School Uniforms Improve Children's Safety

Since school uniforms have become more and more common in the United States, there has been one issue that many, of the parents and students are worried about. Many believe the children will not have the ability to express themselves freely. The First Amendment guarantees our right to free expression. This means that students do not leave their First Amendment rights outside the schoolhouse door, but their opinions can be limited to prevent major disruptions to classes and outside activities. To make this statement more clear, in 2003, a high school senior was suspended from school for wearing a tee-shirt of President George W. Bush with the statement “International Terrorist.” (ACLU , 1997-2009) The student’s suspension was later reversed because of the First Amendment. If the school had a uniform policy, then the student would not have been able to express his political view-point. Note that, even if there is a uniform policy, election pins or buttons can still be worn, but these types of pins might be prohibited if they are related to gang signs or such. Piercings, however, are not protected under the First Amendment; like the political tee-shirt. Piercings are non-verbal communication and do not convey a specific message and, therefore, are not protected as speech. They can be seen as a possible disruption or health risk. (ACLU , 1997-2009) Although piercings are not usually a part of the dress code policy, they can easily be enforced if piercing become a problem at school. This includes all body piercings and more than one ear-piercing. Many would be upset because most girl’s have more than one earring in their ears.

Since the first school began using uniforms, there has been a large increase in the number of...

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