Essay on Three Reasons Why Public Schools Should Wear Uniforms

With the gang activity growing throughout the 80’s school officials realized that implementing uniforms or strict dress codes may help combat the problem with gang apparel in schools. Previously dress codes have been seen in the form of uniforms or strict rules in parochial, private and public school systems across the country. In private schools, uniforms were first implemented to mark a student’s social status (Motsinger par 8). Many people, according to Alfie Kohn, author of What to Look for in a Classroom…and Other Essays most people associate uniforms with, “the good ole days [when uniforms] symbolized [. . .] obedience.” Uniforms were a sign of respect, children respected their elders and presented themselves well while wearing them. As stated by Anderson in “School Dress Codes and Uniform Policies,” “[t]he first public school known to have adopted uniforms was Cherry Hill Elementary in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1987. In 1994, Long Beach (CA) Unified School District (LBUSD) was the first school district to adopt a districtwide uniform dress code policy” (par 11). During the Clinton administration the talk of school dress codes and uniforms in public schools first surfaced after his State of the Union Address in 1996. Since Clinton’s speech, schools all around the country have revised and implemented new dress code policies.

Student should be free to wear whatever they want. Students have shown how strong and considerate they are of others. Students have learned to not judge a book by its cover. School uniforms never really capture the full creativity of a student. Students need to be thinking of their future kids and if they want their kids to wear uniforms. Many students have complained about school uniforms because they feel like their not themselves. Students love to be free and not told what to wear. The parents have even complained about the school uniforms in many ways. The parents have said school uniforms are way too expensive and don’t want to pay as much. Parents do not feel it is right that their kids can not express themselves because of school uniforms. Parents want to see their kids grow up with creativity and imagination. Therefore school uniforms should be abolished from

Have you ever had to wear a school uniform? School uniforms are plain and they have no personality. Who would want to wear something so plane? School uniforms should not be allowed in schools because they have no individuality, school uniforms can increase bullying, and finally they are so expensive.

Over the past couple of years, there has been an ongoing debate about whether students should wear uniforms. There are some people who believe that it does have an influence on students as far as improving grades or behavior. Opposing arguments say that students wearing uniforms restricts them from expressing their individuality. Wearing uniforms should be a requirement in public schools. The reason why students should have to wear uniforms is that it helps focus more on learning rather than clothing, uniform apparel can be less expensive than casual clothing, and it reduces violence in schools.

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.

Some people also argue that mandatory uniforms could be considered a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution, located in the Bill of Rights (Hudson). People argue this because they feel that uniforms limit self expression, which is a coveted right by most people outside of America. “I’ll tell you; we’re proposing that everyone can only get along if everyone conforms to the same standards. It’s not a healthy lesson. The message should be conflict resolution no matter the physical appearance. In the real world, people do not all look the same” (Hoofnagle). Uniforms will not prepare a child for the future. They will make a rougher future for most children because they will not understand that people have the right to be unique, diverse, and to express their individuality.

Uniforms have been around for centuries, from back in the day when women had to wear dresses or skirts and men had to wear pants. To now where students and employees have to wear certain pieces of clothing. People dress to express themselves, schools tell their students to be who they are and to be proud; however, when the student tries to do so they are sent home or held in the office which not only takes away their rights to express themselves, but takes them out of class. According to Friedrichs, “A shocking number of students are actually sent home or suspended for breaking dress code, which means even more time out of class.” A school's job is to prepare children for their futures, that can be quite hard when the student is not there to learn. Dress codes can be overwhelming to maintain. A student's wardrobe isn’t going to be full of polos and khakis because they most likely do not wear polos and khakis outside of school. Dress code should not be as strict, hoodies should be allowed, tank tops should be

Do you want equality among students in your child's school? Do you want less violence within your child's school? Would you like your daughter to concentrate more on her schoolwork and less on what name brand jeans she is wearing? All this is possible with mandatory uniform policies in public school districts. School uniforms may seem outdated for some people, but in many cases they can improve school spirit, attendance and student behavior. According to The Humanist magazine, former President Bill Clinton's 1996 State of the Union Address called for all 16,000 school districts in the country to adopt a uniform policy. The President stated, "If it means that teenagers will stop killing each

School uniforms have been debated in the public school system for what seem like fifty years. Understand the constructive views that most administrations envision, you start to recognize the goals associated with having students wear them; however, there is a flip side. The unenthusiastic views that are associated with school uniforms present an equally intriguing question. Should schools incorporate them into the curriculum or not? Who opposes it and why it may be used to insure our children’s future. All views will be presented for you to make the decision.

In addition, many people object to this idea because they think uniforms violate their freedom of expression. They can’t express their own personal styles and characteristics because of the blandness of the uniforms. It is true that everyone has their own right to express themselves; however, they do not go to school all day and all year long, which means they can express themselves in many other situations. Furthermore, everyone lives in one big community, in which discipline is an utterly essential part. If a puppy doesn’t get trained when he is young, he will grow up a wild dog that urinates wherever he wants and barks at whom he sees. Discipline today will contribute to the success of all students in the future.

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.

Next, school uniforms will encourage the learning environment. If school does not require uniforms, it will take more time for students to decide what to wear for the next day. They will have to think so much about clothing, shoes, or hair. Therefore, they cannot use that valuable time to concentrate more on their studies and others activities. Uniforms remind them that they are still students and the biggest goal is to learn. This will motivate them to try their best to achieve the goal. When I was in Vietnam, all students were required to wear uniforms, and students were fine with it. They did not find any inconvenience or think that it prevented them from expressing themselves, because they understood that it would benefit them in different ways. In the

Social status will also be less of an issue because everyone would be wearing the same clothing. Uniforms will improve students’ individuality because they will have to express themselves through their personality and attitude, rather than through a brand name pair of jeans or an expensive pair of tennis shoes. Wearing uniforms will allow the teachers to form a better perception of a student based on how they act not by how they dressed. Students social standing would be based more on individual character. Wearing uniforms will help improve a student’s self-esteem because they will not feel pressured to dress a certain way. Students feel pressured by other students when they can’t dress like they dress. If all students are dressed the same, everyone will feel equal.

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

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.”