Pros and Cons School Uniforms

The introduction of school uniforms in the public school system would make a positive change for the students and the entire school. A common argument today is whether uniforms should be introduced to the school system. I agree for many different reasons. The main reasons for having uniforms are; it would prevent violence,parents will save money, and students will be less distracted. Even though some students see it as their self-expression will be taken away from them. Their are different type of ways to express yourself.

First, by enforcing school uniforms statistics have shown that the crime rate in school has decreased because students are not able to wear their gang colors which can start fights. Additionally, students are not able to be bullied for how they dress. Some students are not able to have the latest designer clothes as other are able to do so. In a lot of schools, in order to be considered popular, it is important to wear the latest clothing styles.

Essay author
Prof. Morsan
checked Verified writer

Proficient in: Abuse

star star star star 4.9 (245)

“ I was very pleased with how fast Prof. Morsan was able to deliver my essay. I am beyond pleased with his work and will definitely keep him in mind ”

avatar avatar avatar
+84 relevant experts are online
Hire Prof. Morsan

If uniforms were worn in schools, students wouldn't have to worry about the newest fashion. Importantly, for parents it will be a big financial relief to have uniforms. Every year there are thousands of dollars spent on keeping your child in the latest fashion for school. If schools require uniforms, the cost will be cut more than half; you will be spending approximately $250 yearly on uniforms. Parents will just need to spend a good amount at the beginning of the year.

Every school in the world has its own regulation about the way to wear.

Get to Know The Price Estimate For Your Paper
Topic
Number of pages
Email Invalid email

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy. We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

"You must agree to out terms of services and privacy policy"
Write my paper

You won’t be charged yet!

Some schools require students to wear the uniform, while some allow them to wear casual clothes. Besides, many people think that students should wear casual clothes to feel comfortable when studying. However, in my opinion, wearing school uniforms is better for three reasons below.

The first and most important reason is to make everyone to feel equal, and make the class less straggler. When students are allowed to wear casual clothes, they will wear what they like, and what they buy. Many students wear expensive clothes, while the others wear the cheap ones. By the wearing way, they know that who are rich, and poor. Therefore, it will make a difference between students and create discrimination, which means there are two group that exist in a school: the wealthy and the poor. Besides, wearing many kinds of clothes can make the class look like a mess. For example, few students wear red clothes, some wear blue clothes, while some wear clothes that have many colors, and they all study in a class. When teachers look the whole class, they will feel that it is not so different from a big and colorful mess. Thus, I think schools should require students to wear uniforms to prevent this situation.

The second reason is that wearing uniforms can help everyone know they are students and their schools. This is very convenient in many aspects. For instance, if a student do a lot of good things such as helping old people, or returning the things that they have collected, people will think that the student are taught very well, and the school that the student are studying is very good at education. Thus, the school’s reputation is spread out, which is very helpful for the school. Besides that, when students do bad things, their schools will know more easily and have suitable ways to punish them.

The third reason is that wearing school uniforms is a beautiful tradition and very meaning to students. The uniform has existed for thousand years and many schools still keep it to now. Wearing uniforms is a beauty of schools’ cultural, so there is no reason to remove that tradition. In addition, the uniforms show the prettiness of every student. Male students look stronger, and female students look more beautiful while wearing uniforms. Moreover, wearing them in a long time make students to feel sympathetic with them, and to love their uniforms and schools more.

In conclusion, wearing school uniforms is better than wearing what students want. It is not only convenient, but also very important to the school and students. Besides that, it is also a beautiful cultural of a school. Therefore, although few people do not like to wear them, students should wear them, and feel proud of them because it is the symbol of their school.

Students won't have to worry about who looks better than who, because at the end of the day everyone is wearing the same thing. Even though parents still need to buy clothes for students to wear after school and on weekends. They will not have to spend as much, and the clothes will last longer. Students who wear uniforms are more likely to focus on school work than the latest fashion. It also cuts down on distractions caused by students who wear inappropriate clothing to school. In class students become distracted because they are so busy looking at females showing their skin, as male students wearing shirts with writing. Statistic have shown that a school with uniforms students grades have stayed at average which is a C. School administrator could take the time they are using to make sure students are following the dress code to something more productive.

