Uniforms

Enforcing School Uniforms Essay

School’s across America are searching for a solution to improve their school districts and promote a learning environment, but how? “The U.S. Department of Education observed that the adoption of school uniform policies can promote school safety, improve discipline, and enhance the learning environment” ( “Manual on School Uniforms” 1). Uniforms don’t take away a student's right of self-expression but, instead it helps to add a sense of discipline to a school. School uniforms should be enforced because they make school’s a much safer place, improve the learning environment, and stop peer pressure to follow clothing trends among students
Schools should require students to wear uniforms because it would make schools safer and more secure. Uniforms can cause a decrease in theft and violence among the student body. With regular clothes, there are a lot of name brands and expensive designs that not all students can afford. So a student who doesn’t have the money to pay for those fancy clothes might feel the need to steal them so that he could fit in, therefore causing the theft rate to rise. Uniforms would help solve this problem because everyone would have the same wardrobe so there wouldn’t be anything to steal that they don’t already own. Uniforms can help to prevent gangs presence in schools so that gangs wouldn’t be able to distinguish their enemies in school or keep their group identities. Uniforms takes the obvious signs of gang membership away; such as bandana’s, colors, and other gang images. This gives students who are not part of gangs less visibility. There wouldn’t be fights between rival gangs in schools because there would be no visual “tag” to set them apart therefore lowering the violence levels in school. Lastly, uniforms make schools safer because they can help stop intruders from getting into a school and causing damage. Uniforms would make it harder for trespassers to sneak into schools because you could easily tell they didn’t belong because they wouldn't have the same clothing as the rest of the student body. Uniforms would make schools safer and more secure by lowering the violence levels in schools.
Students can learn better in the classroom when wearing school uniforms because they wouldn’t have to worry about what they are wearing. Uniforms can install a sense of purpose, because some students may feel a stronger bond with other students since they are now seen equally. Uniforms provide a sense of identity. They offer students an opportunity to develop a stronger work ethic since they are more aware of the roles they are expected to play while in their uniforms. By providing the wealthy and the poor the same wardrobe for school, students from lower economical background might avoid less teasing from the wealthy because they would all be dressed the same. The last reason that uniforms would improve learning is because they would reduce distractions in the classroom. No wardrobe malfunctions, and inappropriate styles of clothing would be allowed in schools. Instead, students would focus on learning instead of thinking about how they look and/or worry about being judged on what they are wearing that day.
Peer pressure can be reduced in the school body as a result of adopting school uniforms. Uniforms would reduce this pressure because they help families to manage their children's school clothing. Along with that idea students would also have less pressure in the morning, to pick out what they are wearing. Uniforms would take the guess work out of waking up in the morning and trying to find that perfect outfit for the day. Another reason that school uniforms would reduce peer pressure, is that students who do not have the money to afford name brand or other expensive, designer labels would still be able to fit in. Wearing uniforms would be more cost efficient for poorer families because they wouldn’t have to pay for costly items such as jewelry, shoes, etc. "People have more friends that they wouldn't normally have because of the way they dress,” (Luis Rodarte, a middle school student in Long Beach California). Uniforms can also help lower peer pressure by reducing bullying among students. Students who don’t fit in because they don’t have the “cool” clothes are often bullied. But, students would have a better chance of fitting in if all of the kids wore the same thing. Students would feel less peer pressure from the rest of the student body if uniforms were mandated because they would only be judged on their personality and not on what they wear.
Although, school uniforms may take away from a student's individuality they make up for it in multiple different way. For example, they take students who may not fit in the norm of public schools and gives them a chance to fit in better, because they would be on a leveled fashion field. Also, uniforms make it less likely for students to stick out for being different or for not wearing the right brand of clothes, but would instead help students fit in because they would be following the mandatory dress code. Uniforms allow students to focus better in class by avoiding the distractions of street clothes and the ever changing fashion trends. Lastly, uniforms do not destroy creativity among students because there are multiple other ways to be creative and express yourself by joining different clubs such as choir, arts, or acting. School uniforms may take away from a student's creativity but make up for it in many different ways. School uniforms should be made a rule among all schools because uniforms make schools much safer, help students learn more efficiently in the classroom, and help to reduce peer pressure among students. The Long Beach California Police said, “There's less conflict among students. The uniforms tend to equalize the playing field.” (William C. Ellis, Police Chief pg. 1). Uniforms could be the solution to an already struggling American school system by helping to enhance the learning environment. Help to promote school uniforms in your own school district by evening the playing field for fashion and judging one another on what they are on the inside rather than the outside.

Citation

"Quotes About Uniform Policy."
Long Beach Unified School District. LBUSD, 4 2012. Web. 4 Dec 2012.

"Manual on School Uniforms."
Manual on School Uniforms (U.S. Dept. of Education). n.d.: 1+. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 04 Dec 2012.