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Add to FavoritesWhen my first son attended school in grades K-12, I was totally against school uniforms. Wearing school uniforms represented "rigidity" and "conformity" and "being controlled" by authority. School uniforms seemed counterproductive to encouraging freedom of thought and creativity. Choosing new school clothes each year was a way to "make a statement" about who you were without ever speaking a word. When my second son attended, my opinion had changed completely.
While many people associate wearing uniforms with attending private school, more and more public schools are adopting school uniforms for students; some even have school uniforms or a specific dress code for teachers. Some schools define or designate a "school uniform" to be one particular outfit or perhaps a particular color scheme. For this article, a school uniform can certainly fit that definition, but public schools have broadened the definition of "school uniform" to include some choices. For instance, the uniform for winter months may include black or beige dress pants but in the summertime might also include black or beige "dress" shorts. Our district's school uniform allows for solid color polo shirts in green, white, gold (yellow), purple, orange and pink. Students may still wear shoes they are comfortable in and for gym class, they change to a school approved uniform; usually, t-shirt and shorts with the school logo. Our budget for school clothes has decreased 50%.
For students, benefits for wearing school uniforms include:
1. More time for rest or breakfast. When students know what they are going to wear, they can catch a few extra minutes of sleep or have time for a second piece of toast before hopping on the bus.
2. Less attention to "designer" or "brand name" clothing. Students can "dress up" or "dress down" for "after school" activities, social events in the community and when "hanging out" with their friends. Further, families can budget for those clothing choices rather than feeling obligated to buy school clothes because that's what everyone else is doing. Removing designer labels from the classroom reduces the stress often associated with wearing clothing that may be cost prohibitive for families.
3. Professional clothing, professional conduct.For high school age students, and particularly those in technical and vocational schools, wearing their professional uniforms such as "scrubs" for the medical assisting students were chef aprons for the culinary arts students generates a professional pride that extends beyond the classroom and follow students as they entered the working community. Visit a technical high school and notice what a difference there is in the hallways as students change classes.
For teachers, benefits for wearing school uniforms include:
1. Fewer distractions in the classroom. Not many teachers, even the really gifted ones, can compete with the comedy and tragedy associated with clothing "equipment failures" such as pants nearly falling down to the ankles or shirts and skirts revealing more skin surface per person then you'd see in Cosmopolitan magazine. Especially in the hormone raging high school years, it is challenging enough for teachers to hold the attention of students without these added classroom distractions.
2. No time lost to "clothing police" duties. Most schools do have a dress code... but interpreting or "policing" the dress code generally falls on the teachers. When the line of students who are "dress code violators" continues out of the office and down the hallway to the gymnasium, a half-mile hike away, teachers and students are losing valuable learning time.
3. Recognizing students from visitors. In larger high schools, as students grow to their adult height, it is often difficult to distinguish between teachers and students. When people are visiting the school, this distinction becomes even more difficult introducing a security issue that schools are becoming much more careful about in the United States. Wearing school uniforms helps identify the students and makes visitors much more "visible."
School uniforms are not going stop someone from starting a fight or participating in a gang, but it helps teachers and administrators recognize visitors. While it is sad commentary, any nonviolent method available to "head off" or remove a visitor who means to cause trouble, should be put to use to maintain the safety of our students.
To the belief that wearing a school uniform diminishes the creativity of a student, I believe just the opposite is true. Students who look the same need to increase their level of creativity to distinguish themselves in away other than simply changing their clothing from day to day. While those in the fashion industry would have us believe "clothes make the man," public school students should be learning and developing their character, not their wardrobe.
Learn more about this author, Elicia Flom.
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No
It felt like a prison. Everyone walked dully in the halls, sapped of any life that may have been previously there. I tried to make out my friends, but they were lost in a sea of red, white, or blue. Tan pants surrounded every which corner you turned; there was no color in this school. There was no personality.
