School uniforms and their effects on student achievement

School Uniforms

THE ARGUMENT for SCHOOL UNIFORMS

One of the suggestions advanced in relation to the need to improve modern education is that students should wear school uniforms throughout primary and secondary education. This is a sound idea for several different reasons. Opponents of the idea raise freedom of expression objections, but they are not legally applicable to the educational environment. In all likelihood, there are no legitimate objections to the suggestion that students wear school uniforms for the benefit of their educational focus, their sense of psychological security and self-esteem, and in some schools, even their personal safety.

The modern educational institution, particularly as evident in large public high schools, is as much a social environment as an educational one (Macionis, 2003). At this age, students are acutely conscious of their image in the eyes of their peer group (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2005) and clothing fashions and fads play a significant role in their establishment and maintenance of personal identity (Henslin, 2002). In low income urban communities, students have been killed over athletic shoes and designer clothing.

In a more general sense, preoccupation with superficialities like clothing and other external displays of wealth detract from the necessary emphasis on academics in school. More specifically, in many middle class and upper middle class communities, obsession with fashion and other popular fads can completely absorb some students' attention altogether. School uniforms would go a long way at reducing this focus on superficialities and make it easier for instructors to maintain their interest in their studies.

Likewise, the teen years are already a time wrought with self doubt and numerous insecurities that are frequently exacerbated by concerns over clothing. In many cases, students form social cliques substantially based on the images associated with various types of clothing in much the same way as they do with respect to music. In the most serious examples, street gangs and high school fraternities use colors and specific styles of clothing to proclaim allegiances. On occasion, individuals are even assaulted and violently attacked on or in the vicinity of school grounds merely for wearing the wrong colored clothes (Harvard Crimson, 2008). Mandatory school uniforms would solve all three problems. The principal objection to the idea arises in connection with First Amendment concerns and the constitutional right to free expression. However, as in the case with other aspects of constitutional arguments in the educational environment, privacy and free expression principles on the part of students are, to a large degree, suspended on school property (Friedman, 2005). Free expression issues in school necessarily take a backseat to educational concerns, particularly to the extent they relate to the security of the campus environment and the safety of students. Conclusion: Mandatory school uniforms serve three valuable purposes in school: they decrease distractions from academic focus; they eliminate social aspects of the educational environment that undermine student self-esteem, and they decrease the risk of campus violence. The main objection is flawed in principle, because it relies on inaccurate understanding of constitutional rights as they pertain to school grounds. Ultimately, mandatory school uniforms offer tremendous benefits with virtually no drawbacks.