MaCoHigh Instructor McCauley ENC 1101 February 27, 2012 Should Uniforms Be Worn In Public Schools? Many parents argue about whether or not uniforms is a good fit for their children to wear to a public school. Uniforms are a good fit for a public school just as we as it is for a private school. If kids were enforced to wear uniforms to school it could solve a lot of issues: Kids won't be picking at other kids because of their clothes, staffs do not have to worry about whether or not the student outfit is inappropriate or not, and students could help promote themselves for future workplaces. Often students are being picked on at school because of the clothing that they are wearing.
Many times they will wear clothes that are inappropriate or pressure parents to spend extra money on designer labels. Sometimes students will make these decisions to simply avoid being bullied at school for not being trendy enough. Students that only have the option to wear uniforms have less of a burden showing off brand names or certain styles to peers. For example, a pre-teen girl wouldn’t have the pressure of wearing short shorts or carry a Coach handbag just to impress her friends or get attention from boys. Additionally, schools will have less violence and see discipline increase among students because they will not have issues with anger or jealously based on what others are wearing.
Why Students Should Wear Uniforms in Public Schools Many students believe that school uniforms should not be introduced, because of the limitation of their freedom. I believe that introducing a uniform to the school would decrease the diversity between each student, and it will be the solution for many problems. Taking this issue in to consideration, I wish to explain the benefits/ advantages of wearing a uniform to school. I personally think that a dress code enforces discipline in learning by changing a person’s attitude toward success. Students generally act the way they are dressed.
Kent J. Fetzer expressed, “Our biggest problem with a school uniform policy is the anti-individuality message it sends.” He feels students lose their freedom when forced to conform to only certain apparels. He believes in letting students experience freedom in order to learn how to act responsibly. I strongly believe teens need to learn how to act responsibly at a young age to develop skills for the future, but I refuse to believe that uniforms take away individuality. In contrast to Fetzer’s beliefs, Mike Kelly proclaimed, "Uniforms instill discipline, help students focus on their studies and eliminate pressure on parents to outfit their kids." He believes uniforms help parents as well as the students.
Many public school systems across the country are instituting school uniforms in an effort to improve overall school performance and to reduce negative behavior. The use of school uniforms is a topic of hot debate among parents and school administrators. Some argue the benefits of school uniforms, while others believe that the downsides are far more numerous. While you probably cannot influence what your school has already decided, you may have a voice on the issue of school uniforms in PTA meetings. School uniforms are a great way to maintain the level of social equality amongst the students of public schools.
Some of the schools didn’t know how to get the money to pay their employees. For example, the janitor basically cleans up after the students who are in high school. The fewer janitors there are the more time it takes to clean up the school before the next day starts. If the school is not going to be a year round, then the school doesn’t need to hire more janitors because the school is not going to be a year round. For instance, two of the janitors can come to school on the holidays, when there are no employees or students to mess up while they are trying to clean the school.
The Clark County School districts policies were not intending to squelch free speech but instead were aimed at ‘creating an educational environment free from the distractions, dangers, and disagreements that result when student clothing choices are left unrestricted,’ said Judge Michael Hawkins.” (Egelko) If there is not a distraction of what people are wearing, there is more of a chance that students would focus more on learning. School is not holding a fashion show! Students are the leaders of tomorrow and the outrageous outfits worn by students need not to distract them. According to an opposing viewpoints resource center it says, “Uniforms instill discipline, helps students focus on their studies and eliminate
Their feelings being hurt by fellow students, also know as bullies. Being bullied can lower ones self esteem to a point of destruction one of the main reasons children are bullied at school is because of the types of clothes they are wearing or not wearing. Some families are not as fortunate as others and therefore can not afford to spend money on expensive name brand clothing. It is noted that some believe school uniforms remove the issue of competitive dressing and help children from poorer backgrounds who would otherwise find it difficult to keep up with the latest fashion trends(McDermott, Patrick). In addition, some school heads believe that school uniforms vanishes social, economic and class divisions and inculcate a sense of pride in students(McCarthy, Lisa).
Extending the school day may do more harm than good. Secondly, a major reason why the school day should not be extended two hours for students to get help on their homework is simply because of the fact that they do not all need it. Many kids like to work at their own pace and should have the option of getting help or not. Kids that need help go to after school tutorial, but the school should not enforce that all students must stay longer. Another reason to support this idea is because students do not always need two hours to do their homework.
Yes, I do understand that the policy was written with good intentions; to keep students dressed in a manner that will represent the school well and also keep students focused on their learning not on how short the girl’s shorts are in the seat in front of them, but certain rules have gone to an unnecessary extent. For one, there’s no way possible to catch every single student that is out of dress code. Therefore, the policy isn’t always being enforced. There are students that may go a whole school day without being caught, but did this student do any harm to his or herself, or any other students? Besides the fact that it has probably highly upset a few girls that did get dress coded this morning for their black leggings that look almost like stretchy jeans because their cardigan was just a few inches too short, or because the shirt they were wearing under the cardigan wasn’t in dress code.