School Uniform Issue: Leave Students Alone

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Requiring school uniforms can become dehumanizing. Asking a student to wear a uniform is equivalent to asking a student to be someone else. Uniforms remove students’ identities, and in many cases uniforms make students uncomfortable. Public schools should not require students to wear a school uniform.

Before this subject can be analyzed further, there are a few key terms that must be defined. Dress codes are: “Rules designed by school districts or individual schools to prescribe students’ attire” (Chittom 1). Public Schools are: “Schools that are openly available to the general public at minimal cost and do not have entrance requirements based on prior knowledge or ability” (Chittom 1). Many public schools are requiring school uniforms in an effort to improve students’ academic performance. Some public schools have received positive results, but many others have a different point of view. This leads into the first point of this essay.

Requiring public school uniforms asks teachers to punish students for apparel decisions. Young kids should not be excluded from recess or field trips, due to attire decisions their parents made. Some schools are taking uniform violations so far that students are being removed from a regular class to an alternate classroom setting. Requiring a school uniform is an invasion of parental rights and duties. It is a parent’s duty to control what their child wears to school, not the schools. Parents are getting upset that schools are disciplining their kids for wearing clothes they picked for the kids to wear (McConville). “Teachers have complained that school uniform policies are distractions from teaching and learning, and parents’ rights groups object strenuously to being told how to dress their chi...

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...: School Uniforms. 2009:1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 23 Mar. 2011.

Forster, Matt and Denise Geier. "The High Cost of School Uniforms." Points of View: School Uniforms. 2009:2. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 23 Mar. 2011.

McConville, Jim. "Parents Battle Over School Uniforms." Asbury Park Press. 22 Feb 2011. SIRS Researcher. Web. 23 Mar 2011.

Solomon, Lois K. "Schools Smarten Up Without Uniforms." Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL). 30 Jun 2004: 1A+. SIRS Researcher. Web. 23 Mar 2011.

"Uniforms Rule: This fall, dress codes are an increasingly popular remedy for all that's wrong with American public schools. Do they deliver?" Newsweek 4 Oct. 1999: 72. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 23 Mar. 2011.

Viadero, Debra. "Uniform Effects." Education Week Vol. 24, No. 18. Jan. 12 2005: 27- 29. SIRS Researcher. Web. 23 Mar 2011.

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