Public School Uniforms for All: English Essay
Public Uniforms for All
For several years the issue of public schools uniforms has been of debate. President William Jefferson Clinton shed light on the positive effects of implementing uniforms in his State of the Union Address of 1996 “…To teach character education, to teach good values and good citizenship” (Clinton, par. 38). For these reasons and many more, I believe public schools all across the nation should adopt a uniform dress code. Primary and secondary public schools implementing a requirement for uniforms would redirect attention back to academics, ease class tension, and promote students to develop and en-fashion their character and mannerisms.
The history of uniforms in schools is not a new idea. The United Kingdom is the leading nation with uniforms being mandatory in primary and secondary schools (“School uniform”). The United States’ struggle to adjust its public schools into this requirement has been tough. The largest increase took place in 1994, in Southern California’s Long Beach Unified School District, when the Board of Education voted them into elementary and middle schools. Another case of successful implementations was in 1999, when the New York City Board of Education also voted to make uniforms required in public elementary and middle schools (“Uniforms”).
School uniforms can help to shift students focus from following trends and up to date fashions, back to their academics where it belongs in school. Since the adaptation of policy in New York City, schools have experienced an “improvement in everything from tolerance and a sense of belonging, to increased safety and academic performance“, provided by Bluesuitmom.com (“Dress Codes Growing More Popular”). The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) objects to uniforms stating that this information is unproven.
However, according to a survey taken by frenchtoast.com, just a year after New York’s Education Board voted, more than the majority of parents believe that this uniform policy is the cause of improvements in their children’s academic performance. It also states other benefits like reducing teasing, class acceptance, equality between girls and boys and so forth (“Dress Codes Growing More Popular”).
School uniforms also can ease class tension, allowing any student no matter their family’s financial status, to feel secure. Children of high-class families have been known throughout grade school and secondary school to tease the children of less fortunate families about everything from their shoes to the kind of backpack they carry. If all schools required uniforms, this period of humiliation and anguish could be completely avoided, yet again leaving students to focus of their studies. In January of 1998, ERIC Digest published an article examining all outlooks on public school uniforms in the United States quoting the following: “Some believe uniforms will not erase social class lines, because policies do not apply to other items that can be used to convey status, such as jewelry, backpacks, and bikes” (Isaacson, par. 8). It is in my belief that children attending primary and secondary school should not be entrusted with valuables in the form of jewelry and bicycles as they tend to not appreciate or even respect the value of such objects. Needless to say, any child in the 5th grade should not be wearing a diamond ring to school.
Uniforms also promote students to develop and en-fashion their character and mannerisms. It is during grade and middle school that children are faced with absorbing intelligence, developing character, and also practicing moral beliefs. Experimenting with entertainment in the form of art, music, and literature, children at this age should begin to consider independence from their parental influences and intellect rather than fitting into society’s trends. To quote the “great” Thoreau, “Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Things do not change, we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts” (Quotationspage.com). As for this abstruse idea of uniforms “infringing” upon students’ First Amendment rights, you could no sooner call demanding only drawings of cones and boxes in a drawing class an act of violating the right to Freedom of expression.
In closing, I would just like to state that I did not attend primary or secondary schools where a uniform was required, although I would have liked to. Public school students today face violence, discrimination, and poorer academic progress in today’s educational facilities. These issues need to be addressed in a conservative and effective manner. There is no better way than to implement uniforms nation wide in our public schools, and not just in areas facing extreme circumstances.
Works Cited
Clinton, William Jefferson, “State of the Union Address.” U.S. Capitol, 1996.
.
Isaacson, Lynn A., “Student Dress Codes.” ERIC Digest Jan. 1998.
.
“Public School Dress Codes Growing More Popular.” Blue Suit Mom. Aug. 2000.
.
“School Uniform.” Wikipedia. Jan. 2006.
.
Thoreau, Henry David, “Henry David Thoreau quotations.” The Quotations Page.
< http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/9824.html>.
“Uniforms.” Public Broadcasting Service. Spring 1999. .
