School Uniforms: Hindrance or Advantage?

Jesse Panek

Prisoners wear uniforms, gangs wear uniforms, and now your children? School uniforms are a hot topic because some think they will benefit schools as a whole. However, others argue that uniforms are negative for children and even teachers. Test results remain the same even with uniforms while attendance worsens and students time management is negatively affected. Violence has been proven to increase; uniforms also limit one’s ability to express themselves. School uniforms shouldn’t be mandatory.

One major problem with uniforms being introduced is they increase violence. According to, Granberg-Rademacker, Bumgarner, and Johnson, “school uniforms increased the average number of assaults by about 14 [per year] in the most violent schools”, or in other words, there were more assaults because of school uniforms. One 1999 Texas Southern

University study, showed an increase in disciplinary action by about 12% after the introduction of uniforms (Brunsma). What David was saying is the number of assault related incidents rose by 12%. According to the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Office of Education Evaluation and Management, after one year of making school uniforms mandatory, fights in middle schools almost doubled. Imagine that, double the fights in your middle school, that would be chaos; this is another example of why we shouldn’t force uniforms on children.

Another problem of introducing uniforms is, they limit expression. At a time when there is much discussion of freedom of expression, uniforms are brought up, but they contradict that message (Howe). In other words There is no difference between prisoners and gangs wearing uniforms and kids at school wearing them (Shuman). Late satirist George Carlin asked, "Don't these schools do enough damage, making all these children think alike? Now they're gonna get them to look alike, too?" What George is asking is where does it end? When will they stop making every child dress and act in uniform? Ask yourself, what is the difference between your child and prisoners or gang member wearing uniforms?

Among all problems, wearing uniforms will not improve test results, preparation, or attendance.

David L. Brunsma, a Professor of Sociology at Virginia Tech, found a "negative effect of uniforms on academic achievement," and later found that uniforms were equally ineffective on elementary students and eighth graders. David L. Brunsma, also analyzed data on a group of 10th graders and found, "no effects of uniforms on absenteeism, behavioral problems (fights, suspensions, etc.), or substance use on campus" and "no effects" on "pro-school attitudes, academic preparedness, and peer attitudes toward school." Ryan Yeung of Syracuse University did a study on effects of uniforms in schools and his results showed, "no significant effects of school uniforms on performance on second grade reading and mathematics examinations, as well as on 10th-grade reading, mathematics, science, and history examinations... [I]n many of the specifications, the results are actually negative." Why should uniforms be put into action if they aren’t helping students achieve a better

education?

There are many views on school uniforms that are false or don’t provide enough information. According to Glori Chaika, "School Uniforms: Panacea or Band-Aid?," educationworld.com, Oct. 11, 1999, “64% of students said uniforms reduce violence.” However Tony Volk, PhD, Associate Professor at Brock University, stated, "Overall, there is no evidence in bullying literature that supports a reduction in violence due to school uniforms." This means despite what people like Glori say, there is no evidence pointing to a reduction in violence with the introduction of uniforms. Many say students don’t mind the change in uniform, but an article by Ovetta Wiggins, "Pr. George's Students Who Chose Pink, Not Uniforms, for Breast Cancer Month Punished," washingtonpost.com, Oct. 25, 2013, stated how students at Friendly High School in Prince George's County, MD, could not wear pink shirts to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The students still wore pink despite the warning; this rule lead to 75 in-school suspensions for breaking the dress code. This shows how important freedom of expression is to students. Contrary to popular belief that school uniforms are a major improvement in schools, when asked his opinion on school uniforms, Tom Houlihan, former Superintendent of Schools in Oxford, NC, said “are a distraction from focusing on systematic and fundamental transformation to improve our schools." If you're going to listen to anybody, listen to someone that has experience and first hand knowledge in a school. What Tom is saying is that even though uniforms may or may not provide minor benefits, we should focus our energy into other ways to improve our school. Hopefully this cleared the air on some fundamental issues provided by the introduction of school uniforms.

Do you still want your child to dress in uniform like prisoners counting their days. For the reasons that academic performance doesn’t change, violence increases, and students lose the power to express themselves; I strongly urge you not to support the implementation of school uniforms. You should oppose school uniforms, and put an end to that era, students are young adults who deserve to express themselves too.