Do School Uniforms Make Schools Better Analysis

In 1987, a public school in Baltimore, Maryland became the first to instill a school uniform policy in the United States. This idea of all students dressing alike spread throughout the country, and by 1994 a school district in Long Beach, CA became the first to require a whole school district to wear school uniforms (Background of the Issue - School Uniforms - ProCon.org). Today, an average of 23% of public and private schools enforce a school uniform system (School Uniform Statistics). But this change in dress code policy did not come about without controversy. Although some will argue uniforms promote safety, focus, and an even playing field in schools, school uniform policies oppress student’s freedom of expression, advocate for conformity, and cause more problems than they fix.

One of the biggest controversies in the United States is whether or not public school students

Uniforms have been used for centuries for things like sports, military affairs, and to help identify someone that is affiliated with a group or an organization. One place they should not be used is in public schools. In this day in age uniforms are still being argued and could still appear is school around the country causing problems. When I was in middle school I had uniforms for about four years and it made me hate school even more. None of the benefits that administration said we would get from uniforms ever materialized. They said it would put an end to bullying and we would still have some kind of freedom when it came to picking accessories. The uniforms were costly for my parents and as a student it made it hard for me to express myself. With that being said middle school students should not be required to wear school uniforms.

The debate about public school uniforms in America is an issue that has been around for a very long time. This issue was even mentioned by President Bill Clinton in a previous State of the Union address in 1996. In his 1996 State of the Union Address, President Clinton decreed,” I challenge all of our schools to teach character education, to teach good values and good citizenship and 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” (Clinton 1996). Public schools requiring mandatory uniforms for their students are a major topic as it deals with moral and economic concerns about how America’s public schools are operated.

uniforms will not end all confrontation between the student, it will only change the reason for it.

“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 uniforms” This statement from Bill Clinton was what started a movement toward using uniforms in-state school in the United States in 1996. Since then school uniforms have become a common thing in the school system in the United States. There is no doubt that school uniforms can lead to loss of students’ rights to express themselves and that school uniforms will not generally stop bullying even though they might increase student’s safety.

Whether or not to introduce the policy of uniforms in public schools can be very controversial as there are many factors in which uniforms can benefit or cause harm. There are many evidences present in "Do School Uniforms Make Schools Better?" by Marian Wilde and is present in the graphic entitled "Do School Uniforms Make Kids More or Less Competitive About Clothing." Undoubtedly, requiring students to wear uniforms will only violate a student's freedom of expression and is not linked to academic achievement whatsoever.

Violence in schools is a big problem. Former President Bill Clinton thinks so during his recent state of the Union address he said: “public schools should be allowed to require uniforms if it would mean teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets” (“Will School…” 1). They believe that wearing the uniform makes quite a bit of a difference in how students will behave (“Will School…”2). If the student wears a uniform to school other than their “gang clothes” it will protect the other students from getting hurt. Violence has gone down in the schools with dress code and people have been impressed by the difference (“Will School…” 2). Schools that do not require the dress code for school uniforms should look at the difference of violence and see that it has decreased with them. “Reports have placed pressure on schools and politicians to act quickly before the situation gets out of control” (Wilkins 1). In 1994 CA Long Beach Unified School District voted 81% (4,079 votes) said yes that school uniforms help prevent gang violence (Hamilton 32). While the rest of the school district said no and that students should be allowed to express themselves through their clothing (Hamilton 32) People say the only down fall with having the uniform are the students can not express themselves with their own clothes they want to wear. Unfortunately many children today wear baggy clothes to

