Uniforms in School

Uniforms in School

In both public and private schools the appeal of school uniforms remains controversial among students, parents and school officials; as a result of this, some schools have abandoned the uniform policy while at the same time other schools have initiated one. Both sides of the debate have reasonable points to their argument. While the pro-uniform side believes that uniforms help to reduce violence and drug use in schools, some research has shown that it has no effect or even increased effects on those problems. The research on the effects of school uniforms is mixed and there is no specific study which undoubtedly proves one side of the debate.

School uniforms have been apart of my life for about ten long years. I have been going to private catholic schools pretty much my whole life and have been forced to wear uniforms every school day. People say that uniforms improve academics and decrease violence in schools. However, from personal experience at a uniform mandatory high school, I witnessed the same amount of violence and the same range of student’s academic abilities then any other private or public high school in the area. Forcing us to wear uniforms made me and many others feel like we did not have much of an identity or a way to express ourselves very well. I also felt that the school system was trying to make me and everyone else conform to their standards and principles. The school officials were extremely strict on the uniform codes and punished anyone disobeying it. They would make us serve detention after school and anyone refusing to comply with the rule multiple times possibly was suspended for a period of time. Eventually though as time went on, I got used to the idea of wearing a uniform daily. It was easier getting dressed in the morning and I did not have to take anytime picking out the clothes I wanted to wear.

The supporters of no uniforms in schools believe that school uniforms take away the students’ rights and also infringes on the first amendment of the United States Constitution. They also believe that school uniforms do not represent equal opportunity, it represents limitation. The clothes that I wear to school every day are my uniform, figuratively speaking because they represent me. Choking the personality of a student with a school uniform is the same as burning a book or shredding a painting because essentially you are destroying what those clothes represent in that person. Many students that I have encountered agree that school uniforms are often plain, uncomfortable, and unattractive. As students get older they tend to try and dress nice to attract the opposite sex which is made by an unflattering uniform. They argue that choosing what to wear provides a way of creating a sense of self identity and expression found in clothing styles, colors and materials. Most students when they are outside of school spend their time in regular clothes that they choose to wear. Forcing school uniforms to show equality of all is a flawed notion because it can not be enforced outside of school. Teaching a child that they can simulate social and economic equality by putting on the same clothes is absurd. A rebuttal to the pro-uniform statement that uniforms in schools greatly reduce violence and increase learning is by David Brunsma, a sociologist at the University of Missouri. He published a study “The School Uniform Movement and What It Tells Us about American Education: A Symbolic Crusade,” to study the effects of uniforms on school. “The decade-long study indicates that uniforms worn to school by students have no positive effect on achievement or behavior” (School Administrators).

Holly Charlonne of LifeScript.com