STUDENT UNIFORMS CONTROVERSY
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STUDENT UNIFORMS CONTROVERSY
Introduction
Education, without any doubt is a noble profession that anybody would be proud to be part of. It is far motivating and enjoyable to be able to work with curious students and dedicated teachers on a daily basis. With that in mind, the profession has several challenges and one of the most talked on issues that has divergent and wide opinions would be on what is best for the children. It is understandable that on beliefs people are very passionate and determined to find the best ways of catering for the children’s needs. These opinions however, are often contradicting or in contrast to other educators and parents and from here we start to see the formation of different sides or camps on the matter which sometimes tend to take up political undertones. An elaborate example of such issues would be the controversial debate on school uniforms. Parents for some time have considered the uniform as a final form of solution to the stalemate on the debate on what their children should be allowed to adorn while in school. On the other hand some of the parents feel that wearing the uniform is a direct infringement attack on their children’s rights (Gouge, 2011).
The school uniform debate has been contested hotly for a prolonged period and it seems it will still be a talked on issue in the future especially in communities that are on the process of implementing the policy. Some parents have taken a hard stand on the uniform policy implementation, while others support whole heartedly the new policy. The question as to whether the uniform should be worn or not by the students is indeed complicated and can easily lead to opposite camps becoming too entrenched on their stands to not openly welcome the other camps reasoning of adopting or abandoning the uniforms in schools.
While trying to understand the issue it is important to view it from both aspects namely negative and positive aspects of the uniforms. The positives would include them promoting more school spirit and cohesiveness; mainly through the aspect that there has to be more school spirit and sense of belonging since everyone is wearing similar uniforms. Some families also will manage to spend less on their budgets, since the uniforms would be less costly and this will help them save some money. There would also be a reduction on the bullying trends since the actual bullying or teasing due to family financial background would be directly handled. Having everyone similarly dressed will help the management detect any anomalies or intruders within the institution. Academic performance have also been known to be enhanced through the school uniforms; mainly since they give an impression of concern and focus as they get more engaged with their studies ,as compared to their dress code. Due to the socioeconomic reasons some students may have been ostracized because of their family financial status, but with uniform they would have high self esteem and it would boost their academic performance. Uniforms would reduce conflict within the families as compared to a daily routine of choosing the trending clothes; the uniform would well eradicate the negativity and conflict (Mayweather, 2013).
The cons to implementing the uniform policy would include families having more financial burdens; this is according to the argument raised by the anti-uniform’s implementation, it is clear that due to the global financial restrains there is not enough to spare specifically for trendy or fashionable clothes. This would be hard for the families that relied on handing down clothes to smaller siblings; this argument proves that it is not only unfair but also unreasonable to expect them to meet the cost of fitting their children with the newly implemented uniforms with the current financial strains. The uniform restrain a Childs freedom of creativity and expression and expects them to just blend in and be one with the crowd as compared to their expression of individuality and creativity that would bring out their latent power and free thinking aspects while at school. Uniforms encourage rebellion and thus promote difficulty in law enforcement by the administration or principal; since with the mandatory uniform enforcement students will have to find alternative ways of self expression and this will be a continuous cycle of punishments and expulsions by the management which would be in direct infringement of the student’s human rights. They also promote reduction on the students performance academically which would be in contrast to the initial proponents opinion of embracing the uniforms, in that the academics are interfered with due to the over emphasis on image by the students as compared to academics. Through curtailing critical thinking and creativity skills the students would be limited and their main source of self expression outlet would be no more and with it gone performance and self esteem would follow (DeMitchel, Fossey & Cobb, 2000).
After the review of the debate on school uniforms disadvantages and advantages one fact stands out that in truth, there is no clarity on the controversy. Many divergent studies and analysis on the matter have all derived different conclusions by their findings, example Professor David Brunsma on his book, The School Uniform Movement and what it tells us about American Education: A Symbolic Crusade he concluded that between school uniforms, academic achievements and safety there is no known positive connection. Ryan Yeung documented another study from the article (Marian Wilde, Do School Uniforms make kids better?) that was initially done to focus on Educational Policy, clearly shows that school uniforms have no effect on school achievement and in some cases hinder its process. Oxford Brookes University found a contrast to these two findings which found that the school uniforms reduce bullying instances and improve student behavior. In addition, a study done by University of Houston stated that student behavior and absenteeism is reduced by the uniforms, and as such they improve overall performance
Considering the very political nature of this topic and the wide array of opinions, it would be contended that there would never be a single definite answer to the issue. I would instead propose that it is dependent entirely on the population and schools nature. It would be disastrous in others and in some cases wonderful to have school uniforms. When finding a solution the key it needs is to local in its characteristics and in addition come about as a process that has healthy discussions and debates that offers divergent opinions with respect that include staff, parents and students. This issue is critical in that it has possibility of destroying a school. An approach that is equitable and inclusively fair to this problem will not only make the school stronger than it was initially but will also prevent the problem from re-occurring again.
My standing on the uniforms issue would be that the students should maintain their uniforms while at school, my reasoning on the subject would be that the mandatory schools stereotypical argument for keeping the uniforms is that they destroy creativity and individualism. However no mater how this national debate intensifies it shows that the argument is statistically and subjectively unverifiable. School uniforms, in reality have on conformity or direct positive effects on student, uniforms as often stated help bring out the exact divergent effects on the students and the recorded results are still negative (Sowell, 2012).
In learning institutions that do not have uniforms, the opportunity to redefine their mage is given to the students mainly through clothes; in that they can be flexible in their adorning. Example in that to hide curves on a heavy-set person, a student can wear baggy clothes. In this manner the clothes that the trendy or cool people wear can be understood to intimidate the rest of the student body and are biased on their selected casualties namely the un-cool in the school.
Uniforms become a non-factor if regarded as attires, since they mainly focus on highlighting the physical appearance of the students. By always having to look smart and trim, the uniforms make the students physique more visible and obvious. Due to this there cannot be a modest resorting of clothing for the physically less gifted this aspect for distinguishment and classification due to student natural propensity promote need for hierarchies and cliques mainly based on image and status. This point helps stress on the relevance of the problem the uniforms try to address, since it affects the students self esteem and academic performance (Reed, 2011).
Conclusion
Uniform attire admittedly would be very beneficial during student sports or on field trips in unfamiliar locations or events, while they are together or in groups, it would allow for easy identification and still promote a sense of solidarity between the students. If imposed within school grounds uniformity advantages far out way the possible disadvantages, whether through cliques in the institution mainly through loss of confidence or physical appearance. In this understanding clothes are not perceived as the root cause for the uniform problem, the issue however can be described as the biasness that people relate to the associated clothes. In the end the controversy will never have a compromise since, the argument can still go both ways.
Reference
DeMitchell, T. A., Fossey, R., & Cobb, C. (2000). Dress codes in the public schools: Principals,
policies, and precepts. JL & Educ., 29, 31.
Gouge, W. E. (2011). A comparison research study on the use of school uniforms and
graduation, attendance, and suspension rates in east Tennessee (Doctoral dissertation, Liberty University).
Mayweather, J. (2013). The Relationship between Mandatory School Uniforms and Attendance.
Reed, J. B. (2011). EFFECTS OF A SCHOOL UNIFORM POLICY ON AN URBAN SCHOOL
DISTRICT (Doctoral dissertation, NORTHERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY).
Sowell, R. E. (2012). The Relationship of School Uniforms to Student Attendance, Achievement,
and Discipline (Doctoral dissertation, Liberty University).