Benefits of School Uniforms

I recall George Carlin, comedian and scathing social commentator, voicing his disapproval of school uniforms. Isn’t it enough they want us to think alike, he said, now they want us to look alike too? Or something to that tune, I don’t recollect the exact words. Anyway, I thought he had a valid point. I still think he does.

Many parents have expressed concerns about school uniforms taking away students’ freedom of expression and encroaching on their personal rights, about having religious dress codes foisted on their non-religious or different-religion children, about not having their religious dress codes followed or respected enough, about trying to get their children to make a political or moral statement, about the expenses involved in purchasing the required uniform and accessories.

On the other hand, though, there are some definite advantages of wearing school uniforms as well.

Let’s take a took at some of the pros of school uniforms –

1. A school uniform makes it easier for the school authorities to recognize students belonging to their school. It also makes it somewhat tougher for those that don’t belong to slip in; unless, of course, they go to all the trouble of buying a uniform that fits.

2. 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 or not for school.

3. 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 an education. Theoretically, that is.

4. 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? I suppose there are ways and there are reasons, but fewer.

5. School uniforms cramp the style of gang members. They have to recognize each other by names and faces instead of by 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.

6. 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.

So will getting students to wear school uniforms end the growing incidents of violence in US schools?

Well, that was the whole idea when President Bill Clinton decided to implement school uniforms in all U.S. public schools in the 1990s. In the hope of easing social tensions, many local communities and states in the USA adopted school uniform policies in their educational institutions. The states of New York, California, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Utah, and Maryland all introduced school uniform regulations.

But, while there have certainly been some benefits of school uniforms, the whole thing is about as effective as putting a band-aid over a gangrenous wound and hoping that will cure the malady. When you have to have police authorities and metal detection machines in schools, it is a social problem that has advanced well beyond what anyone is dressing in. The violence cannot be resolved until the social issues are addressed. There is only so much school administrators and educators can do. What kind of a home life do the students have? What are the parents doing? How involved are they in their children’s lives? What kind of an example are they setting to their children? You’re less likely to rear law-abiding, respectable citizens if you personally tend to be annually incarcerated for frauds, violations, and violent crimes.

It is a curious thing that we need be well-qualified for top jobs, but not for parenting. The most inept, incapable people can be parents. Maybe we should forget about uniform dressing and look into uniform responsible parenting.