Pro School Uniforms
Picture this, waking up for a normal day of school and already knowing what is going to be worn that day and the day after that. Such imagery is not so far off from reality. Speaking, of course, about spreading the idea of school uniforms from the private schools to the public school system. Former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, was very adamant about putting “discipline and learning back in our schools” in his 1996 State of the Union address, through adding a school uniform policy in public schools. Even today, school uniforms are becoming more common of an idea to be implemented in the public school system. Not only are school uniforms cost effective, they have been connected to a reduction in violence in schools, for aiding
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students in increasing grades and as well as teaching students discipline.
First, and for some which is the most important, money. It has been shown that the parents of children who wear school uniforms spend less on their child’s wardrobe for the school year than compare to those of who are parents to kids who do not wear school uniforms. Mary Yarber of the Los Angeles Times wrote in her article, “Uniforms Save Money—Even Lives”, “Consider this: For about $60, you can buy one pair of popular jeans, or a complete school uniform. And for what you spend on a pair of trendy sneakers ($100-$120), you could buy two uniforms, enough for a school year.” That statistic alone has been one of the hard-hitting facts of school uniforms that have swayed people in favor of uniforms.
Another reason behind why school uniforms should be a part of public schools is due to its connection to reducing violence in schools. In schools today, violence occurs for several reasons related to dress appearance, whether it be a wealthy kid beating up a poorer student, or even gang members in the intercity schools violently attacking certain students for what colors that they happened to be wearing that day, affiliated with a gang or not. By instituting a school-wide uniform policy, assaults would lessen due to the fact that if someone is affiliated with a certain gang or not, that rival gang members in the school would not be able to pick that person out in a crowd and make an assault. “But if students are wearing simple uniforms of neutral colors, gang members are harder to spot, and one source of provocation is removed.”(Yarber, “Schools”) Physical violence is not the only problem that can be resolved from the change, but the verbal violence as well. By adding uniforms, the profiling of who is rich and who is poor would be eliminated due to the fact that everyone whether they are rich, poor, white, black, etc. would all look the same.
Thirdly, another big point that having school uniforms in public schools is that school uniforms have also been linked to increasing overall grades in schools for several reasons. “According to proponents of school uniforms, a wealth of potential benefits will follow their adoption… and better grades [in class]”(Kendrick, “Reviewing”). The main connection between school uniforms and increasing overall grades is that a lot of daily distractions brought upon by regular dressed students are the thoughts of whether or not they match up to the student beside them or a student distracted by another’s students outrageously colored hair. Also if students are not spending time trying to appeal to their peers through what they wear, then they will have more time to spend on what is more important in the school setting such as paying attention in class and doing their homework. School uniforms could also be helpful long-term. With the increasing grades from school uniforms, students would then be less likely to drop out of school. If the drop-out rate is decreased then the crime rate of delinquents would also drop due to the less number of kids on the street instead of being school.
Finally, the last major point as to why school uniforms should be required in public schools is that school uniforms would teach the students discipline in school and in life.
The theory of the uniform is to make everyone one and the same. “Many people also think that school uniform helps maintain school discipline, decreasing the amount of discipline problems” (Mallet, “Uniforms”). The uniform teaches the student to stick to a certain guideline and maintain a sense of professionalism. With a set uniform, students are also unable to break certain dress codes that many public schools have trouble enforcing such as shorts that are too revealing or shirts that display inappropriate messages or signs. School uniforms also teach the students discipline for their future. “Schools report that when students dress in "work clothes" rather than "play clothes" they take a more serious approach to their studies” (Mallett, “Uniforms”). Many jobs today require you wear a specific uniform depending on the position in which someone is placed. From people working as “burger-flippers” to employees of a major business, every form of work requires you follow their dress code. A person could never expect to work for a million dollar corporation and show up to work in a tank top and shorts. Everything someone does for an occupation requires discipline, especially when talking about one’s
attire.
