School Uniform Issues

School uniform issues plague not only school teachers and administrators, but also students and their parents. The debate surrounding school uniforms has far from reached a conclusion.

Recent research, especially the famous case of Long Beach school district's experience of requiring school uniforms, has made many schools consider the possibility of adding a dress code that includes a uniform to their existing school policy. On the flip side of the coin, stringent scientific research, which not only looks at effects but also uses controlling measures in order to identify confounding factors, reports less stellar results from implementing a dress code with school uniforms.

The 1998 study carried out by Brunsma & Rockquemore controlled for several confounding variables (such as socioeconomic status of the students) and found that school uniforms actually did not appear to have any of the profound effects reported in the Long Beach school district. The full report can be read here: Brunsma & Rockquemore, 1998.

Despite these disappointing results for proponents of uniforms in schools, many schools are still adopting school uniform policies. These policies are not usually taken lightly; students, parents, and sometimes teachers are speaking out against school uniforms by citing over and over again some of the school uniform issues that repeatedly come up.

While many people think that school uniforms can only bring positive change to schools, there is also a list of negatives that go with implementing a school uniform dress code. An overview of the pros and cons of school uniforms shows that for many children and their parents wearing a school uniform is equivalent to taking away the freedom of expression of the students. While requiring all students to wear the same clothing can be perceived to have positive effects, the downside is that students are robbed of their freedom to express themselves through their choice of clothing.

This issue is resolved in some school districts by allowing students to choose their own type of footwear, as well as their own jewelry and accessories. In some cases, this opportunity to add accessories to the school uniform resolves the problem of being able to express oneself; however, some students argue that this option does not provide enough opportunity for self expression. In some cases, this issue of self expression creates mild conflicts between students and schools (with parents sometimes involved); in bigger cases, lawsuits are filed on grounds of self-expression being violated by the requirement to wear school uniforms.

Another issue that often comes up with school uniforms is that of cost. This issue is primarily raised by the parents. Since students always want to change out of their uniform as soon as the last bell rings, kids have to have almost as much 'leisure' clothing as they would have if they didn't wear a uniform to school. For this reason, the common argument that school uniforms are not that expensive, and replace the cost of normal school clothes, does not hold. Kids still have a full closet of 'normal' clothes, which makes the cost of school uniforms a cost that has to be covered above and beyond any other clothing their child has. This makes having school uniforms a costly venture for parents; for some parents it is a significant financial burden.

Despite these common issues related to implementing policies for school uniforms, the statistics on school uniforms show that more and more U.S. schools are making school uniforms part of their school policy. Where this trend will ultimately lead in the future is still unknown. What is clear is that there is little consensus over whether or not school uniforms help the school environment or not. As long as there are no proven positive effects of requiring school uniforms, it remains difficult to support the choice that many districts are making to make uniforms mandatory.

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