No to School Uniforms Thesis

Now a days more and more schools are beginning to take on school uniforms as their primary dress code hoping to cut down on school violence and discrimination. But what else are we taking away from the young students who have much to learn and experience while growing up to an adult? Ever since I started my schooling, I have never been to a school that had a uniform dress code. As I grew up, I started hearing more and more about school uniforms and never liked the idea because then I thought I would look the same and eventually start acting the same as every other student dressed like me. I think students should be able to go to school and wear what they want to wear to express themselves and to experience some freedom in school, because we all know schools are filled with rules that don’t let us express ourselves. Maybe it’s a good thing for some but for some it can be a setback.

School boards have said that having uniforms in schools decrease violence, increases academics, and makes sure that kids wear appropriate clothing to school. What else are they taking away from students? It’s their right to free expression, creativity and individuality. For example, in Congress Arizona, a 9 year old boy by the name of Story Strongfellow, wanted to wear his Phoenix Sun’s t-shirt and jeans to school one day but he was forced to wear a polo and khaki pants to school because his school would now allow it. Cyndi Regis, Story’s mother, says “We teach him to be himself and we encourage it. He’s not out of line with what he wants to wear”(Carol p3a.)
The problem with school uniforms is that it does not solve student behavior and I would have to agree. Hethorn, a researcher of issues on youth fashions, states a really good argument, “if a school district had serious difficulties with its student’s transportation system, officials and parents would scoff at the notion that repainting the buses would solve the problems” (Hethorn p27A.) If a student has anger issues and you throw a uniform over the student, does the problem go away? I don’t think it’s that easy.

Works Cited

Hethorn, Janet. “Uniforms won’t impact school safety.”

Long Island Business News 5 2009, Vol.

47 Issue 46.: p27A. EBSCOhost. Web. 8 September 2009


Motsinger, Carol. “Ironing out policies on school uniforms.” USA Today

6 Sept. 2007, News sec.: 3A. EBSCOhost. Web. 8 September 2009.

"School Uniforms should be Enforced"

School uniforms not only make students more disciplined, uniforms also make the students more reliable and respectful. School uniforms have been mandated in many school districts because it lessens the violence, promotes safety, and helps students from being distracted and more concentrated in the education.

According to Randy Rockney, “Overall school crime declined by 36% fights and weapons offenses by 50%, sex offenses by 74%, suspensions by 32%, and vandalism by 18%.” School uniforms are not only beneficial for students, it’s also beneficial for parents and teachers. Also, if all the students wore the same kind of dress code, then there wouldn’t be any sort of competition either, and we wouldn’t see the division we see in schools which is based on the type of designer clothing a student wears. Some kinds of clothes disrupt learning, clothing that includes vulgar or violent language or graphics, or that advertises alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs, is a distraction.

Julia Wilkins stated that, “. . . assaults on teachers are frequent and children are routinely killed over designer clothing, (and) have been constant over the past few years. These reports have placed pressure on schools and politicians to act quickly, before the situation gets out of control.” So if we don’t make it mandatory to make students wear uniforms more and more students would be killed and teachers will be assaulted. Wilkins also stated that in Long beach, California, “there was a dramatic decrease in violence, and discipline problems, as well as higher test scores.” The uniforms help students gain more focus on the education rather than themselves, and takes their mind off getting into the wrong things in life. “Middle-class students report peer pressure to buy expensive clothing, cliquish behavior exacerbated by differences in what students can afford, and kids wearing inappropriately sexualized clothing that isn’t conducive to studying” (Boyd).

A lot of parents can afford clothing that are from expensive stores, but the parents that can’t provide it, their kids suffer and it makes them upset, which could lead to violence. I think if most of the schools made it mandatory for students to wear school uniforms a lot of parents won’t be economically disadvantaged, there won’t be so much violence in school, and the students will be more focused on their education.

Works Cited

Boyd, Hannah. “School Uniforms.” Education. N.d. Web. 9 Sep. 2009.

Rockney, Randy. “Should school uniforms be mandated in elementary schools?” Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter. May 2005. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 9 Sep. 2009

Wilkins, Julia. “School Uniforms.” Humanist 59.2 (Mar. 1999): 19. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Sep. 2009

School Uniforms Thesis

Over the past decade students, teachers and parents have been arguing over the issue of student’s attire in school. Cliques, gangs and bullying have all become issues among students based on dress, and now we have a problem on our hands. Are school uniforms the answer? Or will they crush a student’s individuality and creativity? I say, go for uniforms. According to Jeffrey Warren, "Uniforms allow children the right to distinguish themselves by the deeds they've done, not the duds they wear" (Boutelle). Uniforms have proven to be an effective answer to problems by equalizing all students during the school day. In Jacobs vs. Clark County, the court stated, "the (uniform) policy had helped improve student achievement, promoted safety, and enhanced the school environment" (Walsh). Uniforms are low on cost, have helped reduce fighting among students, and take away the major fashion distractions that are so prevalent in today’s schools. Most students spend their last days of summer shopping for new school clothes at the most popular stores with designer brands. This can be a major expense to families, and with record job losses and such high unemployment rates, many families simply can’t afford to go out shopping. Uniforms take care of this problem entirely. They are affordable and they also provide total equality among students. This also helps control fights between each other. If every student is dressing the same, then there is no reason for teasing based on style, or lack of style. Even more, when a student’s mind is focused on learning instead of their outfit or the attire of the person next to them, learning is bound to increase. Time spent picking out an outfit or shopping for new clothes can be better spent by studying for their classes and getting adequate sleep. As I said before, some people are concerned that uniforms will crush a student’s creativity. I can see how this may be a concern to some, but I also think that life has many other areas to express creativity and students may just have to learn how to adjust. Also, when these students enter the work force, there will most likely be some sort of dress code enforced at their place of employment. Students may have to learn how to dress according to these standards in this situation as well. John Ginn, principal at Sacramento City USD's Bowling Green Charter School makes this same point when he states, "Wearing uniforms is promoting job skills at a young age" (Boutelle). As you can see, uniforms will only help students to be all that they can be while they’re in school, as well as preparing them for after school when they are ready to enter the workplace.

Works Cited

Boutelle, Marsha. "UNIFORMS: Are They a Good Fit?." Education Digest Feb. 2008: 34-37. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 14 Sep. 2009.

Walsh, Mark. "U.S. Appeals Court Backs District's Rules On School Uniforms." Education Week 21 May 2008: 8-8. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 14 Sep. 2009 .