their enrollment requirements. The reason why not all public schools participated was because people believe that they are violating the freedom of choice when enforcing this mandatory uniform policy; yet problems such as bullying and segregation, emerged in these schools. Some people still think uniforms have no benefits at all. However, all public school students should be required to wear uniforms because it would improve the academic performance, reduce the violent behaviors based on appearance judgment, and provide less stress for both parents and students.
Uniforms also lowers victimization, decreasing gang activity and fights, and it also helps with differentiating strangers in the school from the students in the school building. Uniforms lower suspension rates and they also decreases substance abuse among the schools. (Brunsma) Beth Asaff found the U.S Department of Education says that the mandatory use of uniforms or dress codes reduces violence in school. This is a major point because violence in schools have gone up tremendously and President Clinton saw that when he took office. He stated that uniforms would, “make public schools more orderly centers of learning and safer sanctuaries for children.” Many of school followed his advice and formed a dress codes to lower gang and criminal activities. Some schools banned certain colors or even styles that they believed to be gang related, they thought that banning these clothing types it would resolve the gang activity that occurs at the school. These codes have shown incredible results. Administrators in Long Beach, California say that crime in the school has been reduced by 76% since the uniforms enforced. (Kizis) When President Clinton pointed to Long Beach, California where the uniforms were already in place the school said that their fights, weapons offences were reduced by half and sexual offences went down by three fourths. Since his speech in 1995, uniform use in the school district showed amazing results, like the crime in the district decreased by 91%. Suspensions dropped by 90%, sexual offences were down by a staggering 96%, and Vandalism waned by 69% after the uniforms were in place. (Chatterjee) With these amazing results it is no wonder many other schools in the country followed their footsteps. A study done in 2010, based on the School Survey on Crime and Safety, found that schools with a mandatory uniform had fewer instances of drug and
Until President Clinton called attention to the issue in his State of the Union address, mandatory public school uniform policies were sporadic local occurences. A few school districts had been quietly experimenting with uniforms for years, but the issue caught President Clinton's eye after the Long Beach, California school district released some numbers suggesting that after only one year, its mandatory uniform policy had not only brought about significant decreases in vandalism and fighting, but had also led to higher test scores. Now that the President's endorsement has elevated school uniforms into the realm of federal education policy, a question needs to be answered: Are uniforms a good idea?
Many parents believe that uniforms will only stifle the students creativity. They will not be allowed to freely express themselves with the colors that they wear as well as the clothing itself. If a child is feeling particularly happy that day, he or she may want to wear their favorite outfit to express themselves and the way that they feel. If all students wear uniforms, the entire school will all look exactly the same, which takes away all creativity and suppresses individuality.
In Long Beach California, they were the first to prove that school uniforms actually do reduce the amount of violence. With a 51 percent drop of physical fights, 34 percent drop in assaults, 50 percent drop in weapon offences, and 32 percent drop with suspensions. They introduced school uniforms in 1996 and ever since have been reducing the amount of violence in school. School uniforms should be used to stop the violence because nobody should have to get beat up because their outfit looks bad, or because it is easier to start gangs, students should not have to protect themselves by bringing a gun to school, students should be able to come to school safe, and without violence. A total of 85 students died violently in U.S schools, 75 percent incidents involving firearms. A couple of students at schools have had the option of deciding whether or not they wanted to wear uniforms, and less than 1 percent of students chose not to. Students would rather wear sometimes hideous uniforms than to risk their life. Wearing a school uniform is obviously a no brainer compared to being fire armed, but in some cases, some students, such as the 1 percent who chose not to, would rather risk their life. Wearing school uniforms could save students’ lives, and make schools a less violent place and make it a safe place
Many opposing views feel that uniforms are a “Band-Aid Approach” to more serious problems throughout the school community says Bárbara C. Cruz. (43) These are problems like violence, bullying and poor academic behavior. Said by a high school junior “Uniforms would not transform anyone into a good student, just dress up a bad one”. (Cruz 44) It is true that uniforms are not the solution to all educational problems, but they are a good place to start. Although, when schools begin to enforce a uniform policy it shows that the community is acknowledging there are problems to be solved and working together to try something new. Quoting two school safety experts, “Instituting a dress code alone will not solve the problem of violence in the schoo...