All schools,in each state should require school uniforms. Parents should support the idea of school uniforms even though students maybe against it. Students are still able to express themselves through their hair style or different types of blouse or shirts with their uniforms they still have a chance to be different. Enforcing school uniforms there is a decrease in violence and parents will have a financial relief. Students will be more concentrated on there grades rather than fashion. Although students may be upset at the fact they have to wear uniforms they’ll discover that it is the best for them. Hopefully uniforms will be enforced so that there can be a positive turn around for the problems that are within schools today

A school uniform makes it easier for the school authorities to recognize students belonging to their school. Authorities can also make out if someone doesn't belong to a school, if someone just manages to sneak in; unless, of course, they go through all the trouble of buying a uniform that fits!

• A school uniform also saves the school administrators from having to 'police' what the students wear. There are no daily battles regarding what's appropriate to wear or not for school.

• A school uniform apparently also saves students from putting their fashion tastes before their learning requirements. When they don't have to spend time wondering what to wear and how to make a fashion statement, they can devote more time to getting educated. This in turn, lifts their academic performance.

• Wearing the same type of dress reduces social snobbery and peer pressure in educational institutions. It is also supposed to reduce incidents of bullying and theft. How do you pick on someone for wearing the same dress as yourself? Why would you steal a pair of shoes you both have and can afford? Thus there are fewer arguments, and following a dress code plays more of a balancing act.

• School uniforms cramp the style of gang members. They have to recognize each other by names and faces instead of flaunting aggressively painted jackets, T-shirts with obscene messages, clunky jewelry, and things like that. Instead of 'my gang' and 'your gang', they also have to think in terms of 'our school'. It's a hard life. On the brighter side, it helps them to live another day and go on to survive in college.

• A school uniform can instill a sense of discipline and community feeling. This naturally reduces incidents of violence. Students can come to school without worrying about personal safety. Teachers don't have to double as guards, and can concentrate on teaching.

• By wearing a uniform dress code, students can find other means to showcase their creativeness.

• At a very young age, school uniforms instill the spirit of teamwork and one feels proud to be a part of a school, if he/she represents the school for any occasion.

• Most importantly, uniforms are cost-efficient, as parents do not have to spend on clothes for their children, thus benefiting them.

So, to sum it up, by wearing uniforms, students appear to belong to a single community, they require less time to spend on deciding what to wear and it prevents wrong conduct, thus inculcating discipline in them. Hence, wearing school uniforms seems to be a pretty convincing and stimulating strategy. Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/benefits-of-school-uniforms.html

Pros of School Uniforms

It helps you to find children: If a school is on a trip, or if a child runs away, a school uniform can help teachers to quickly identify children from their school and so prevent them from getting lost. This is a very useful ability for teachers and if it means fewer children going missing it's of course a good thing. It prevents competition and teasing: When children wear their own clothes into school, this then becomes a time for them to judge each other. Some children will be more mature than others, some will have better dress sense, and some will have more money at their disposal. What you don't want is some children turning up in fashionable new clothes and bullying the ones in their hand-me-downs who will inevitably feel embarrassed as a result. With a school uniform everyone is the same, thus no one can argue this point. Likewise wearing home clothes can show affiliation – to sports teams, to TV series, or to bands – and this can then cause arguments between the 'rival' teams.

It can enforce a positive attitude: In a work place we dress smartly even though there's normally no uniform in office jobs, and even the self employed are advised to dress as though they were going into an office. The reason for this is that it can make you feel professional, and that that in turn can make you produce a better quality of work. The same is true of school children and if they are in shirts they will feel more like little workers and less like football fans. It can teach discipline: Though many jobs do not require a uniform, others do. If you children are going to grow up to become nurses or checkout assistants then they may as well get used now to putting on the same uniform day in and out.

