School uniforms began in the sixteenth century. England was the first to use school uniforms. The uniforms were for the poor children attending charity schools to distinguish them from the other students. Three hundred years later, better English schools were making the students wear school uniforms. The controversy for school uniforms in American schools began in the nineteen eighties (“History”, n.d.). Although school uniforms were found in private schools, in nineteen eighty seven the first public school adopted school uniforms, Cherry Hill Elementary in Baltimore, MD. In nineteen ninety four, the Long Beach Unified School District in California was the first urban district to adopt school uniforms (n.d., Education).
There are many
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School uniforms won’t stop the students from bullying another student. They will just find another way to bully the student. Tony Volk, an associate professor and Brock University researcher, says there is no evidence in bullying literature that supports a reduction in violence due to school uniforms. The students can still be bullied verbally, physically, and emotionally. The students can still be bullied for their height, weight, race, and age. It doesn’t matter what the students are wearing; they can still be bullied. The uniforms won’t stop the gangs in schools from being violent, so school uniforms won’t stop the violence in the schools. The uniforms can be bought in baggy styles just like jeans, so the gangs could still bring weapons and harmful objects to school and perform violent crimes even with uniforms (Wilkins, 1999, Pg. 20). With the uniforms, the gang members would not be able to recognize each other for six hours, but it won’t do anything about the gang violence in a wide sense (Wilkins, 1999, Pg. 20). There will be even more bullying due to the children getting used to less diversity (Wilkins, 1999, Pg. 21).
Not only will the violence go down with school uniforms, but the student’s attendance will go up as well. Long Beach district had a record of ninety five percent of attendance in the first year of the uniforms (Schachter, 2005). The students will
According to Marian Wilde, who writes for GreatSchools¸ uniforms prevent gangs from forming on campus and encourage discipline (Wilde). Even Virginia Ann Bendel Draa, who wrote School Uniforms in Urban Public High Schools, said that school uniforms reduced the amount of suspensions in the school she did the study with (Draa). School Uniforms will create a safer school environment for kids because the students are less likely to get into trouble when at school while wearing school uniforms. Safer schools equals safer children. While having security guards at schools help prevent violence, they do not get rid of violence completely. Schools uniforms also decrease the amount of bullying because bullying can be triggered by many things like not having fashionable clothes (Armerding). School uniforms take away the
Having school uniforms greatly decrease one’s way to get bullied. “Perhaps most importantly, a uniform means students don't have to worry about peer pressure when it comes to their clothes. When everyone is dressed the same, worrying about what you look like isn't so important. There is no competition about being dressed in the latest trend, which would put a great deal of financial pressure on students and parents. Potential bullies have one less target for their insults; it's hard to make fun of what someone is wearing when you're dressed exactly the same...” (Should Students Have to Wear School Uniforms?). With the same as gang violence, having uniforms does not get rid of bullying altogether. With my experiences in both non-uniform and uniform enforced schools, I saw far less bullying in schools with uniforms. Most of the bullying incidents I have seen are focused on the kid’s appearance due to clothing. Having the uniforms can help students look at each other in a more equal
“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.
Urban school districts have been making the switch to school uniforms at an ever increasing rate. According to The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) website, “Between the 2003–04 and 2011–12 school years, the percentage of public schools reporting that they required that students wear uniforms increased from 13 to 19 percent” (NCES, 2014). Meanwhile, suburban school districts have been slower to make the move to uniforms. NECS reports that “47 percent of high-poverty public schools reported requiring school uniforms, compared to 6 percent of low poverty public schools” (NCES, 2014). The movement supporting school uniforms in urban public schools largely began with the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD), who at the start of
School uniforms do nothing to prevent bullying. Linne Hoofnagle’s article goes on to say that, “If we convince ourselves that placing limits on clothing choices will eliminate school bullying, we are kidding ourselves” (Hoofnagle). The idea that all the harassment that takes place in school is centered around student’s wardrobes is preposterous. If you make students all dress alike the center of the bullying may move to if they have money, the presence or absence of glasses, condition of their skin, height, and weight. School faculty and administration are just looking at the superficial causes of bullying and not looking at the root of the problem. As a result, they are not only punishing the bully by
The history of school uniforms in the United States public schools begins with small underprivileged school of Cherry Hill Elementary in Maryland and the domino effect that happened soon after in the years after. The popularity of school uniforms can greatly be credited to the Long Beach, California study and President Bill Clinton’s speech on the topic. At first, school uniforms were only for the private or Catholic private schools however the school uniform trend spread to other public schools to adopt the “preppy look” and success. This has now set new standard for the United States school system. A brief history of school uniforms will give a significant insight on the growing development that is transforming American schools.
