School Uniforms in the Public School System

School Uniforms in the Public School System

Public school systems across the country are now requiring students to wear uniforms. Can uniforms really make a difference in a child's academic performance? Wouldn't uniforms infringe the child's creativity and self expression? The "clothes don't make the child" right (Hempill A15)? Wrong. School uniforms can drastically reduce school violence and help a student to focus on school work. In 1996, President Clinton endorsed public school uniforms in his State of the Union Address(Atkins 42). This created a rage among some education critics across the country. Critics complain that uniforms will lessen children's individualism and creativity, infringing students' rights and hint of racism. While proponents believe, uniforms will put the students emphasis on schoolwork instead of dressing coolly, and they will help to lower school violence. The idea comes from a Californian elementary school in Long Beach. "In 1994, Long Beach became the country's first public school district to institute a mandatory uniform policy"(Atkins 42). The results were so promising that they lead to the President's endorsement. The school saw a fifty-one percent drop in physical fights, a thirty-four percent drop in assaults and batteries, a fifty percent drop in weapons offenses, and a thirty-two percent drop in school suspensions(Mancini 65). All this in a time span of only one year. Proving that a child's clothes does make a difference in school violence. In a time when school children are getting killed for designer jackets and shoes, uniforms are exactly what our children need(Mancini 63). Critics say that school uniform inhibit self expression. If you take away a child's self expression through clothing...

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...ed that. I longer was not cool, just because I did not wear the right clothes. Students did not judge me by my apparel, instead I was judged by my personality. My grades improved and I graduated as student body president. When I talk to old friends from the public school, they are amazed at how much I have changed . I don't credit all of this to uniforms, but they sure allowed a side of me to be seen that most of the students at the public school never bothered to look for. Can uniforms make a difference? If they save one life or allow one child to be fit in, they can. No one claims that uniforms are the fix all for the public school system, but they are a start. Uniforms will give all students a chance to fit in regardless of their social standing. They will also take the student's focus off of having the right clothes and put it back on having the right attitude.