Persuasive for school uniforms - Speech or Presentation Example

Students benefit by reducing the number of concerns they must deal with during school hours, freeing their minds to focus more on the academic issues they should be concerned with while attending classes. There is a long history of the use of uniforms in school, most coming from the private sector until recent years, all of which demonstrate these benefits do exist. While most of the uniform policies used in public schools include relatively general restrictions, such as navy or khaki pants and solid color shirts with collars without brand name requirements or specific, school-related insignia required, there has still been a great opposition to these policies by people who mistakenly insist that school uniform policies somehow restrict a child’s ability to express him or herself.

By including students in a recognized group as a member of a particular student body, uniforms are successful in building a sense of community and cooperation among children who might not otherwise work together. At the same time, regulations requiring specific items of clothing such as a ‘red or white solid colored shirt with collar’ serve to ensure that there are a large number of people in the market for these items, driving the price down as they become produced in mass quantities. Children who outgrow their uniforms are also able to donate them to children who can’t afford them demonstrating that the use of uniforms is cost effective. . it must be remembered that there are a number of jobs in the ‘real’ world that also require a standardized uniform, sometimes much more rigidly defined than the school systems.

“Police officers, firemen, airline employees, nurses, doctors, lawyers and all branches of the military have some form of required dress. Most of our blue collar workers are also required to wear a uniform in the performing of their jobs … It makes them a part of a team that performs a certain job in a certain manner and provides for a more cohesive work environment” (Messer, 2008: 2). In the same way this process works for adults, making them a part of a team and encouraging a work environment attitude and approach, requiring uniforms in school also works for students, encouraging them to shift their thinking during school hours to school matters, in keeping with the seriousness of their clothing and that of their peers.

Requiring students in public school to wear uniforms is also a tremendous support for the school system. One of the immediate benefits is that a required student dress code makes any individual not in uniform instantly identifiable by staff, making it much easier for teachers and administrators to identify non-students/staff on campus and confine them until their purpose is clear. In addition, uniforms enable the school to restrict clothing with potential to conceal weapons, an increasing issue in today’s school systems nationwide.

“Like other urban school uniform policies, Long Beach’s was intended to curb gang problems, and school officials not only credit it with having accomplished that goal, but also say uniforms have brought about a substantial drop in school crime, a drop in school suspensions and disciplinary problems and improved student attendance