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.
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ReplyDeleteI don’t agree with Phong because I think that uniforms help create a better and safer environment with less issues like violence. Uniforms help students focus more on their studies than what their fellow student is wearing. Uniforms also create a sense of tidiness, and they are reusable. Kids want a lot of things in life, but if parents start providing them with everything they want than they will end up spoiling their kids.
ReplyDeleteUniforms are less costly than buying clothing because when a kid wants clothing, he or she wants it from a specific store. 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. A lot of students wear clothing that promotes gang violence, and if they just wore school uniforms instead, then there won’t be any sort of gang violence being promoted because everyone would be equal and the school would be more like a community than a place full of gang members.
According to Phong, we should provide freedom to students and let them choose what they want to wear. Unfortunately in today’s society that is not possible. If we provide freedom, meaning no school uniforms, it would increase the rate of violence because this generation doesn’t understand the meaning of freedom, they only know how to abuse the word, “freedom.”
Schools must educate students in a safe environment. Over time, education has often slipped away as the main focus of schools. As we have unfortunately seen, school safety is such an enormous issue, and making school uniforms mandatory has become very important. Possibly instituting school uniforms might help bring back that sense of decorum and allow teachers to do what they are hired to do: teach.
I'm in agreement with Saba on the matter that uniforms should be enforced in schools, but I also understand what Phong is saying when he talks about student behavior. I agree that throwing a uniform over a student isn't going to change their behavior problems, but I do think that uniforms would be a major help in eliminating distractions and teasing among students. Another thought is that uniforms may not take away behavioral problems, but they may help students academically. In an interview with Baltimore Sun's writer, Anica Butler, Eddie Scott states that, "There's research that shows a correlation between appropriate dress and academic performance" (Pytel). As a principal, Eddie Scott must know a thing or two about academic performance, and he believes that there is a direct link between this and student's dress.
ReplyDeleteIn Phong's argument, he also talks about uniforms constricting a child's creativity. This statement is false because in reality, uniforms force students to express their creativity through more important things, like school work. Students' focus is shifted from clothing to school, where it should be.
Works Cited
Pytel, Barbara. "School Uniforms-Growing
Trend." Suite 101.com. Suite 101 Today, 26 September 2006. Web. 9 September 2009.