Effects of School Uniforms Have on Students - Article Example

? Effects of School Uniforms on Effects of School Uniforms on There has been a lot of debate regarding the effects of school uniforms on students. Overall, it is believed that school uniforms play an essential role in a student’s healthy learning environment. Even though many students and parents might oppose to the concept of wearing only a certain type of clothing to school, school uniforms have various positive impacts on students. The mere choice of only wearing a uniform to school improves students’ social environment in school, discouraging the need to wear ‘cool’ clothes in order to fit in. Wearing a school uniform even decreases chances of students from joining gangs or engaging in violence or crimes. It improves their behavior both in and out of school. Most importantly, it enhances the school climate and thus the attitudes of students towards education and their future. However, some students claim that school uniforms suppress their individuality and freedom of expression. School uniforms play a large role in masking differences in students and preventing them from forming groups related to their wardrobe. For instance, without uniforms, those students who wore a certain type of clothing would likely form a clique, thus leading to the creation of invisible barriers within the student body. On the other hand, a school uniform would reduce the forming of groups defined by their wardrobe. As all the students wear the same uniform, there will not be any status competition or inter-personal comparison between students’ clothes. For example, those students coming from lower income households or having a bad taste of clothing will not be picked on by their peers because of their ‘poor’ or ‘weird’ clothing. Therefore, school uniforms increase the sense of unity among the student body and reduce the chances of bullying due to type clothing worn, which leads to a better social environment for students (Alexander & Alexander et al 2011; Kaplan et al 2010; Clark 2007; Gomez n.d.). School uniforms also have a role in decreasing the incidence of violence and gang activity in school. As all the students wearing the school uniform look the same, it is pretty easy to identify someone who is not part of the school as he/she will not be wearing the school uniform. This way schools can make sure that no dangerous gangsters roam inside school grounds, thus limiting their influence on school students, especially those of urban schools. Moreover, school uniforms also discourage the displaying of gang colors by students and the hiding of weapons, which would have occurred if the wearing of baggy jeans would be allowed. School uniforms also reduce disciplinary issues and crime. For instance, there could be thefts and fights over designer jackets or expensive footwear if students were allowed to wear whatever they wanted. It was noted that ever since a district in California adopted a school uniform policy, crime fell by ninety one percent, suspensions dropped by ninety percent and possession of illegal substances declined by sixty nine percent. This proves that there is a direct and substantial link to school uniforms and the decrease in school violence, gang activities and crime (Gomez n.d.; National School Boards Association n.d.; Alexander & Alexander 2011; Duvall et al 2004). Similarly, school uniforms contribute to improving behavior of students, both inside school and outside. When students are wearing their school uniforms outside the school premises, they are very much aware that they are representing their schools. They feel a sense of pride with their school and are bound to behave very well to create a good impression of their school as well as to avoid outsiders from reporting their bad behavior-if any-to their school. It has also been observed that security guards are likely to follow students around shops if they are wearing their school uniforms; this further makes students cautious about their behavior. When in school, students wearing school uniforms do not have to focus on the clothes they are wearing or others’ perception of their clothes. Therefore, students are more focused on their school work rather than becoming distracted by whether they are dressed ‘cool’ enough. Teachers are also less likely to reprimand students on wearing loose-fitting jeans, revealing clothing, distracting accessories and other such clothing if all students wear the school uniform, thus removing another source of distraction for students. Without these distractions, students’ behavior will improve significantly, as explained in the next point (National School Boards Association n.d. ; Clark 2007). School uniforms have a significant positive effect on the school climate, attitudes of students and their academic performance. They enhance the school climate by improving students’ self-concepts and image of themselves and their school in the community. School uniforms give students a professional setting in which the spotlight is on education and academic success; they help to erase the negative image of school as a place to ‘hang out’ and ‘catch up on the latest piece of gossip’ because they prevent students from dressing as though they are going to the movies or the beach. Another way in which uniforms have made the school climate better and safer is that they decrease sexual harassment, especially of girls. Without the policy of school uniforms, girls would tend to dress up inappropriately or sometimes wear clothing that could be a bit too revealing, making them the targets of harassment by male classmates as well as teachers. School uniforms prevent such instances from happening as they are more decent than such casual clothing (Clark 2007; Duvall et al 2004). School uniforms also prepare students for the future by giving them a sense of how their work environment would be like. Matthew Buesing, a consultant and former school board member was right when he said that a school uniform policy “can drastically improve the learning climate of a school”; it has been observed that school uniforms improve the academic performances of students. The reason for this might be because of the increase in attendance of students at school, due to which they learnt more. As school uniforms make students more serious about their studies and less carefree as they would have been without uniforms, students become absent less often as they are eager to learn. This shift in attitude is also brought about by a sense of equality that students feel because all of them wear the same school uniform (Gomez n.d. ; National School Boards Association n.d.; Williams n.d.). However, some parents and students oppose the implementation of school uniforms because they feel as if their individuality is being suppressed and they are being controlled by others. They also feel that uniforms deny them the freedom of expression or speech. For instance, if some students prefer to wear clothes representing the colors of their home country, but their school uniform does not contain any of those colors, they might become rebellious as they are not being allowed to wear the clothing they prefer or feel comfortable in. Moreover, some school uniforms do not fit into the type of clothing which is accepted by certain religions, causing students from that religion to be unable to represent their religion. On the other hand, students who show individuality in appearance or behavior tend to protest against school policies and get involved in violence, gangs and crime (Nemoto 1999; Alexander et al 2011; Kaplan et al 2010). In brief, students wearing school uniforms do not have to worry about being bullied because of their dressing or from being excluded from social cliques based on wardrobes. This creates a better social environment for students at school. School uniforms do not allow students to wear baggy jean which are a popular hiding place of weapons and outsiders such as gangsters can easily be identified if they are in the school premises. Thus this reduces student involvement in violence and gang activities. Similarly, school uniforms have a positive effect on student behaviors in and out of school, their academic performance and the school climate. On the other hand, some people are against school uniforms as they think that school uniforms suppress their freedom of expression and originality. However, students who freely express themselves tend to show disruptive behavior. References Alexander, K., & Alexander, M. D. (2011). American public school law. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Clark, L. (2007, July 10). “School Uniform Improves Pupils’ Behavior both in and out of School.” Dailymail. Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-467353/School-uniform-improves-pupils-behaviour-school.html Duvall, B., Faklaris, M. A., Fisher, B., Moody, Matt., Njagi, P., Wilson, C. (2004). “Dress Code/Uniform Policies in Education.” Legacy Educational Resources. Retrieved from: http://character-education.info/Articles/Case_for_Uniforms.htm Gomez, C. (n.d) “The Effects of Student Uniforms.” eHow.com. Retrieved from: http://www.ehow.com/list_6327497_effects-student-uniforms.html Kaplan, L. S., & Owings, W. A. (2010). American education: Building a common foundation. S.l.: Wadsworth Pub. Co I. National School Boards Association. (n.d.). “Consultant: Student Uniforms can Promote Better School Climate.” Retrieved from: http://www.nsba.org/TEMP/ConferenceDaily/Sunday/Student-uniforms.html Nemoto, Y. (1999). Japanese education system. Parkland, Fla: Universal Publishers/uPUBLISH.COM. Williams, D. (n.d.) “School Uniforms: The Raging Debate.” Gat.net. Retrieved from: http://www.gate.net/~rwms/UniformDWilliams.html Read More