Nowadays, we see many teenagers dress in spaghetti-strap tank tops, low-cut shirts, drop pants, pajamas, and even spandex shorts in school even though there have been policies about dress codes. Teachers, parents, and other adults feel disgruntled about the way they dress. Many students also complain about difficulties in concentrating on schoolwork because of the same reason. Obviously, what students wear to school has become a very distracting issue in the school environment. Therefore, school uniforms should be required in public schools due to many reasons. There have been many forums and discussions about mandatory school uniforms in public schools. They assume that wearing uniforms is a kind of Nazi education tactic; however, school uniforms reduce fashion-envy among students. For example, it is extremely easy to tell who is rich and popular at a public high school. Only popular girls wear Buckle Jeans that cost approximately one hundred dollars per pair. Only popular boys wore Ralph Lauren T-shirts to school. High school students are teenagers who are developing their self-esteem; therefore, it is important to guide students to lead a confident life without caring too much about appearance and materialistic things. In every public school, lots of students try to follow the newest trends and brands by begging their parents to buy them expensive clothes. They also work too hard to earn money for buying clothes, rather than focus on schoolwork. Moreover, the cases in which students steal and commit crimes are increasing like a strong wave. Many students think nowadays that it is more important to put appearance first, not intellect. Students who do well in school are often called nerds and geeks. They are also known ... ... middle of paper ... ...a story about some boys she observed watching a fellow student make a presentation in the school's media center. She noticed the boys were making fun of the other boy's sneakers, which were plain white, in contrast to their more fashionable two-tone shoes. It was the only clothing item that differentiated the student from his classmates, because there is some leeway in the type of shoes students can wear. According to Kathleen C. and Carl A. Cohn’s “School Improvement Initiatives in Long Beach, California: The Quest for Higher Student Achievement, Behavior, and Dress Standards” in Education magazine, which was published on December 22, 1998, Long Beach Unified School District initiated mandatory uniforms for all K-8 students in the fall of 1994. Within the first year, all incidents of school crime, including assaults and weapons violations, declined by 76 percent.
Ever wonder what it would look like to have all students wearing the same white polo shirt, black pants, and a district sweater walking in the hallway? Nowadays, public school and many districts are discussing the possibilities of enforcing the uniform policy. In most places, many private schools already require students to have their mandatory uniforms; however, there are only a few public schools adopting this mandatory school-uniform polices as one of their enrollment requirements. The reason why not all public schools participated was because people believe that they are violating the freedom of choice when enforcing this mandatory uniform policy; yet problems such as bullying and segregation, emerged in these schools. Some people still think uniforms have no benefits at all. However, all public school students should be required to wear uniforms because it would improve the academic performance, reduce the violent behaviors based on appearance judgment, and provide less stress for both parents and students.
School uniforms should be mandatory in all schools. Enforcing school uniforms will make outsiders more identifiable thus creating a safer academic environment for students. The attire will also reduce competition among students and their clothing choices. Additionally, they will prompt students to feel pride, respect, and spirit towards their school. School uniforms should generate equality and unity, create an improved learning environment, and decrease bullying amongst the students.
All parents want their children to have the best education possible. Indeed, school should be an enriching experience for all ages and students should be provided with the tools and environment to achieve their maximum capability. The best way to accomplish this goal is to introduce a uniform policy to public schools. In 1994, the first uniforms were required in the schools of Long Beach, California; since then, other public schools have followed in their footsteps, also adopting uniform policies (Chen). The president of the Long Beach School District gave his comments on the effectiveness of uniforms, saying, “These schools are becoming educational workplaces. Students arrive dressed for success, ready to learn. They’re getting along with one another better and experiencing significant gains” (Brunsma and Rockquemore 54). It can be argued that public schools which implement a uniform policy benefit economically, socially, and educationally, as well as make the school campus safer.
“The Manual on School Uniforms”, printed and issued by the United States Department of Education, noted that Long Beach, California, reported a decrease in crime, fights, sex offenses, weapons offenses, and vandalism after they adopted their uniform policy (4). Contrary to government findings, The National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 discovered that school uniforms have had no real effects on behavior, drug abuse or attendance; furthermore they also came to find that uniforms actually have negative effects on the academic achievement of the students (Brunsma and Rockquemore 54). If school A is emphasizing that school uniforms are conducive to the learning environment, yet school B down the road has higher testing scores but no uniform policy, then their stand is no longer valid. This proves that uniforms have no effect on the learning process.
It has been observed that the adoption of school uniform policies can promote school safety, improve discipline, and enhance the learning environment. The potential benefits of school uniforms include decreasing violence and theft. Some instances involving designer clothing and expensive sneakers have even led to life-threatening situations among students. Uniforms would also prevent gang members from wearing gang colors and insignia at school. Uniforms would also teach students discipline and help them resist peer pressure. Uniforms would also help students concentrate on their schoolwork and would help school officials detect intruders who come unwelcome into the school.
