The Downfall of School Uniforms

You have heard the arguments against uniforms before from students. "If I wear a uniform how will I express myself?" There are also arguments from parents, such as "How will I afford to buy uniforms?" or "Uniforms are impractical outside of school." Let's address these ideas.

If a student's creativity is based solely on what they wear to school, then they lack vision and no real talent is being stifled. Students can focus on expressing themselves articulately through their words and actions, not what their parents can afford to buy them and what's cool. Students and parents should keep in mind that uniforms need only be worn to school, therefore students can change into their preferred clothing when they get home. School is a place for learning, and most schools have a dress code anyway. Would you wear the same outfit out to the club as you would to a wedding? Or on an interview? No, because you learned that certain apparel is appropriate only for certain settings. If we want students to take school seriously than they should dress the part.

The cost of uniforms is actually less than what parents spend on regular clothes each year. Provided students do not have gym class in their regular uniforms, there is no reason to buy more than two uniforms. Students can change out of their uniforms when they get home from school, reducing the chance that they will dirty their uniform. Students can simply alternate which uniform they wear until laundry day. If everyone has to wear the same thing every day, nobody will be able to tell the difference between the students who wear a different uniform each day or the same uniform all week.

The arguments for school uniforms include removing the economic status symbol of certain clothing (therefore placing all students on the same level), removing the element of gang related colors from a school setting, and removing baggy clothing which can be used for hiding drugs and weapons.

So what is the downfall of uniforms in schools once they are in place? The lack of enforcement of the dress code by a schools administration. Most schools have the policy that if a student comes to school with an incomplete or missing uniform then that student will be sent home. Many teachers and administrators have a hard time enforcing this rule over the smallest infraction since it removes a student from the classroom and much needed instruction. So students begin coming to school without their ties or the appropriate shoes. You can't send one student to the office without sending all of them, and once you give them an inch they will walk all over you. Not to mention that some days the office has more important things to handle than dress code violations, so they send the students back to class unscathed, which results in the students and their teachers learning that the dress code is not all that important anyway.

What should schools do about the failing uniforms? First schools should remind parents that the dress code is in their child's best interest and in some cases, such as charter schools, the parents chose that school knowing full well their child would need to be in uniform everyday. Next, instead of threatening to send students home (which will not always work, especially if they cannot get in touch with a parent) begin a demerit system, so the student receives a warning, but after that the student serves a lunch or after school detention. The students who really try to get out of wearing their uniforms are usually old enough to know better and are capable of dressing themselves appropriately. The student should receive the consequences for not following a school rule. No school would think to call a parent every time a student is caught chewing gum. The bottom line is that for uniforms to be successful not only do parents and students alike need to embrace the concept, but schools need to come up with reasonable ways to enforce their policy and then follow through when a student comes to school unprepared for a day of learning.