Pros And Cons Of School Uniforms

The subject of school uniforms can spark quite a debate among proponents and opponents on both sides of the issue. You can find mixed feelings whether you talk to school administration and staff, parents, or the students themselves. In my research, I see more pros than cons associated with a school uniform policy; therefore, I would like to examine some of these positive impacts more closely. It is exciting to see how these policies are making a resoundingly-positive impact in our children’s lives! I think, as parents, we all want to level the playing field for our children.
Kids today are under a tremendous amount of pressure and are pulled in so many directions. I believe that uniforms in the school setting can help alleviate some of this. Successful implementation of a uniform policy would, of course, involve support of the student, teachers, and parents, which I will address later in this paper. Research suggests that uniforms can be beneficial in schools because they can reduce socioeconomic peer pressure, create an increased sense of belonging within the school, and increase student performance by reducing distractions.
Children use clothing as a form of identity, and when their families cannot afford the latest trends, it can lend itself to feelings of low self-worth and can even make children targets of bullying. Children are inundated every single day with advertising and marketing, and these kids are connected to media a good portion of their day. This allows advertisers to creep into our children’s lives and target them multiple times every day. Corporations are guilty of putting financial gain ahead of children’s health and well-being, and the fashion industry has been identified as one of these industries (L...

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...ent-teacher relationship. Less distractions and a more respectful school setting for children would certainly help them concentrate on their studies more effectively. Also, with blurred socioeconomic lines, children would not have to worry about being bullied because they wear the same couple of shirts every day, as that is all that they own, or the wrong brand of jeans. All children being dressed the same would lend itself to a sense of camaraderie instead of competing to see who is dressed the best. A reduction in bullying and violence, less peer pressure, lower costs to parents, increased academic scores, and a sense of belonging are all reasons that I am certainly in favor of the implementation of school uniforms in our public school system. With so many positives, maybe the real question should be why don’t more public schools have school uniform policies?