Speech Pattern: Topical
Do you remember what your wardrobe was like during high school? Maybe you wore the latest in brand name clothing, anything that wasn’t associated with gang signs, or whatever hand me downs you could get. The reality is physical violence is common between children because of the name brand on a jacket or a pair of jeans. Children are being ridiculed because their families simply can't afford to provide them with the latest in fashion. In our larger cities where gang involvement is prevalent, children are killed because they choose to wear the wrong color to school. This concern is not about civil liberties or freedom of expression, it's about improving the educational environment within our public school systems nationwide. If this is a possible solution to the issues faced in public schools, is expressing one’s self with brand name clothing not worth giving up? and I went to private school where I was required to wear uniforms. I saw a strong correlation between wearing uniforms and prevention of school violence. I’m here today to talk about why uniforms prevent school violence. I will speak about how it prevents students from ridicule, theft and gang violence.
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.
With School Uniforms everyone fits in. Uniforms encourage students to show their personality and individuality in ways other than dress.
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.
It has been observed that the adoption of school uniform policies can promote school safety, improve discipline, and enhance the learning environment. The potential benefits of school uniforms include decreasing violence and theft. Some instances involving designer clothing and expensive sneakers have even led to life-threatening situations among students. Uniforms would also prevent gang members from wearing gang colors and insignia at school. Uniforms would also teach students discipline and help them resist peer pressure. Uniforms would also help students concentrate on their schoolwork and would help school officials detect intruders who come unwelcome into the school.
With many of the schools that do not use school uniforms, they are having trouble with their students, and the school environment is collapsing. Two very educated people that work on keeping schools safe; Linda Lumsden and Gabriel Miller’s, in their article “School Uniforms and Dress Codes”, they have informed people the biggest reasons school crime exists. Some kids come in dressed promoting drugs and alcohol, others come in dressed in “swag in gang related clothes”, and other students come to school with sexually provocative clothing (Lumsden, Miller). This is getting out of hand because so many students are wearing cloths, which is provocative, and no one is taking serious control to stop them from being a distraction to other students. Also one of the biggest issues with schools these days, are the school shootings. Sherry Bowen, a professional in the education system has informed people about how easy it is to sneak in weapons to school. By using schools uniforms it will be hard to sneak in a gun, or other harmful weapon (Bowen). With schoo...
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...
There is something comforting about school children and teenagers dressed in pleats and plaid. Maybe it is a reminder of past times, or conjures up thoughts of order and safety. Whatever the reason, school uniforms are getting a lot of ?wear? these days, yet remain an unproven deterrent to school violence. No long-term, formal studies have been done with regards to the effectiveness of school uniforms, but many schools have kept their own informal statistics, such as the Long Beach School District. These statistics offered by Long Beach are often most cited as a proven deterrent to school violence, after adopting a mandatory uniform policy in 1994. According to Richard Van Der Laan, school crime has dropped over seventy-five percent, while attendance has reached an all-time high. One question we must ask ourselves is this, ?Is it the uniforms, or the induction of them that is solving the problem?? Maybe it is the school and parents showing some ?back-bone? which is affecting the students, not the clothing.
School uniforms reduce the stress children feel when trying to fit in with their peers. Without them, some children may be alienated because their economic background reflects the clothes they wear. Children tend to break off into “cliques” and uniforms could possibly help unite students. Finding creative ways to express their individuality through other outlets other than fashion can help children forge friendships based on their common interests.
School uniforms are a way for principals to know who belongs on campus and who does not. A while back, researchers studied that the reason certain school require students to wear school uniforms is because they feel that it will help stop other students from bulling one another, just because they don’t have on high priced shoes or clothing it shouldn 't stop them from doing what they do best. "The good thing is people judge you on your inner characteristics rather than what you wear," said Nick Duran, an 8th grader and the student-body president at Rogers Middle School (Portner)." Safety is they key, when students enter the school ground, they should feel safe and not think that someone is going to harm them. Students feel as if they have to wear school uniforms it will
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...
School uniforms are a boiling conversation point these days. There are so many well-built points of view about what route parents, students, and superintendents wish to go in. It has been disputed that school uniforms have the potential to make a school safer, that uniforms reduce harassment or self-esteem issues, and that uniforms return the focus to the students' learning. I disagree. I, in fact think that school uniforms do not help make our schools a more secure place, I think that they do not revisit the center of attention to student's education - they just shifted where the attention was previous, and that they won’t help cut down on harassment or self- esteem issues in school.
School uniforms also reduce ones ability to choose clothing that fits individual comfort needs. Above all, school uniforms even go against the 1st Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, which is about the establishment of religion and free speech. School uniforms are affecting the amount of money spent on clothing in a negative way. Many people think parents/guardians are saving money, but really, they are just spending more money. If one were to think about it, school uniforms can’t be worn outside of school.
Uniforms provide students with school uniqueness. Students will stand out in field trips and other school activities feeling a sense of belonging. A bond will then form and unite more students together.
School Uniforms are a logical choice for the public school venue. Uniforms prevent students from a lower income background to be singled out for poorly made or cheap clothing, prevents use of gang colors, allows for certain safety measures, and allows teachers to form impressions of students based on actions and work rather than dress code choices.
As it stands, school uniforms are not universally utilized, they are commonly employed in communities with high rates of poverty. “In fact, 47% of high-poverty public schools reported requiring school uniforms, compared to 6% of low poverty, public schools” (U.S. Department of Education, 2014). Given that there appears to be no straightforward correlation between school uniform requirements and students’ academic success, academic success cannot be used as an argument for uniforms. Although courts have ruled that uniforms are not a violation of students’ free speech rights, school uniforms as they are implemented today, are unethical. Moreover, since many high poverty areas as populated by people of color, it can be named that school uniforms