The Pros And Cons Of School Uniforms

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

The argument I am looking to convey to the audience is that requiring high school students to wear uniforms should be overturned allowing students to wear what they want. The reasoning behind this argument is lack of proof that it lessens the chances of getting bullied, strips young adolescents of their individuality, and creates a competitive market for parents to have to in essence spend more money than save. There was the desired goal of creating the school uniform policy to put an end to bullying. However, that vision has yet to come to fruition with the reality being the policy is adding more negatives than visible positives. These aspects highlight why grade schools K-12 should cease with the requirement for students to have to wear uniforms.

New Orleans has the highest amount of schools with a school uniform policy in the US. Some schools nowadays have their kids wear school uniforms, there are some positive to this. As most kids are bullied, having them in a uniform can help them not get bullied. Even though there can be positives, there are more negatives to having kids wear school uniforms. Schools shouldn’t require their students to wear a school uniform because kids have individual tastes and different body types, it takes away their freedom to express themselves, and uniforms can be costly.

School uniforms can be harmful to students physiologically. Linne Hoofnagle, former staff writer for the Tiger Hi-Line, wrote an article titled “Uniforms Limit Number of Outlets for Creativity and Self-Expression,” that stated, “The gender-specific uniform guidelines often reinforce the gender binary in the school environment” (Hoofnagle). Basically, she is saying if a child is transgender that he or she would have to dress according to the gender they were assigned at birth which could be traumatic to the child. For that reason, uniforms could harm the child mentally and initiate problems with the growth of making the LGBTQ community have a sense of normalcy in the schools.

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.

Have you ever felt like you couldn't express yourself because of your school? Well that’s what school uniforms do, the uniforms don’t allow you to express yourself and be yourself. When you have uniforms in school it causes more trouble for the school, the students, and the students parents. So, everyone loses when there is uniforms required in schools. If there were to be school uniforms, then it would be a hassle with getting the uniforms. Also with the whole process of getting the uniforms would be complicated. Schools should not require students to wear school uniforms because the students won’t be able to express themselves or be creative through their clothes, another reason is because the uniforms are expensive, and the third reason is because it could give the school a bad name.

etting bullied, losing identities, and getting poor grades, are all the things school uniforms could cause. Some schools demand that students have to wear uniforms. The students don’t like to wear them. That is why we have to make a stand today! If there were school uniforms everywhere students would not be able to express their self, it would not change any academics, and they could attract an unpleasant name to the school.

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

For quite some time now there has been an ongoing discussion about students wearing school uniforms in public schools. Is students in the public-school system play a major role on them academically? Is making the students wear uniforms unfair or does it show equality? What image does it set for the schools that do have a uniform policy? Over the last few decades, the schools, parents, and students have had a debatable issue over the uniform matter.

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

First, school uniforms take away the students freedom of expression. The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees that all individuals have the right to express themselves freely. This points out, that by making everyone wear the same clothes, it takes away expressing who they are. Your clothes say a lot about who you are as a person and what personality you have and when you take that away, you take away the chance to express yourself.

Waking up for another dreadful day of school. Quickly get ready in the new trend, without worrying about the Cedarwood uniform. Without the uniform, students would feel freer. Uniforms can also make more problems for students to deal with, they also don’t improve/help students.

The first major reason for not wearing school uniforms is, it forces a student to conceal his or her individuality. To many people, it appears that the school system is trying to strip away this individuality on purpose, but now is the time that the school should be embracing it and helping the student become the person they are meant to become. “According to opponents of uniforms, even preschoolers should have input into their wardrobe, and the need to encourage personality, confidence, and independence grows more important as the student becomes older” (Chen). Because of this lack of self-expression, students feel their first amendment is being violated and most people would agree, which causes the school to look bad. Another way of looking at it is they are forcing students to become on mold, or one certain way of being. However, the problem with making them one is, no matter how they look they will still have their own individual personality traits that will come out in the end. If forced to wear the uniforms, many students would express these traits by adding things to their uniform such as brightly colored gems for girls and different