Stereotypical School Uniforms Source:http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/I/Boys-school/p/sm/1064125233.htm
Khaki pants, plaid skirts, collared shirts, blazers. We’ve all seen the iconic school uniforms being worn, but what purpose do they truly serve?
For the past decade or so, there has been a huge controversy in the United States regarding whether or not kids should be mandated to wear uniforms to school. As with any argument, there are pros and cons to each side. Procon.org has created a well-encompassed list of the advantages and disadvantages that school uniforms have on students.
Many people are not overly enthusiastic about forcing students to wear uniforms, so the pros list is not very extensive. The main advantage to uniforms, however, is their ability to make all kids feel like equals. Everyone comes from a different background and deals with different financial situations, which can easily be reflected in the clothing kids wear to school. Sometimes underprivileged kids or kids who do not like to dress like the others are teased for their appearance at school, but if uniforms were enforced, this would no longer be an issue. Everyone would look the same, so there would be no room to judge others based on their outer appearance.
The reason why this proposal has not been mandated in every school is due to the fact that there are many more cons that outweigh the advantage. The first disadvantage is that it limits the students’ ability to express themselves. Many kids, including me, like to show their personality through their clothes and enjoy picking out their outfits each morning. With uniforms, kids no longer feel they are able to truly showcase who they are. Another disadvantage often considered is the cost of them. Uniforms are often times not cheap, and requiring everyone to purchase them could put many families through financial distress. Since they have to wear the uniforms everyday, they must purchase multiples of the same article of clothing. In addition, many kids experience drastic body changes throughout middle and high school, requiring them to purchase new uniforms each year. Over 12 years of primary and secondary education, the cost of these uniforms would add up to be an expensive item for families to consider.
However, if the uniforms are purchased for the students, would there still be a big criticism towards the idea?
According to the New York Times, the Elizabeth School District in Elizabeth, NJ has spent more than $2 million on uniforms since 2006. This school district requires uniforms to be worn, so they consider them to be just like any other school supply, and for this reason they feel it is necessary to purchase them for their students. This district mainly contains poor and minority families, who are unable to purchase them, and are often times unable to purchase many clothes at all, so they feel it is in the best interest of the students that they save money to go towards buying uniforms for all. The town was thrilled with this decision, and has not complained about the requirement for uniforms at all.
Other schools choose to require dress codes for what they consider to benefit the safety and wellbeing of their students. Based on the article written in The Atlantic, Caroline Mimbs Nyce reports that her school had serious dress code issues because the administration thought that a student’s outfit correlated to their chance of joining a gang. Several dress code violations were given each week because the administration felt that the attire was going to inspire kids to join gangs. Many things were banned, including overly baggy clothes, Dickies-brand clothing, clothing with Mickey Mouse on it, and mohawks. Who would have thought that this innocent Disney character would be banned due to relations with gang violence?
All of these silly things were prohibited simply due to the fact they they felt there was a correlation between them and gangs, but this has not been proven true. Some argue that school uniforms would be the best solution to this so that kids are not exposed to any gang-related attire, while others argue that uniforms would further restrict the students’ ability to express themselves.
Taking this debate even further, should college kids be required to wear uniforms?
In my opinion, this does not seem like a feasible idea, especially at a school like Penn State. A majority of college kids are over 18, meaning they are legal adults, so it would be ridiculous to mandate that they all wear the same attire. College is the time to mature and grow into the person you want to become. Many students in college find their true selves, but I feel they would be unable to do this if they did not have the freedom to wear what they want and express their personalities.
However, some smaller school that are private and have a religious undertone, such as the University of Santo Tomas, do require their students to wear uniforms. I suppose the kids who elect to go to a school like that understands that they will be required to wear a uniform before they commit to go there, but I still do not understand the purpose it serves and I feel these students are being deprived of their rights of freedom.
The debate of school uniforms will forever be talked about in the United States, but ultimately the decision of whether or not they will be required will come down to each individual school and its beliefs.
I went to a public school, so I have never had to wear a uniform, but there were definitely mornings when I would wake up exhausted and I really wished that I had to wear a uniform so that I didn’t have to pick out the outfit for the day. Certainly, wearing uniforms is not ideal to many because it does take away a degree of personal expression, but in the case of the Elizabeth School District it seems like a very awesome thing. Wearing a uniform would definitely take away bad influences, like gang influence-although this seems like a rare case. I don’t know many high school students that are involved in gangs, but there are definitely places where this is a problem. I think uniform enforcement is best decided on a case by case basis.
I definitely see both sides of having uniforms in school. I personally have gone to a public school for all of my life so if someone were to tell me that uniforms should now be enforced in public schools, I would definitely be against it. I completely agree that no uniforms allow students to express themselves and make them unique from the rest. Even though it does alleviate the issue of having our economic status be represented by our outfits, I feel that overall having more freedom in the types of pants and shirts we wear allows us to form ourselves as people instead of conforming to a certain set of rules that the school wants us to follow. Overall, however, I do feel as though having uniforms is usually properly justified by the schools who end up enforcing uniforms. For example, some private schools will only add to their prestige by having their students wear uniforms. Personally, I am not a fan of the idea of uniforms, but it should be decided on the school itself, it should not be a nation-wide decision.
The debate of uniforms is such a common debate in the world of education. I went to a public high school that did not require uniforms, but enforced a strict dress code. However, the school nearby did require uniforms because of various reasons. I think that the school should decide what is best in terms of using uniforms or not. For example, a school in the country might not implement uniforms because they may not have gang related issues. As a school in an urban setting, may face these issues on a daily basis, motivating the administration to require uniforms. Either way, I can see the advantages and disadvantages to them from this informative post.
I for sure believe that uniforms are not necessary because well one reason that it should not be necessary because they are sometimes uncomfortable to wear and also if you run out of shirts or pants then you might need to be late for school because you will need to wash and dry your cloths even if you do not have your cloths and you are running late then you can easily run into your dresser and throw on some cloths and then you can run out the dour!!!!!