School Uniforms are a Terrible Idea

It has often been debated if middle schoolers should or should not have school uniforms. There are a lot of pros and cons of having school uniforms. One pro is students would not have to fight over name brand clothing (which would cost the parents less for clothes). One counter-argument talks about how dated the system is, it also talks about how it discourages free-thinking and self-expression. The cons of having school uniforms outweigh the pros of having school uniforms.

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

As a society we value the individual choices that we are able to decide upon in our everyday life. School uniforms have a negative effect on students, due to the lack of individuality and self-image that they are able to express. Therefore passing student policies requiring school uniforms is misleading as it creates more issues than it solves. Students should feel they are different from everyone else and have to freedom to act the way they want and wear what they want. Enforcing school uniforms does not affect academic situations in any way for uniforms to be mandatory. Schools need to re-think their decision on school uniform policies for the mental and physical well-being of their students.

The argument between to have or not have school uniforms has been an ongoing dispute ever since the use of them. I have first-hand experience of having school uniforms and having no school uniforms. I strongly believe that school uniforms are beneficial to an individual’s school success/experience.

“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.

In 1994, the school district of Long Beach California was one of the first to enforce school uniforms in the grades Kindergarten through 8th, and crime rates in the district dropped 22% soon after. School attendance also improved after the uniforms were introduced. Although this one statistic shows there are positive outcomes from school uniforms, there is one question that remains: Do school uniforms help or harm the students and environment at school? The controversy among this topic is that some people believe that uniforms improve the way kids act in class, however, others believe that school uniforms make their behavior worse. Another thing that certain people don’t like about uniforms is that they are very costly. A woman in Indianapolis was interviewed and said that she has five kids that all need uniforms, and with all the costs combined she had to pay almost $700. She found it was an outrage because she has a son who was a senior at the time and she had to pay for his uniforms as well. Even though she believed that uniforms are not an advantage, other people have the belief that uniforms have a positive outcome. In fact, some people think that the students’ behavior becomes subsequently better in the classroom setting; this is proven in the Long Beach study. There is also proof that school uniforms save people lots of money. This is because parents in one

School uniforms and dress codes are becoming a popular trend among schools. Most Students and some parents don’t agree with the enforcement with school uniforms, saying that uniforms are taking away self-expression in schools. But, school uniforms are not a negative thing to have. Yes, uniforms and some very strict dress codes limit what the students have to choose to wear to school every day, but it doesn’t limit them from learning which is the main reason they are in school. Some students treat school as a fashion show, so eliminating the size of wardrobe shifts the attention toward their school work. Although requiring students to wear school uniforms may violate their self-expression in some ways, a uniform is supposed to be looked

Uniforms undermines a student’s academic performance and achievement. Others say that uniforms help in academic areas and uniforms should be required. “Additionally, educators report a decrease in violence, a reduction in fights in schools and improved student achievement when dress codes have been implemented”(Source D). This quote states that school uniforms are helping students improve in academics and reduce violence. However, in the article “School Uniforms: An Overview”, it states “ He also concluded that the use of school

Imagine going through a stroll in the park and seeing a child being tormented for something they simply can't control. Imagine what that child could be doing to themselves or will do to themselves if it continued. Just think of all the problems at home on top of them to, how much their parents have to sacrifice for them to even go to school. But on top of that  having to pay for more cost including uniforms. These additional cost and all the school expenses putting them over the brink of poor.This is why there should not be uniforms in schools

One of the greatest controversies that is spreading throughout high schools in the United States is parents and their children against the enforcement of their school’s uniform policy. More schools have been adopting uniform policies within the past decade. Rules contained in the policy that are implemented range from wearing certain types of tops (shirts) in specified colors to students being required to tuck in their shirts. In the past, uniforms were exclusively for students who attended private schools because they were “well-off”, but now uniforms are being seen more frequently in public schools on students of all economic levels. Having gone through a school system that considered adopting a uniform policy, I would have to press

Picture this a person has a daily routine to set out their clothes for the next school day. That person had a lot of homework one night and forgot to pick out his or hers and it he or she has slept in and he or she is going to miss the bus soon. If this student had a uniform they would have not miss the bus instead of deciding what to wear. Another scenario of school uniforms is that a student with an low income family can not afford the nice clothes that their peers have and is teased and taunted for it then it is bullying. If schools enforced a uniform code it would decrease bullying by wardrobe because the victim and the bully is wearing the same attire. According to the article titled Should Students Have to Wear School Uniforms had a student

Wouldn’t you appreciate that your children always know what to wear for school? School uniform is what makes it easy! A set of clothing that is mainly worn, school uniform is one of the school's policy and recommendation. Generally worn in elementary and middle school, this outfit is composed of specific colors of long or short pants and shirts for boys, sometimes with a tie. Girls usually wear a dress or a blouse worn either with a skirt or pants, all however have the same colors. This dress code determines even the type of shoes that should be worn at school. School uniform may vary from school to school, but it remains the basis dress code for the education system. The adoption of school extensive uniform mandatory has been encouraged

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,

School systems have debated for years if they should make school uniforms mandatory for all students. Some parents do not want school systems to mandate uniforms due to pressure from their children to be able to maintain their individuality through clothing, while other parents prefer uniforms to reduce spending money on name brand school clothes and to minimize associations with gangs. More school systems across the United States of America are going to uniforms from grades one through twelve where students are still impressionable by their peers. I believe public schools should require students to wear school uniforms to help parents save money in these hard economic times, to limit the number of incidents of violence in the school systems due to gangs and gang associates such as colors, and to prepare students for the job force after school where some places make it mandatory to wear uniforms to work every day.