It shows their age: At the end of the day you want people to know that your children are children. This prevents people from chatting them up or serving them alcohol. By putting them in school uniforms the older looking children then can't pretend to be older than they are. It can be used as an excuse: If a child is misbehaving and needs to be put in line, it can sometimes be difficult for a teacher to find a reason. By telling them off for having their shirt un-tucked though you have a legitimate reason. This is often why there are dress codes in clubs (though some parents would undoubtedly argue this was a bad reason to wear a uniform)

In the many schools around the world, whether it being public or private, to elementary to high schools, no matter what kind of schools, they are all eligible for acquiring school uniforms. School uniforms can have a positive impact on the school by changing the factors that cause problems among the students. About solutions read in argumentative essays. By having school uniforms mandatory, many changes of a student’s behavior can change. For example, when students are obligated to wear uniforms, they would have better attendance and less verbal abuse with other classmates. But on the other hand, it can also have a negative impacts on a student’s individuality and esteem which can affect their emotion and atmosphere around school. It is a great idea to implement a system on school uniforms because of the positive outcomes that are received. Some of the good outputs that are better grades, little to no harassments, better a attendance record, and more as well.

To start of with the positive effects of school uniforms, one of the advantages to wearing school uniforms, is that it can contribute to improved attendance. In the morning, children have a hard time waking up due to the earliness in which they are obligated to do so. This focus can be reached towards the females. This really makes an impact on girls. Girls spend more time than guys on apparel. Girls have more sense of details when it comes to fashion and find it more important to boost their self-esteem. This can be time consuming in the morning if they do not wake up early enough to plan out their outfits. In my experience, every morning I spend at least twenty minutes or more on picking out clothes I would wear to school. It is because, I have such a variety of clothing that makes it hard to choose from what I want. Since girls have vast amounts of clothing than guys, it makes it harder to choose outfits in the morning, therefore time has collapsed when it could have been used to eat breakfast or get onto the bus for school. In Long Beach Unified School District, located in Long Beach California, have seen improvement in school attendance. The district has school uniforms mandatory for the children who attend the schools in the Long Beach district. The elementary schools in the district, have exceeded successful attendance. The percentage of improved attendance has increased up to 94.8 percent since 1994, and as years has passed by until now, the uniforms has been almost fulfilled almost perfect attendance. It didn’t start out with the whole district acquiring school uniforms. It all started from one elementary school using the apparel. When the school started gaining great attendance, other schools in the same district thought it would reach great potential for their school. As you can see, when your outfits are planned each day without having to think about it, you can save time each morning. It will take as little as five minutes to put on the uniform, thus preventing tardies and giving improved attendance.

Second of all, by involving school uniforms into the system, it can help prevent drama, harassment, and verbal abuse, and sexual offense among the student body. In the Long Beach district, it was proven that assault in grades, kindergarten through eighth grades was dropped down eighty-five percent. Fighting has also been be dropped by thirty-eight percent. Sex offenses has declined by ninety-six percent. All the reduction to improved behavior of students, come from the school uniforms. When people have the right to choose their own clothing, they show how they want to express themselves. The individuality of students differentiate between each student, and not everyone will like everybody else’s clothing. Other students will often pick on each other, especially the younger group of children, will humor themselves because of other children’s appearances. Not everybody has the kindness and altruistic inside them, which can cause them to do unsympathetic actions that can hurt one another. Verbal abuse can cause hurt feelings, when it has to do with their own originality. A student’s expression through their clothes can help build confidence in themselves until someone turns them down because they do not like the clothing. Some clothing to others, make people vulnerable to harass students by bullying as well. By the clothing they wear, it can also show their personality. Sexual offenses have also been reduced because school uniforms can make people less attractive. With the proper clothing, such as tucked in shirts, to slacks and khakis, there will be less exposed skin. Males tend to often get attracted and urge to harass females that have that kind of appearance. With the help of school uniforms, everybody will look the same, so it would be harder to tease or abuse other children in school.

