Uniforms in Schools- A Necessary “Evil”
In spite of the widespread view among students themselves that wearing a uniform is not “cool”, parents and educators are generally in favor of schools imposing it, albeit with various degrees of strictness. I do remember my high school days and the strict dress code I was supposed to adhere to. I did not particularly like it, but I embraced it as a fact of life and, more importantly, as a part of my education. At this stage in my life, I strongly support the introduction and use of uniforms in schools because I consider that the positive outcomes outweigh the negative ones.
My perspective on this matter may be considered biased since I am an educator myself. However, I have had the privilege to work
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Mass education is a relatively new concept and, from its inception, one of its goals was to provide equal opportunities for all members of society. Huge differences between schools attendees were supposed to be erased so that everybody could be on equal footing. This is the main argument that supports, in my opinion, the adoption of school uniforms. The use of uniforms gives students the advantage of not being judged by the way they look on the outside. The uniformed environments spare the students the consequences of stereotypical ways of thinking, which are deeply ingrained in our way of thinking. Think about how the jocks, the preps, the goths , and the punks disappear when all students wear a uniform; and how each student has the sense of belonging and the chance to find his or her own place in the school environment. Groups will form anyway, but the criteria for belonging exclude the type of clothes you …show more content…
National armies, police bodies, and a lot of companies cloth their members in uniforms that are recognizable and representative. The same thing happens in schools. Students tend to be more disciplined simply because they adhere to the tradition of their school. This can create feelings of belonging and pride among the students, which lead to better academic performance as a result of the spirit of emulation among students. The feeling of belonging and the subsequent full engagement in academic life result in high self-esteem and improved an improved self-confidence, which are the qualities society wants to instill in its
The issue of wearing school uniforms has been subject to debate over a number of years. It is important to note that initially, the concept of students wearing school uniforms was not widely embraced. Initially, the concept of wearing school uniforms was mainly practiced in private schools and public schools begun to apply the concept as recently as 1994 (Chen, “Public School Uniforms: The Pros and Cons for Your Child”). This move was mainly implemented to address safety issues that have been affecting academic institutions. However, there are still different schools of thought that have reservations when it comes to the issue of wearing school uniforms. This boils down to the question of whether school uniforms are beneficial or they have
One aspect of having all students wear the same school-district uniform, is that it helps students focus on learning. In my case, I went to a private junior high school few years ago. Students there are required to wear the uniform every day; everyone dresses like a student. When I wake up every morning, I just grab my uniform and put it on without having any other thoughts about how it will look on me; thus I have more time to spend on learning. Therefore, I was prepared every day, and so were others. Yet, the high school I went to was a public school; it does not have any uniform policies. Comparing to my junior high, students dressed differently every day with different kinds of clothing. Since it does not require un...
Kids use clothes to express the way they feel and making them wear a uniform is taking that away. School uniforms have been around for a long time. Most schools try to enforce the need of uniforms thinking it will help keep their students safer and better educated. Students shouldn’t have to wear uniforms for these three main reasons: some kids use clothes to express themselves and the uniform would take that away from them, uniforms cost a lot of money and some parents can’t afford it for their kids, doesn't really help with education.
Why has uniformity in dress became a positive instead of a negative in society? Argument after argument, the issue of school uniforms is a debate people will always have a difference of opinion on. Many people disagree that school uniforms should exist and many others agree. School uniforms have several beneficial factors. For example, wearing uniforms in schools can promote a sense of equality and promote safety belonging among students. School uniforms not only time savers for school staff, but students and parents as well.
