Each high school morning for me was the same routine, wake up, eat breakfast, shower, spend about 15 minutes deciding what to wear then hop in my car and drive to school. Once I got to school I’d notice the same things everyday, the same cliques wearing the same outfits. These outfits clearly showed who was a part of each group; which it is always good to be able to express who you are, but they also cause much drama. Things such as people getting picked on for dressing one way, or people often unfocused on school and only caring about how they look. It made me think, could all this go away if my school, just decided to implement school uniforms? I gave this question a deeper look.
As more and more public schools switch to school uniforms, more and more studies are being done on the subject. Virginia Draa, a researcher at Youngstown State, examined test scores and attendance, graduation and suspension rates at 64 high schools in Ohio’s eight largest public school districts(http://www.cleveland19.com). Of the 64 high schools only six had school uniforms, so those were the ones she looked at. She concluded from these studies that school uniforms address pr
oblems with discipline and attendance in a school building.
In these studies she found that the graduation rates for the schools that implemented uniforms rose nearly 11% from the p
re-uniform years. That is a substantial amount especially since the schools in the same areas mean graduation rate dropped 4.6%. Mean ex
pulsion rates also dropped by 0.6% in that time for schools who implemented school uniforms. These numbers seem drastic and if that’s all we looked at it’d seem like a very easy decision to be made; however there are some other variables that need to be taken into consideration.
The biggest variable that could cause these statistics is the parents of the kids in these areas. What if the parents were the reason for the uniforms in the first place? If the parents are the ones who pushed for the rule that shows they are very likely to be involved in their child’s school performance. They’ll push their kids to do well which could be the sole reason for the increase in school performance. On the other hand what if the reason the other schools didn’t get uniforms is because the parents don’t care about what their kids are doing in school what so ever? Those kids who are not pushed by their parents may not see the same value in school as those who are causing their graduation rate to be lowered.
Another thing is the way the study was carried out. Draa carried out a correlational study and as from class we all known that correlation doesn’t always mean causation. Also the study only focused on six schools of the 64 she contacted which is a very small scope. Since only six were focused on, it increases the probability that chance was involved.
As seen above there are multiple flaws in this study conducted by Draa; however, there are also many other studies that back up Draa’s findings. One can be found in the Long Beach Unified School district with a study done by Pacific Standard (http://everydaylife.globalpost.com). Long Beach one of the first school’s to mandate uniforms, saw a decrease in student crime by 36%, decline in student fighting by 51%, and a decline in sexual offenses by 74% by implementing school uniforms. Also a survey conducted by Lands’ End School Uniform (http://www.naesp.org) showed that 85% of school leaders believe that uniforms improve classroom discipline and 86% believe uniforms have made a significant, positive impact on peer pressure. Those are a few of the many studies that back up the work of Draa.
“School uniforms are one step that may help break the cycle of violence, truancy and disorder by helping young students understand what really counts is what kind of people they are.” Those were the words of former President Bill Clinton after Long Beach unified school district implemented school uniforms (http://everydaylife.globalpost.com) and after doing much research on the topic I agree with him. Although I do not believe school uniforms improve grades, as these studies did not have strong evidence for that, I do believe that they reduce disciplinary issues. With the students all wearing the same cloths it’d become very difficult to figure out who was in which clique based off their appearance, students wouldn’t be harassed, which protects many students as much as it helps keep kids out of trouble. So remember next time when your little sibling complains about their new school uniform, it’s only gonna help take out some drama and other distractions from their life.
Pictures
http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/I/Boys-school/p/sm/1064125233.htm#1064125233
http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Smart-Sarahs-best-behaved/story-19482025-detail/story.html
Bibliography
Bowen, Sherry. “Should Kids Wear School Uniforms? – EduGuide.” Eduguide.org. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
Greenwood, Beth. “Does the Way Your Kids Dress Affect How They Do in School?” Everyday Life Global Post. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
“Study Says School Uniforms Might Help Attendance, Graduation Rates.” Cleveland 19 News, 2006. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
Tucker, Kaylen, and Molly Hawkins. “National Survey of School Leaders Reveals 2013 School Uniform Trends.” NAESP, 30 July 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.