Another positive aspect of school uniforms, less criminal activities take place. Stolen items, especially clothing, are caused by the jealousy of others. Not everybody can get what they desire in clothing because of the expenses. When people do not have the diligence to go out and purchase their own belongings, stolen items will occur. Many people will own some of the fanciest apparel that can catch many eyes, and a majority of that group probably cannot afford it. Clothes can be easily taken from lockers, and students know how to hack into lockers of students, especially during gym class. When students have a gym class, they are required to change out of their casual clothing, into gym clothes that are required for activities that take place during gym such as running, sports, and more that can cause students to sweat large amounts, and that would be very uncomfortable to do with jeans and other hard-to-move-in clothing. It is much easier to rob clothing during gym periods because the locker rooms are not guarded or watched by anybody most of the time.When people know the fact that the locker rooms are unattended, that gives kids great opportunities to snatch whatever they can get. Another decline in criminal activities, are gangs. The clothing of how people express how they are and how their personality can show through their clothing. With the violent looking apparel, it can really contribute to one’s action. It is most likely, that with the people without the disciplined clothing, do not have a strong bond with the family that could really make a difference to them. With the lack of family orientation, kids will follow under the influence that others will do as well as clothing. With the ability of actions of what gangs can do, it can create a bad atmosphere in the school with vandalism and theft as well. School property could be damaged and abused by gangs. Once uniforms becomes a policy into the school system, parents would get involved with their children because of the purchasing of the uniforms. The reduction of all these incidents has reduced sixty-nine percent. It could help parents connect with their children by getting them involved with their education. Once parents can see the difference when school uniforms are being used in the school, they could show more appreciation for the kids, by having their kids go to school above the influence. Criminal activity can decline with school uniforms, maybe not at its full potential, but with the help of the school clothing it can make a difference by disciplining children to produce
a better community in the school.

Furthermore, school uniforms can present improvement in students academically. With the distractions of what clothing can do, it can disrupt student’s education. The distraction of everybody’s individuality, everybody will have different expression of clothing, which can take mind off of classwork and homework. This can be a big deal for females. Society has made an impact of the minds that dressing nice to school can make you look favored and desired to attract others for attention. Females may take up their studying time to go shopping that can take hours looking for the clothes that can make them look attractive. This can happen several times in a week or month, and most of that time could have been made up with studying to prepare for tests that makes up a majority of a grade in a class. Females may even take the time to make others jealous or to attract a certain someone they would want to amuse. Even on the other side, males could be distracted as well. Males can be distracted by the females with their overexposed outfits. When females show too much skin, males will have the urge to take a glance or check. This can often have males focus on girls rather than their education. In a survey, teachers have believed that kids are pressured on other students as well to getting name brand clothing so they could be accepted. Ninety percent of the teacher population in Long Beach district has believed so. This is very common for kids in schools, and the distractions should be eliminated. Incorporating assigned school apparel into the school, females can spend less time shopping and browsing for clothes that they would want to wear everyday at school.

To add on to the productive reasonings, school uniforms can also improve student’s behavior. From what was stated above, all of that contributes to all individuals at schools to upgrade their manners and actions. Their behavior in school has gotten students to focus more in their education. Many factors can supply for the positive attitude that people can have with school uniforms. Without the violence, distractions, harassment, and other types of influences that are negative. Teachers believe that it it can help students become more mature by ninety-five percent. By raising the maturity level, it can bring less problems to the school making it run smoothly.
Having a positive attitude in school can also reduce the trouble that students get into. For example, all the fights, vandalizing, or any other actions students can make can lead them a path to suspensions. Suspensions are caused by the negative attitudes students tend to have. Suspension rates have been dropped by ninety percent. The actions they do to create a problem to get suspended can really depend on how you think and how positive it can be. A positive behavior in school can save trouble, and school uniforms can really contribute to this conclusion.