For several years the issue of public schools uniforms has been of debate. President William Jefferson Clinton shed light on the positive effects of implementing uniforms in his State of the Union Address of 1996 “…To teach character education, to teach good values and good citizenship” (Clinton, par. 38). For these reasons and many more, I believe public schools all across the nation should adopt a uniform dress code. Primary and secondary public schools implementing a requirement for uniforms would redirect attention back to academics, ease class tension, and promote students to develop and en-fashion their character and mannerisms.
The history of uniforms in schools is not a new idea. The United Kingdom is the leading nation with uniforms being mandatory in primary and secondary schools (“School uniform”). The United States’ struggle to adjust its public schools into this requirement has been tough. The largest increase took place in 1994, in Southern California’s Long Beach Unified School District, when the Board of Education voted them into elementary and middle schools. Another case of successful implementations was in 1999, when the New York City Board of Education also voted to make uniforms required in public elementary and middle schools (“Uniforms”).
School uniforms can help to shift students focus from following trends and up to date fashions, back to their academics where it belongs in school. Since the adaptation of policy in New York City, schools have experienced an “improvement in everything from tolerance and a sense of belonging, to increased safety and academic performance“, provided by Bluesuitmom.com (“Dress Codes Growing More Popular”). The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) objects to uniforms stating that this information is unproven.
However, according to a survey taken by frenchtoast.com, just a year after New York’s Education Board voted, more than the majority of parents believe that this uniform policy is the cause of improvements in their children’s academic performance. It also states other benefits like reducing teasing, class acceptance, equality between girls and boys and so forth (“Dress Codes Growing More Popular”).
School uniforms also can ease class tension, allowing any student no matter their family’s financial status, to feel secure. Children of high-class families have been known throughout grade school and secondary school to tease the children of less fortunate families about everything from their shoes to the kind of backpack they carry. If all schools required uniforms, this period of humiliation and anguish could be completely avoided, yet again leaving students to focus of their studies. In January of 1998, ERIC Digest published an article examining all outlooks on public school uniforms in the United States quoting the following: “Some believe uniforms will not erase social class lines, because policies do not apply to other items that can be used to convey status, such as jewelry, backpacks, and bikes” (Isaacson, par. 8). It is in my belief that children attending primary and secondary school should not be entrusted with valuables in the form of jewelry and bicycles as they tend to not appreciate or even respect the value of such objects. Needless to say, any child in the 5th grade should not be wearing a diamond ring to school.
Uniforms also promote students to develop and en-fashion their character and mannerisms. It is during grade and middle school that children are faced with absorbing intelligence, developing character, and also practicing moral beliefs. Experimenting with entertainment in the form of art, music, and literature, children at this age should begin to consider independence from their parental influences and intellect rather than fitting into society’s trends. To quote the “great” Thoreau, “Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Things do not change, we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts” (Quotationspage.com). As for this abstruse idea of uniforms “infringing” upon students’ First Amendment rights, you could no sooner call demanding only drawings of cones and boxes in a drawing class an act of violating the right to Freedom of expression.
In closing, I would just like to state that I did not attend primary or secondary schools where a uniform was required, although I would have liked to. Public school students today face violence, discrimination, and poorer academic progress in today’s educational facilities. These issues need to be addressed in a conservative and effective manner. There is no better way than to implement uniforms nation wide in our public schools, and not just in areas facing extreme circumstances.
Works Cited
Clinton, William Jefferson, “State of the Union Address.” U.S. Capitol, 1996.
.
Isaacson, Lynn A., “Student Dress Codes.” ERIC Digest Jan. 1998.
.
“Public School Dress Codes Growing More Popular.” Blue Suit Mom. Aug. 2000.
.
“School Uniform.” Wikipedia. Jan. 2006.
.
Thoreau, Henry David, “Henry David Thoreau quotations.” The Quotations Page.
< http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/9824.html>.
“Uniforms.” Public Broadcasting Service. Spring 1999. .