Should Children Wear Uniforms?

Throughout my education, I have had the opportunity to experience both ends of the uniform spectrum. From kindergarten through eighth grade, I attended a private, Catholic school with strict uniforms. The next four years brought me to our local public high school with a very basic dress code stating that students could not wear clothes with inappropriate words or pictures and underwear could not be showing. I believe that schools should have a dress code to prohibit inappropriate clothing from schools, but I do not think students should be forced to wear uniforms.

The private school experienced very few behavior problems, while the high school had gang issues and required students to pass through metal detectors before being admitted to the building in the morning. I believe this difference stemmed more from the different socioeconomic statuses and differing parenting styles in two schools rather than from the dress policy. The students from the economically disadvantaged side of the city seemed to be the ones causing trouble. When we transitioned from eighth to ninth grade, the students that used to wear uniforms did not suddenly develop behavior issues when they did not have to wear uniforms anymore.

People often argue that wearing uniforms creates a more equal environment in the schools. This was not the case in our school because we could still wear any brand of clothing we wanted as long as it conformed to the rules. Extra emphasis was also put on shoes and hair. The "popular" group wore white shirts and picked on anyone else who did. As we got older, it was considered very uncool for girls to wear pants even during the winter. Students will find ways to divide themselves regardless of their uniform policy.

If a school does decide to implement a uniform policy, they need to find a better way to enforce it than the methods mentioned in the Polk Schools article. Giving students after school or lunch detention for not wearing their uniform may be a better option than sending them home. The point of uniforms is to improve the educational experience, but if children are sent home then they are not receiving any benefits at all. Students might even start to violate the policy just so that they can avoid class. Parents should not be punished so harshly for their children not wearing their uniforms because many are not able to drop their children off at school in the morning due to work obligations so they do not have complete control over what their children are wearing at all times.

I believe schools should work harder to find a real, lasting solution to their problems. Not enough evidence has been gathered to prove that uniforms are beneficial enough to validate putting such a controversial policy into place.