On the other hand, school uniforms can be kind of a down turn as well. The major con to school uniforms, is that can hinder and stifle individual’s self expression and creativity they could show in their clothes. Although it can raise the best in students such as achieving better grades, creating less drama within the students, or even reducing the violence that take place during school. Students do not find school uniforms attractive and most likely, they will not find the uniforms attractive. School uniforms never seem to look attractive anyways. The main point is, that it can limit to showing their self identity and that is important to many of the students out there because this is also how people can find their friends. When people can see other people’s clothing, they can make general infer to see if they are compatible to be friends. Another reason being, when people can show their individuality, it can boost peoples’ happiness by a lot, and that can very much change a person’s mood. Most people can picture having to pick their own clothing as art because you can choose what clothing can go together to make a certain outfit unique that could fulfill your desire. Parents like how they can see that their kids can express themselves through clothing because it can help them understand how they feel from day to day. When people can express through their clothing you can tell how they are feeling. Most of the time, if kids dress nice all the time, they usually would have a high spirit with joy to going to school. Then if suddenly they dress the opposite sometimes, you can probably get a lot of things out of it. You can probably see that their mood affected how they chose their outfits. Seeing how everybody expresses themselves, can also show that they also have a little freedom in school since they are trapped all day from school. Student’s need some type of liberty while attending school to
balance with the strict rules that a school can have. With this type of freedom by expressing yourself through clothing can have a big effect on how you act upon yourself in a positive way.

Second thought to the negative side is that school uniforms can get pricey. The school, or someone in the community would have to design the uniforms and assign them to each student in the school. Everybody in the school do not own the same amount of money, so this can be trouble to some families out there. Some families out there would not have a problem paying for several uniforms to wear each day of the week. Each uniform can be expensive enough just for one uniform, but to multiply it by however many days there are in a week can add up to a pretty high number. Other families may not be able to afford it. This may create a problem to certain families without the money to be able to purchase the uniforms. The student’s parents may have to work extra, but other things may get in the way to prevent the opportunity to gain more money. With this problem, when a school does not have school uniforms, some families can save a lot of money by buying cheaper clothes for their children, and use their money on other important things like food, books, or anything else that may be important. Having uniforms in school, especially if they are adding it now and never did from the beginning, can cause a lot of money problems to some families out there.

School uniforms can also cause a bad reputation for the school that they are attending. Not all students will often behave with the changes of clothes, so they will end up to trouble. Whether it being before school, during lunch, or after school when they are able to leave the campus, they have their uniforms on. Going out into the public with your uniform will let others know what school you attend. If students are out caught doing something repulsive or anything unacceptable, this can give the school a bad reputation. This will also cause the prevention of parents wanting to enroll their own kids into that school. When a school has a bad reputation due to their student’s behavior and actions, less people will want their children attending the school, and even students from that school will leave and attend another school with a good reputation to get a better education. School uniforms can very much make a difference. When a school has school
uniforms, students must be at their all time best behavior when they are off campus. They must be able to represent their school in a positive way, so that the school can get credited for the excellent behavior, and draw in students who would be attending the school in the future.

Although school uniforms may have negative features to a students life in school, they are able to change their actions to prevent the negative features. Eliminating a person’s individuality isn’t always true, because there are weekends when students do not attend school, and that is when they can compensate for their right to being able to express their individuality and creativity. The important thing is that students are preparing their futures that could benefit them. With the high grades, to studying, and with less distractions, students can go to school with a purpose. Less competition between others will create an environment in which all students can become a greater person. School uniforms can very much discipline students into having a better and positive attitude and that can contribute for a much better future they could achieve.

Negative Consequences of Wearing a School Uniform

Today, many schools around the world enforce uniforms, requiring students to wear specific clothing. School uniforms, which was first established in 16th century England, are a topic of much debate in the public school system of the United States. Many people feel that uniforms reduce competition among students and bring a sense of unity in school. People who are against school uniforms think that they prevent students from expressing themselves and inhibits creativity. Many students dislike school uniforms because uniforms can be viewed as a violation of their rights, while others benefit from uniforms because it relieves the stress of picking what to wear to school. Although school uniforms do have its benefits, they also limit self-expression. School uniforms are said to create a sense of equality among students.

With every student wearing the same clothing, there are less indicators of wealth between what people wear, so less students are bullied for the clothes they wear. While that may be true for some, bullies don’t always make fun of their targets based on their clothing. There are many other aspects of people that are unaffected by uniforms ,which, bullies can use to bully them. It might be their hair or skin color, or the culture they’re from that causes the bullying. For example, students might get made fun of because of their race or the stereotypes that applies to them. Uniforms won’t protect students from bullying because clothing isn’t the only thing that bullies look at. School uniforms can help improve the feeling of unity within schools, but pride in one’s school is dependent on being distinct and different from another school. There is rivalry between schools and school uniforms can lead to students being beaten up or worse.