School uniforms would decrease violence in many public schools because they would reduce the amount of theft that may occur, the amount of bullying that occurs on a daily basis, and the amount of attempted or successful murders that occur. Uniforms would reduce the amount of theft that occurs because every student would be wearing the same clothing. If every student is wearing the same article of clothing, students would not be tempted to steal clothing, shoes, or jewelry from one another. Uniforms would also make every student feel a sense of equality.
Will Galloway, a Chairman of South Carolina Teenage Republicans stated that,” Rather than promote an orderly and disciplined student environment, mandatory uniforms would cause massive student disobedience and take away valuable instruction time.” Modern school uniforms are traced all the way back to the 16th Century England. The first US schools to have school uniforms was in Maryland and Washington, Dc in 1987. Schools should not have school uniforms because of cost and risk of bullying
School uniforms lower gang violence since students can’t group up and dress in some particular ways, and visitors can be distinguished from other students. They also help reduce bullying in public high schools. According to Kathleen C. and Carl A. Cohn’s “School Improvement Initiatives in Long Beach, California: The Quest for Higher Student Achievement, Behavior, and Dress Standards” in Education magazine, which was published on December 22, 1998, Long
Most commonly found in private schools, school uniforms are slowly being adopted by public schools in the US. In the 2003-2004 school year every one in eight schools required uniforms; in the 2011-2012 school year that number had increased to every one in five schools (ProCon.org). As violence increased, schools started enforcing uniforms thinking that it would solve the violence. School uniforms were created in England in the 16th century for students referred to as the “charity children” (ProCon.org). In later centuries, high-class schools were the most commonly known for requiring their students to wear uniforms. The first recorded time a public school in the US required uniforms was in 1987, a school in Maryland put out an optional uniform policy (ProCon.org). Uniforms have been being enforced by private schools for years, but now public schools are trying to enforce them. Students should not be required to wear uniforms because it refuses students the ability to express themselves, dress codes are more effective, and uniforms can cause a detrimental effect on self-image.
What is the purpose of a school uniform? Where did this idea come from? Whether to wear a uniform or not has been a major debate for decades. The idea has been debated since the 1980's and was an issue when candidates ran for president in the 1990's. "Parochial and private schools have a long history of using school uniforms to project an atmosphere of uniformity, pride, loyalty, and equality among the student population" ("Educational Schools Uniforms," 1997).
Uniforms are argued to positively affect student safety by: lowering student victimization, decreasing gang activity and fights and differentiating strangers from students in school building. Dress codes in public schools would be good, in order to cut down the violence, which would eliminate the problems of
In this paper you will find four main reasons why all public schools should adopt a school uniform policy, and there is a paragraph with a counter argument with school uniforms. There is a discussion on how the crime rate decreases amongst students, how uniforms save the families money, how gang related activities have decreased, and how there is less stress between students and parents. By the time you finish reading this paper, you too should agree that all public schools should adopt a school uniform policy.
Today, many schools around the world enforce uniforms, requiring students to wear specific clothing. School uniforms, which was first established in 16th century England, are a topic of much debate in the public school system of the United States. Many people feel that uniforms reduce competition among students and bring a sense of unity in school. People who are against school uniforms think that they prevent students from expressing themselves and inhibits creativity. Many students dislike school uniforms because uniforms can be viewed as a violation of their rights, while others benefit from uniforms because it relieves the stress of picking what to wear to school. Although school uniforms do have its benefits, they also limit
Wearing uniform to school have increased of the years, although some schools have not adopted the school uniform policy. Administrators and staff believe that wearing uniform have made schools safer for students, have improved school attendance and increased student achievement, and have reduced the changes of students being bullied. However, others have argued that wearing uniforms have not improve student behavior and wearing the uniform have infringed on student’s freedom of individuality. This essay will explain the importance of adopting a school uniform policy, why all public schools should have a uniform dress code, and how wearing uniform will provide a unified school environment. Therefore, all public schools should adopt a school uniform policy because, it uses will help to reduce bullying, provide a safer learning environment, and help to recognize gang affiliated members.