Even though studies to this day are being done on the effectiveness of having school uniforms, they have been shown to be a lot more cost effective on the parents of the students, as well as reducing violence in schools, helping to increase the grades of students and to also teach discipline to the younger generations. School uniforms may not be the solutions to all of the problems faced in schools by the students, but statistics show that it may just be a step in the right direction.
students in increasing grades and as well as teaching students discipline.
First, and for some which is the most important, money. It has been shown that the parents of children who wear school uniforms spend less on their child’s wardrobe for the school year than compare to those of who are parents to kids who do not wear school uniforms. Mary Yarber of the Los Angeles Times wrote in her article, “Uniforms Save Money—Even Lives”, “Consider this: For about $60, you can buy one pair of popular jeans, or a complete school uniform. And for what you spend on a pair of trendy sneakers ($100-$120), you could buy two uniforms, enough for a school year.” That statistic alone has been one of the hard-hitting facts of school uniforms that have swayed people in favor of uniforms.
Another reason behind why school uniforms should be a part of public schools is due to its connection to reducing violence in schools. In schools today, violence occurs for several reasons related to dress appearance, whether it be a wealthy kid beating up a poorer student, or even gang members in the intercity schools violently attacking certain students for what colors that they happened to be wearing that day, affiliated with a gang or not. By instituting a school-wide uniform policy, assaults would lessen due to the fact that if someone is affiliated with a certain gang or not, that rival gang members in the school would not be able to pick that person out in a crowd and make an assault. “But if students are wearing simple uniforms of neutral colors, gang members are harder to spot, and one source of provocation is removed.”(Yarber, “Schools”) Physical violence is not the only problem that can be resolved from the change, but the verbal violence as well. By adding uniforms, the profiling of who is rich and who is poor would be eliminated due to the fact that everyone whether they are rich, poor, white, black, etc. would all look the same.
Thirdly, another big point that having school uniforms in public schools is that school uniforms have also been linked to increasing overall grades in schools for several reasons. “According to proponents of school uniforms, a wealth of potential benefits will follow their adoption… and better grades [in class]”(Kendrick, “Reviewing”). The main connection between school uniforms and increasing overall grades is that a lot of daily distractions brought upon by regular dressed students are the thoughts of whether or not they match up to the student beside them or a student distracted by another’s students outrageously colored hair. Also if students are not spending time trying to appeal to their peers through what they wear, then they will have more time to spend on what is more important in the school setting such as paying attention in class and doing their homework. School uniforms could also be helpful long-term. With the increasing grades from school uniforms, students would then be less likely to drop out of school. If the drop-out rate is decreased then the crime rate of delinquents would also drop due to the less number of kids on the street instead of being school.
Finally, the last major point as to why school uniforms should be required in public schools is that school uniforms would teach the students discipline in school and in life.
The theory of the uniform is to make everyone one and the same. “Many people also think that school uniform helps maintain school discipline, decreasing the amount of discipline problems” (Mallet, “Uniforms”). The uniform teaches the student to stick to a certain guideline and maintain a sense of professionalism. With a set uniform, students are also unable to break certain dress codes that many public schools have trouble enforcing such as shorts that are too revealing or shirts that display inappropriate messages or signs. School uniforms also teach the students discipline for their future. “Schools report that when students dress in "work clothes" rather than "play clothes" they take a more serious approach to their studies” (Mallett, “Uniforms”). Many jobs today require you wear a specific uniform depending on the position in which someone is placed. From people working as “burger-flippers” to employees of a major business, every form of work requires you follow their dress code. A person could never expect to work for a million dollar corporation and show up to work in a tank top and shorts. Everything someone does for an occupation requires discipline, especially when talking about one’s
attire.
Even though studies to this day are being done on the effectiveness of having school uniforms, they have been shown to be a lot more cost effective on the parents of the students, as well as reducing violence in schools, helping to increase the grades of students and to also teach discipline to the younger generations. School uniforms may not be the solutions to all of the problems faced in schools by the students, but statistics show that it may just be a step in the right direction.