For example, in New Zealand, a boy was beaten up by boys from a rival school. The boy said that the boys told him he should be shot because he went to a different school, which they could deduce from the uniform he’s wearing. School uniforms may give students a sense of pride and unity , but that comes with a chance of danger. It is a belief that school uniforms teach students to respect their learning environment and behave themselves, and, therefore improving discipline. However, that assumption isn’t entirely correct. Researchers have actually found that school uniforms don’t make students better behaved. According to a study of more than 4,500 students, those who wore a school uniform did not have fewer behavior problems or better attendance.

Forcing students to wear uniforms lead to more problems and misbehavior instead of encouraging discipline. Students could get into trouble if they did not wear their uniforms correctly. Many kids in today’s society cannot stand the thought of someone telling them what to do, especially what to wear. Instead of encouraging respect, uniforms may cause rebellions. For example, in 2009, a group of students at John A. Ferguson Senior High School rebelled against their school uniforms. Instead of following their school uniform requirements, the students wore what they thought would be a better school uniform to school. Not only uniforms don’t earn schools the respect from its students, but it may also lead to more problems. Some critics say that school uniforms increase the amount of clothing that parents have to buy for their children, meaning that they would have to spend more money. Students wouldn’t wear their uniforms outside of school, so parents would have to buy casual clothing for their child to wear outside of school. School uniforms may cost a hundred dollars or more per set and students would need at least 3 sets of uniforms for the week. Uniforms may be a financial burden for poor families, especially for ones that have many children.

Parents would also have to buy new uniforms when their child outgrows the last. Students would be more comfortable wearing casual clothing to school and it would reduce the burden on their families financially. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees its citizens freedom of expression. This many believe is violated by establishing mandatory school uniforms. The ability of students to express themselves are limited when they are forced to wear the same clothing as everyone else. Students use the way they dress to express themselves and to identify with certain social groups. Many students lose their self- identity when they lose their right to express themselves through fashion. Students should be able to experiment with their own individuality as it helps with shaping their character. School uniforms also violate the students’ right to freedom of religion, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. If students are religious, they should be allowed to wear the clothes that express their religion, but school uniforms restrict this right.

Religious beliefs can be valuable and important to many students, giving their lives a great deal of meaning and structure. It can also inspire them to work hard and behave in a school environment. Some religions greatly value symbols of faith, such as headdresses and bracelets. School uniforms sometimes don’t support the students’ religious beliefs. For example, school skirts are often not long enough for Muslim girls, who believe that they should cover most of their bodies. Students should be able to follow the values that they hold so close. While some schools in the U.S. enforce uniforms, many schools have dress codes. Dress codes are similar to uniforms, but without the many disadvantages. Uniforms force students to wear the same clothes, while dress codes give students many choices of clothing.

Dress codes only prevent students from wearing inappropriate clothing to school instead of forcing them to wear specific clothing. Students are more comfortable that way and still get to express themselves through fashion. In conclusion, school uniforms aren’t as beneficial as they appear to be. It should be the students’ right to be able to wear appropriate clothing of their choice in school. This allows them to experiment with their creativity and develop their personality. Schools should promote diversity instead of equality by wearing the same clothing, because everyone is different and unique. Diversity helps people become friends as it helps sparks interest in each other. Clothing expresses a person’s unique personality and culture. It should be a person’s right to be able to show everyone their true colors.

Updated: Jan 30, 2023
Cite this page

Pros and Cons School Uniforms. (2016, Mar 27). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/pros-and-cons-school-uniforms-essay

Pros and Cons School Uniforms essay
Live chat  with support 24/7

👋 Hi! I’m your smart assistant Amy!

Don’t know where to start? Type your requirements and I’ll connect you to an academic expert within 3 minutes.

get help with your assignment