High school is typically a time when kids begin to distinguish themselves from one another. Students begin to develop their own sense of personal style, desperately trying to both fit in and stand out simultaneously. Being self-conscious and often lacking the confidence needed to assert themselves, teens are forced to use clothing and outward appearance as the means to manifest this individuality. Thus, students should not be forced to wear uniforms to school. Standard uniforms are unproven deterrents to student violence; are a "Band-Aid" to cover up the real problems faced by children and teens; and they violate students' right of self-expression, depriving them of their search for identity.
Since the 1990 's schools have reported amazing results by mandating a school uniform policy. Konheim-Kalkstein, Y. L (2006) write: “ School uniforms, proponents have said, can lead to improved discipline and classroom behavior, increased school attendance, respect for teachers, better school performance, higher student self-esteem and confidence, lower
School uniforms should be part of the school systems, because statistics had shown that students who wear uniforms are doing better than dress codes. More students also feel a sense of equality among each other and there are fewer judgments of others. It allows teacher quickly to identify people who do not belong in the building and limit the ways that gangs can identify themselves. School outfit provides students identity, individual spirit, and pride. Uniforms are increasing throughout different schools. School uniforms make students look more formal, and progressively affects student’s self-esteem, discipline, and safety, and develops students be more confident of what they can achieve in life.
In society today, school-age children are under tremendous pressure to fit in with their peers and still perform well academically. I believe that school uniforms in pre-K through high school levels is an excellent way to help children succeed not only in school, but to prepare them for college and the “real world.” Three reasons why I believe school uniforms should be used in all schools is first, they are economic, next, they reduce distractions and finally, they help with social equality.
It is time to remove from the classrooms the importance that students choose to give to clothing brands and price tags. Because a school should not have any other distraction rather than learning. What kind of environment should we create for our kids to receive their education? A school where kids are constantly worrying about the latest fashion trends? Or a school where students are expected to arrive dressed with a neat uniform? It is difficult to believe that something as simple as students wearing school uniforms to attend class can establish a difference in students, teacher and parents’s life. For example, imagining a cop walking out on the streets without his uniform. That would be perturbing because there is no way of recognizing
A uniform is a standard set of clothes that is worn by a group of people. These people may be members of an organization or a group of people having the same ideas. There are thousands of kinds of uniforms in the world worn by people, such as police officers, firefighters, doctors, lawyers, security guards, and even fast-food restaurant workers. School uniforms are a controversial issue in schools today. Many schools have already adopted a policy mandating school uniforms, while many more are still considering the change. School uniforms create an atmosphere of equality in which the students are able to achieve to their best, while attaining the most out of their education. School uniforms should be mandatory to unite the school community as one, to instil discipline among the student body, and to eliminate distractions that will help students focus more, which in turn will help our society.
Over the past decade school reform policy has taken a step towards pushing sameness in school settings. This is evidenced by the adoption of the common core standards, replicating charter school models, and the recent increase in the utilization of school uniforms. There appears to be an assumption that if students are taught the same standards, experience the same school culture, wear the same clothes, their schooling experience will harvest a higher level of academic achievement. According to the 2015 United States News study, only one out of the top ten ranked high schools in the nation mandate school uniforms. Embedded in the same study were the results of the top ten high schools in Illinois, none of which require students to wear uniforms. The highest performing students in the nation and the state of Illinois are not wearing uniforms to school on a daily basis. This trend is something that needs to be further explored because the populations that disproportionately wear school uniforms are schools that have a significantly high poverty rate. In fact, 47% of high-poverty public schools reported requiring school uniforms, compared to 6% of low poverty public schools (U.S. Department of Education, 2014). Due to this, there is a need for research that studies the impact school uniforms have on student achievement as this is a impending threat to educational equity.
School uniforms are detrimental to the student’s self-confidence and self-esteem, school uniforms can be a financial hardship on low-income families, targets the students for bullying, infringes on a students’ freedom of expression rights and they teach students a negative lesson about conformity. This paper will show the argument of why schools should not require students to wear uniforms. By expressing themselves with what they wear, it often gives a clue to how the student is feeling and shows what may be going on in his/her personal life.
A recent study proved the opinion of effectives of wearing school uniforms in forbidding the use of symbolic clothes inside schools. Consequently, the rate of violence is decreased (Dianne, 2007). Moreover and further studies have been done examining the significance of wearing school uniforms. These studies concluded that imposing uniform system inside the school is very helpful in eliminating the severe class completion among students, drop learning interferences, and reduce the costs put over the parents' shoulders (Hidalgoa and Onofab,
Should school uniforms be required? Some say that uniforms help students focus on academics instead of fashion. Others believe that students should have the freedom to choose what they wear to school in order to express their differences and their uniqueness. After considering both sides of the issue, I strongly believe that uniforms should be introduced in primary public and private schools. Wearing school uniforms does not promote unfair comparisons between student’s incomes in terms of clothing; they aid students in developing their inner qualities instead of focusing on the outer aspects of themselves in the crucial earlier years of their lives, and provides a platform for practicing discipline.