Do you remember what your wardrobe was like during high school? Maybe you wore the latest in brand name clothing, anything that wasn’t associated with gang signs, or whatever hand me downs you could get. The reality is physical violence is common between children because of the name brand on a jacket or a pair of jeans. Children are being ridiculed because their families simply can’t afford to provide them with the latest in fashion. In our larger cities where gang involvement is prevalent, children are killed because they choose to wear the wrong color to school.
This concern is not about civil liberties or freedom of expression, it’s about improving the educational environment within our public school systems nationwide. If this is a possible solution to the issues faced in public schools, is expressing one’s self with brand name clothing not worth giving up? and I went to private school where I was required to wear uniforms. I saw a strong correlation between wearing uniforms and prevention of school violence. I’m here today to talk about why uniforms prevent school violence.
I will speak about how it prevents students from ridicule, theft and gang violence. First, school uniforms eliminate opportunities for the ridicule of less popular or less fortunate students based on attire. Uniforms take the competition out of dressing. Students have been known to express themselves in flamboyant clothing. Price tags are in. Do you really want to be paying for a status symbol? A complaint by students is that uniforms reduce the freedom of expression. However, are we expressing ourselves through labeled clothing?
Are we not just expressing a capitalist society in which everyone wears the same clothing that is priced higher due to its popularity and brand name? Is it righteous that the kid that cant afford these mainstream clothing is subject to ridicule? Uniforms just promote the peer pressure to perform and conform. Many students take after-school jobs to maintain their own style. Often these paychecks go to getting the “right” clothing instead of more important things such as saving for the future. The issue is not a part time job, but the reason behind the job is our concern.
Is it not wrong that a student must waste his/her time working in order to get the right clothing and fit into society. With School Uniforms everyone fits in. Uniforms encourage students to show their personality and individuality in ways other than dress. Should one not express his/her individualism and personality in ways other than clothing? It is human nature to express our personalities and creative talents. However, many students use their clothing as their sole expression of themselves.
Is this society of the latest clothing not misguiding our youth? Instead of wearing funny graphic t-shirts from Abercrombie, priced at 30 dollars, isn’t one’s humor more reflective of his/her personality. Music, art, sports, or academics, should win over expression by clothing. Uniforms help to achieve this by allowing students to express and define themselves beyond their labels and fashion styles. A unique individual is developed not from appearance, but rather, intelligence, character and talent.
In the two most famous legal cases involving dress codes, the courts have struck down the American Civil Liberties Union’s arguments on restrictive constitutional freedoms. Our courts have agreed that when a child’s safety is at issue, the freedom of expression becomes a secondary consideration. It is the primary responsibility of our schools to protect and keep their students safe. Unfortunately, this is not the case in schools. Uniform dress codes do help solve this dilemma. Secondly, school uniforms decrease theft and violence: even life-threatening situations among students over designer clothing or expensive sneakers.
In today’s schools, adolescents are killing each other over designer jackets and expensive sneakers. With school uniforms, incidents of theft and assault are down. Uniforms help eliminate violent crime. Reducing the break-up of the “haves” and “have-nots” would diminish jealousy among students and the desire for expensive clothing. Therefore, with school uniforms being less expensive, students would not feel the need to steal for clothing, but would instead receive clothing to wear.
Thirdly, uniforms would aide in helping prevent gang members from wearing gang colors and symbols at school. If one were required to dress a certain way, they would be unable to express gang symbols. In some areas, due to gang rivalry, students fear to wear certain colors that may be associated with involvement in a gang. However, if we wear school uniforms and not allow gangs to express themselves with these colors or other symbols, students will be free of the fear in wearing a color associated with a gang.
As a school turns to mandated uniforms, all of the above dilemmas are closer to being resolved. All of the students look the same, at a base level. Concentration returns to personality, rather than what you are wearing, or what you can afford. Students are less absorbed and feel a smaller amount of need in keeping up with today’s trends. Our society should not be based on brand name clothing. We should focus more on the learning environment. Mandated uniforms can aide in shifting the focus of society’s youth from clothing to books.
