High School Students Should Not Wear Uniforms - Essay Example

High School Should Not Wear Uniforms The current economic status of the country has hit everyone hard. Money, being so difficult to come bymust be spent wisely. For parents, the biggest expense they have budgeted for their children is the clothes allowance. It is not practical to have a set of clothes that kids cannot wear on regular days. Uniforms place an undue stress on the clothes budget because of the higher cost of buying bulk clothes in the same formal style. This begs one to wonder, maybe it is time that the high school uniform dress code in some public schools goes up for reconsideration. According to some sectors, it would actually be beneficial to all concerned if the high school students are not made to wear uniforms to school. Those who oppose the move for high school students to wear school uniforms are mostly students themselves who feel such school regulations are meant to stifle their creativity and ability to express themselves freely through their mode of dress. As it is, all public schools already have a Dress Code that falls under the student Code of Conduct handbook. In most cases the dress code clearly states: (Sanko, Manda “Should Public School Students Wear Uniforms?”): ...a "No Go" section that includes: flip flops, showing of midriffs or bra straps, tank tops with a strap thinner than one inch, skirts shorter than the tips of you fingers with arms at side, extremely baggy pants, showing of boxers, guys wearing wife beaters, etc. With such rules pre-existing in the Dress Code, students already know what they are allowed to wear and not wear in school. Parents are already forced to buy clothes that adhere to the school dress code. Students believe that the aforementioned dress code already creates a type of uniform that they have to adhere to in order to attend school. Therefore, they do not see any need to wear an actual school uniform. Students who attend schools that already implement the school uniform dictum claim it is actually easier for them to attend school wearing a uniform because they no longer have to match up their clothes for an acceptable look in school. It helps the students look more professional (Lammers, Jacob “School Uniforms, Dress Code Cause Stir, Acceptance Among Students”) and in a way, helps boost their self esteem as well. After all, high school is all about standing out and finding ones self. One cannot be expected to do that if the powers that be in school insist that all the students march to the same drummer. School uniforms may have been all the rage during the past era but it has no place in the modern world. Mostly because school uniforms are an ancient form of controlling a person. Wearing a school uniform means that individuality does not exist. It lessens the sense of uniqueness in a person. In the modern era though, it is important for a person to be able to express his individuality. Provided that rules are in place at schools to accommodate the need for self-expression within the rules of decency and morality, there does not really seem to be a need for a school uniform rule in high school. School uniforms do not promote any kind of camaraderie in school because school bullies will still be bullies regardless of what they are wearing. The all important school uniform is a not an equalizer. Most high schools that already implement the school uniform policy will inform people that the student still find a way to individualize their school uniforms by adding some personal touches to the uniform that will help make their uniform stand out in the crowd. By doing so, the students end up earning the ire of the school authorities to punish them unfairly. All because the school uniform policies do not allow much freedom of self expression. It limits dress color and dress styles. Students are also prejudged as being of a certain mindset, hence the need for a uniform. Berkshire Schools Superintendent Doug Delong explains that (Lammers, Jacob “School Uniforms, Dress Code Cause Stir, Acceptance Among Students”) : With children, part of our responsibility is to instill in them how to dress, how to act... so when they graduate, when they become adults, society has certain expectations as far as their dress and their behavior. That argument does hold a shred of truth, society does expect adults to dress and behave a certain way. But that type of mindset is best left to develop during the students college years when dressing formally seems to automatically kick in for most students. High school is all about having fun and self-expression. It might be true that school uniforms do not remove a sense of individuality, since the clothes do not define the person (Sanko, Manda “Should Public School Students Wear Unforms?”). But that does not erase the fact that being able to develop a sense of identity is important to high school age children. High school is when teenagers are trying to define themselves, some of them choose to do it by dress. Therefore, their right to dress the way they want to should not be stifled. Those who believe that school uniforms should be implemented in high school always say that schooling has nothing to do with the way the students look or what they are wearing. If that is the the case, then why are they making such a big deal out of getting a uniform policy implemented in most public high schools. They are there to accomplish only one task, that is to learn their lessons. However, their lessons in self discovery are stifled by the uniform ruling that some schools have. Children are always conscious of the fact that they are sent to school for the purpose of learning life lessons and theories. What they are wearing is not important as it does not affect their learning process. Therefore, it is not important that the students wear a school uniform. Word Count: 1000 Works Cited Lammers, Jacob. “School Uniforms, dress Code Cause Stir, Acceptance Among Students”. News. The News-Herald. 21 Sept. 2012. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. Roberts, Georgett & Gonen, Yoav. “Stuyvesant High School Students Protest Uniforms on Slutty Wednesday”. Story. New York Post. 6 Jun. 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. Sanko, Manda. “Should Public School Students Wear Uniforms?”. All Categories. Yahoo! Voices. 16 Jul. 2007. Web. 3 Dec. 2012. Read More