Public School Students Be Required

¶ … Public School Students be Required to Wear Uniforms

This is a template and guideline only. Please do not use as a final turn-in paper.

Though some may think that school uniforms limit students' freedom of self-expression, school uniforms in public schools are a good idea because they are less costly, eliminate peer pressure, and reduce violence.

In the 1994-1995 school year, the Long Beach Unified School District, Long Beach, California, became the first public school system in the United States to implement a mandatory school uniform policy for grades K-8, after years of study and pilot programs to test the idea.

Two years later, school crime was down 71% in grades K-8. In the high schools of the same district without the mandatory school uniform policy, school crime increased 28%. The school district won a statewide award for the example it set in implementing the school uniform policy and for its success with the results. Then, during the 2003-2004 school year, the district was named the national winner of the Broad Prize for Urban Education, recognizing America's best urban school system for increasing student achievement (LBUSD).

Is all the success due solely to school uniforms? Perhaps not. But the positive results have been so impressive that now many other major public school districts in the country have joined Long Beach. Schools in at least 21 states have some sort of uniform requirements. In New Orleans, 95% of public schools require uniforms. In Cleveland, that number is 85%, and in Chicago, 80%. Boston is at 65% and Miami at 60%. Certainly all these school districts are not switching to school uniform policies for no reason. It is because they see positive results.

And back to our question about success due solely to uniforms in Long Beach? An independent case study in 1999 reported the following effects from the switch to uniforms: school suspensions dropped by 90%, sex offenses were reduced by 96%, and vandalism went down 69% (Educationbug.org).

In my research, poll after poll searched on the internet, whether large or small sample came up positive for public school uniforms from parents, teachers, administrators, and students. The main parent complaint -- cost and negative impact on students self-expression.

In Long Beach, their findings have been that public school uniforms, in the long run, are much less costly -- three uniforms are less expensive than one pair of designer jeans that kids clamor for these days. In almost all districts, financial help is available for needy families and most cities have set up "hand-me-down" stores and websites where used uniforms can be obtained at much less cost than new ones. At "marcusuniforms.com" a boy's uniform would cost around $50-$60, and a girl's uniform perhaps a few dollars more. If a student requires three uniforms (remembering that some of the attire is interchangeable among uniforms), the total annual cost would be around $150 per student. These prices are very similar to girls' and boys' clothing prices at Wal-Mart. This debate does not include the fact that peer pressure in many public schools causes families to spend much more on "street clothes" so that their kids are not embarrassed or bullied because they do not have the latest fashions. (a single pair of the least expensive GAP girl's jeans can run $30 -- two to three times the cost of uniform pants or skirt). It seems clear that the argument that public school uniforms are more expensive may be difficult to prove.

The second, and most often used, argument against school uniforms is that they stifle self-expression and inhibit individuality. These are normally arguments from parents of children who have not yet participated in a school uniform policy. Most parents, in my research, who have a child who goes to a public school with a uniform policy say that their child expresses their individuality and self-expression in many other ways -- through who they are as an individual, what kind of grades they get, with sports and other activities, how they act as an individual and what sort of principles, morals and beliefs they hold -- with or without school uniforms. Many of the children say the same things.

In regards to reducing violence, harassment, and even peer pressure in the schools, my research indicates that, from the perspective of those students and parents who are enrolled in public schools that have uniform policies, there is little question that school is a safer, more comfortable, less stressful environment that it was before the uniforms were required.

Besides the crime statistics given above for the Long Beach School District, it would also appear that uniforms make the appearance of "outsiders" on school campuses more obvious and allows them to be easily identified and removed. That also allows students to feel safe on campus. Uniforms seem to reduce the "cliques" at schools because, since everyone looks alike, and dress is often the gathering point for cliquish behavior, there is less competition and "us vs. them" mentality.