If this perspective is among the top of a students needs to fit in, it can become devastating to their self-esteem if they are not accepted to the group they idolize and hope to be part of. This can result in an apathetic attitude towards school. This being said, many of the students feeling inadequate compared to the “it” students may even suffer from the spotlight effect, which is when one overestimates others ' noticing and evaluating ones appearance, performance, and blunders. This can increase stress levels in students which can affect their academic success or deter them from attending school all together for fear they will not be accepted. School uniforms could eliminate any pressure that is placed on students to keep up with fellow classmates or the strain to fit in. Uniforms could level the competition or the need to replicate what other students have deemed essential. On the other hand, uniforms cannot stop what is called body shaming. Clothing cannot hide body shapes or certain imperfections. One example of what students may be shamed for is simply put as fat
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 should be part of the school systems, because statistics had shown that students who wear uniforms are doing better than dress codes. More students also feel a sense of equality among each other and there are fewer judgments of others. It allows teacher quickly to identify people who do not belong in the building and limit the ways that gangs can identify themselves. School outfit provides students identity, individual spirit, and pride. Uniforms are increasing throughout different schools. School uniforms make students look more formal, and progressively affects student’s self-esteem, discipline, and safety, and develops students be more confident of what they can achieve in life.
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.
Worrying more about others, rather than themselves, students pay more attention to the appearance of their peers instead of their academics. To begin, if school uniforms became apart of the school policy, students’ academics would improve phenomenally. Hanley noted that “The reason for the policy [was] to further improve ascending test scores and provide a safe, comfortable learning environment” (A1+). Clearly, school administrators wanted to improve test scores, and they figured if students dressed the same, then they would have no other choice but to focus on their school work. If the students can concentrate on their school work, then they will have high self- esteem. Furthermore, Valdez believes that school uniforms, positively, will change student academics: “… [they] decrease self consciousness and increase self esteem...” (14). Reasonable and realistic, students who feel better about themselves will succeed in school rather than those who have poor self-esteem. Not only do school uniforms encourage students to have a better attitude about themselves, but they also change the environment in which students learn....
School uniforms are just as comfortable as student’s that dress in the baggy and tight fitted clothing. Students can wear nice relaxed pants, and a polo shirt is a basic comfortable outfit for these uniforms. Also, school uniforms show a strong sense of discipline from student’s that attend those schools. School uniforms are often portrayed as looking professional. For instance, when students graduate High School, most of them will work in a job that has uniforms; therefore, they cannot complain of their uniforms are uncomfortable and
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.
There is an unending discussion in schools across the country about school uniforms and whether or not they make for a better experience in school for the students or just the teachers. Those who are pro-uniforms insist that uniforms will allow families to save money and time on clothing. This is so because these days children often get ready by themselves, because their parents are usually off to work before they wake up for school (Linder-Altman). Uniforms give the parents of these children confidence that their child is going to school looking halfway decent. There are also claims that uniforms will decrease the amount of bullying in school because all of the students will look alike. On the other hand, those protesting uniforms believe although everyone is pretty much dressed the same, cliques will still form and bullying will still exist (Dress code and Uniforms). I wore uniforms throughout primary school and I didn’t like them because I always felt uncomfortable in them. In hindsight, it could have been because I felt my personality was bottled up every time I put on my school uniform. There are claims that uniforms are not inclusive and won’t allow children to accept each other because of their differences (Linder-Altman). When everyone in the school is dressed alike, students may feel as if they aren’t able to express his/herself. Those unfamiliar with this topic may be interested to know the
All individuals struggle with discovering who they are and who they may want to be in the future. School environment, either negatively or positively, impacts the result of this greatly. Uniforms in the learning environment have become a highly debated subject all across the country. Although some individuals believe school uniforms have a positive affect, those people should understand the negatives because uniforms promote appearance over character, lower student’s self-esteem, and conflict with the right of expression.
A major reason that schools should have uniforms is because students will get along better. They wouldn’t compare each other based on whose wearing what. This is opposed to a school with no uniform some students will feel inferior to the one’s wearing brand name clothes. Also uniforms lower the chances of jealousy between the students. The students would feel more unified with each other. Further more school uniforms can alleviate school violence, because it will help kids with less money escape the teasing they would get if the school had no uniforms. Also uniforms will help differentiate students from gan...
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.