“If it means that the schoolrooms will be more orderly, more disciplined,” President Clinton said, “and that our young people will learn to evaluate themselves by what they are on the inside instead of what they’re wearing on the outside, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear school uniforms.” President Clinton is referring to the outfits or sets of standardized clothes that are worn primarily for an educational institution, usually in primary and secondary schools in various countries. When used, they form the basis of a school’s dress code, which is a set of rules, usually written and posted specifying the required manner of dress at a school. It began when schools had issues with grades and behavioral problems, but they didn’t want uniforms because it infringed upon individuality. The commotion began when the uniform movement began nearly four years ago when Long Beach, California became the nation’s first public school district to require elementary and middle school students to wear uniforms. Since then, public schools from east to west have debated whether they’re beneficial or not, which has caused the controversy to heat up significantly. Even though requiring uniforms in public schools have been controversial throughout history, it continues to be an area of debate for school communities because research shows that uniform policies do provide benefits to schools, but there are also disadvantages that create unfavorable conditions

Seeing students wear uniforms in school may seem either too strict or too traditional, but when one figures out, and understand, the reason why for this formality, more will see the advantage of wearing school uniforms. Some may feel that uniforms should not be required in schools because they think it’s a waste of money, students don’t want to be told what to wear, or because they don’t want to look the same like everyone else at school. However, uniforms are much less expensive than the clothing brands that students wear, so parents are saving more money. Students also need to understand that they can’t always get what they want, they need to realize that not everything is going to be their way. Students don’t want to wear the same clothing like others because they want to stand out, but this can create conflict at school because the students will begin to judge each other by what they wear, and if everyone wears uniforms we would be avoiding these types of conflicts.

In the United States today, millions of students’ attend public schools and face some sort of violence that is associated with that school. It can be gang related or just simply bullying in the school. Because of these rising issues, parents are being forced to pull their children out of public school and home school them for their safety. Is this the best action for the children? Will they be missing out on many life skills that are learned while attending schools with peers their own age? How can the schools make our children feel safe so that they are able to attend the public schools and so that schools don’t lose out on valuable funding from the state? The idea that many believe will fix the problems at school is by implementing

It is a belief that school uniforms teach students to respect their learning environment and behave themselves, and, therefore improving discipline. However, that assumption isn’t entirely correct. Researchers have actually found that school uniforms don’t make students better behaved. According to a study of more than 4,500 students, those who wore a school uniform did not have fewer behavior problems or better attendance. Forcing students to wear uniforms lead to more problems and misbehavior instead of encouraging discipline. Students could get into trouble if they did not wear their uniforms correctly. Many kids in today’s society cannot stand the thought of someone telling them what to do, especially what to wear. Instead of encouraging respect, uniforms may cause rebellions. For example, in 2009, a group of students at John A. Ferguson Senior High School rebelled against their school uniforms. Instead of following their school uniform requirements, the students wore what they thought would be a better school uniform to school. Not only uniforms don’t earn schools the respect from its students, but it may also lead to more problems.

When students wear uniforms, students do not improve in any way. Student’s academic scores do not go higher when they wear a uniform. Researcher Virginia Draa found that “implementing a uniform policy in schools did not have any impact on academic performance”. If schools are hoping for their student’s academic scores to go higher by implementing uniforms, they would be better off without uniforms. Wearing uniforms don’t help a student’s attitude. A 2010 study in a large urban school district in the Southwest found that asking students to wear uniforms did not result in any change in the number of suspensions for elementary school students. Student’s behavior won’t change, if schools wanted to implement uniform. Uniforms don’t have any positive impact on students,

Students believe that the way they are dressed is more important than the grades they make. The students with less money, that can’t buy all the newest clothes, tend to not go to school as much, because they won’t fit in. There for students in schools with uniform will have more time to focus on more important things, like school work. With uniforms students don’t have to go to the mall every week looking for new clothes to wear. Also if a school has no uniforms students will feel that they need to have a certain look to fit in, and many will be ridiculed if they don’t achieve this “look.”

The issue of whether or not school uniforms are a necessity in today’s society has been a long standing debate. However, it did not come onto the national scene until 1996 when then President Bill Clinton spoke of the matter in his annual State of the Union Address. Citing the Long Beach city school district in California, Clinton spoke of the positive effects of uniform implementation, including: decreased drug cases, sex offenses, violent crimes and fights.