That was my elementary experience with dress codes. I went to a strict private school that had very specific requirements regarding how you dress, and they enforced them. I distinctly recall one time in first grade, when a corner of my shirt wasn't totally tucked in, the principal approached me. He was a stiff and serious man; he was in the marines, and he opted to run this school like the army. If you greeted him in the hall, he would drag you off to his office for talking in the halls.
He gave me a sinister look, one that deeply hurt me at that young age. I recall crying once I arrived home. After a moment's pause, he snapped, "Your shirt's not tucked in."
I hesitated, not knowing how to respond to that. There was no way to lie, and no way to deny it. I just looked in horror at the little corner that was slightly untucked. I looked up at him again, but quickly diverted my gaze when I saw his menacing look. You could tell he enjoyed this.
Shortly after, he threatened to give me a pink slip and a trip to his office. In first grade. I was devastated. I'm the type of person that always plays by the rules, and follows them accordingly. To get in trouble is shocking for me; at a younger age I didn't take it very well.
And so, at that age, I realized something. Dress codes are horrible. Every day when you walk into a classroom, you are greeted not by individuals, but a group of the same color. Everywhere you turn, you can't find an ounce of individuality.
The classroom itself is a boring place without any color. To implement dress codes is to take away the freedom of expression to students, as clothes are a great way to express yourself. Everything is so uniform. Everyone is so uniform. It felt almost like a prison; everyone dressed the same. Don't encourage anyone to think their special. Because each child is just a dirty criminal, they deserve no rights.
Everyone is entitled to free speech. However, how people speak is totally different. People find their voice in arts, writing, and even fashion. If you take that away from them, then they won't be able to succeed. I recall one rather pretty girl joined our school; she fell apart quickly because of the dress codes. She had no way to express herself; it was almost like she had lost the ability to speak. She fell into a spiraling state of depression, although not chronic. You could tell the preppy and happy atmosphere she used to give off was now long gone.
And it didn't just take a toll on the fashionable members of the school. Everyone was affected. There was no variety, no individuality, nothing. Students often grew quieter and less upbeat as they were introduced to the dress code.
Dress codes are not an innocent tactic to get children to pay attention. They are a cruel way of punishing them, in hopes that they may fall into place. Adults often don't realize what effects the dress codes have on the children's minds. They are a way of showing authority; I dress how I please and you don't. Therefore, I am superior to you.
People often believe that dress codes are no different than they way employees are required to dress. They are dramatically different. At jobs, people still see a healthy share of variety, not just their own outfit. Employees are often scattered throughout the store to help customers, so they only occasionally see other employees that have an identical outfit. In the professional business world of suits and ties, there is still plenty of variety. Yes, people do look similar, but no they are not identical. There still is some chance to weave in your personality through your suit, and very rarely will two of the same suits appear in a board room.
People also argue that dress codes encourage kids to be more attentive in class. I've found this to be false. I assume that the majority of people who believe this have never been in a school that enforced dress codes; clothes have very little to do with distraction. If you honestly believe that, then why not just create a nudist school? No, there are much more distracting things in the classroom, and clothes have very little, if any, thing to do with children's wandering minds. In fact, dress codes may actually promote children's minds wandering. Just as a monotone teacher is boring to an auditory learner, a classroom filled with the same color is dull to a visual learner. And once children have used up their attention span, there's typically very little way to bring that back into participating for the rest of that class.
Also, what do you do when your child doesn't fit very well into any of the required clothes? This is an awkward stage that happened frequently throughout elementary; you just had to go with clothes either too small or too large. You can't go out and find a shirt that fits you, you're stuck with what you are given.
There is just nothing good that can come from implementing dress codes in schools. Now it's "just" taking away their rights to pick what they dress. And in a few years it will "just" be taking away their rights to go to the bathroom when school is in session. And it will keep becoming more and more dramatic. These are children; they are your kids! Your grandkids! You should want them to enjoy themselves and be happy over being uniform with those around them. You need to set your foot down, and say no to dress codes.
Learn more about this author, Mjrinella.
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