High school is typically a time when kids begin to distinguish themselves from one another. Students begin to develop their own sense of personal style, desperately trying to both fit in and stand out simultaneously. Being self-conscious and often lacking the confidence needed to assert themselves, teens are forced to use clothing and outward appearance as the means to manifest this individuality. Thus, students should not be forced to wear uniforms to school. Standard uniforms are unproven deterrents to student violence; are a "Band-Aid" to cover up the real problems faced by children and teens; and they violate students' right of self-expression, depriving them of their search for identity.
First, school uniforms eliminate opportunities for the ridicule of less popular or less fortunate students based on attire. Uniforms take the competition out of dressing. Students have been known to express themselves in flamboyant clothing. Price tags are in. Do you really want to be paying for a status symbol? A complaint by students is that uniforms reduce the freedom of expression. However, are we expressing ourselves through labeled clothing? Are we not just expressing a capitalist society in which everyone wears the same clothing that is priced higher due to its popularity and brand name? Is it righteous that the kid that cant afford these mainstream clothing is subject to ridicule? Uniforms just promote the peer pressure to perform and conform. Many students take after-school jobs to maintain their own style. Often these paychecks go to getting the “right” clothing instead of more important things such as saving for the future. The issue is not a part time job, but the reason behind the job is our concern. Is it not wrong that a student must waste his/her time working in order to get the right clothing and fit into society.
At the beginning of the 20th century almost no parent or faculty had any concerns with how students dressed to attend school. Nowadays, though, this is a giant concern among students, parents, and school board officials. Many arguments have been made over the matter saying uniforms should be required and enforced in schools. But, uniforms should not be required as they ultimately eliminate freedom of expression, promote conformity over individuality, may have a detrimental effect on students self image, emphasize the socioeconomic divisions they are supposed to eliminate, and lastly, school uniforms in public schools undermine the promise of a free education by adding an extra expense for families.
The most common argument against school uniforms is that they take away the students right to self-expression. Yes, school uniforms limit what the students have to wear, but students can still have their own ways of self-expression. Students can still express their style of choice with their hair and what accessories they wear. Their shoe choice is also a form of self-expression. Students can make the uniforms their own style without breaking the dress code. School is a place to learn. Outside of school, self- expression is limitless. Some parents also believe that it could interfere with students' natural behavior to experiment with different identities. Having uniforms in schools helps erase the defined line of the social classes. Typically, popular kids in the higher social classes wear the trendiest clothing...
The potential benefits of school uniforms include decreasing violence and threat. Some instances involving designer clothing and expensive shoes have led to life-threating situations among students. Hannah Boyd says, “Now that kids are getting mugged for their designer clothes and expensive sneakers, school uniforms seem a safer alternative to many.” "It's tragic when young people without a balanced upbringing, without grounded values, without a secure education, wind up believing that it's all right to kill somebody for a pair of sneakers or jewelry or a designer jacket," Mr. Clinton said, citing recent incidents of violence by teen-agers. With school uniforms students won’t be getting mugged for their designer clothes and expensive sneakers because everyone’s wearing the same thing and won’t get jealous of what others have. Uniforms help rid of the bullies that want to beat someone up because they dress a certain way or because they don’t have what other people have. With uniform policies kids can’t get beat up or made fun of because of what they wear and the uniforms help build that confidence that kids who get beat up lack. ...
It has been disputed that school uniforms would encourage protection in our education community. After all, if every student is trying the same style, it would be easier to pick out who on the school property is not a student or staff member. It is also disputed that school uniforms dampen thefts among pupils, since the contest would no longer be there. With identical outfits, no one is slaughtered over a pair of designer shoes or a designer jacket.
(“Quotes about Uniform Policy” 1). Theodore R. Mitchell, UCLA School of Education says, "I think its great news for all of us who have advocated school uniforms as a way of building community.” A pressing issue, bullying has become a big problem in many school, and to eliminate this problem, school policies should require students to wear uniforms. Many people believe that school uniforms build the community into a safer, more positive environment. School uniforms improve school academics, prevent gang violence, and assist families, who can not afford expensive clothing.