Should Students Wear School Uniforms Essay

Introduction

Should students wear school uniforms? The only people left who are agreeable to uniforms are children when they are young. To them, it is a rite of passage to the grown-up world. As soon as they become teenagers, it becomes a subject for debate. By the time that they hit the adolescence stage, this is when they try to express their individuality and mostly, it’s through fashion. This introduction is aimed to help you have an idea of this hotly debated topic. If they had a choice, a majority if not all of the teenagers would opt out of wearing the uniform. What role does school uniform play? Making school uniforms mandatory is a way of taking away the freedom of choosing what to wear and in the long run, it causes more harm than good to the students. Since this is what they use to express themselves, it leads them to lose a sense of who they are. There will be no creativity, diversity or individuality. The fact of the matter is that everyone is different because no two people are alike in this world, but then again, this is a learning institution we are talking about.

In the same breath, the schools do have good reasons for having all students wear the same uniforms. They do it to instill discipline as they know the importance of school uniform in learning institutions. Also, uniforms do help in the elimination of school violence and better the grades of students, especially for those with low self-esteem and low social status. Since this debate evokes passionate arguments from both sides, here are some of the pros and cons of wearing school uniform that can help you finally decide if it is a nay or yay on this topic.

Importance of School Uniform (Pros)

Here, we will look at specific factors that can be considered significant in students wearing uniforms.

As earlier mentioned, by wearing school uniforms, the rate of bullying in schools has significantly reduced. Bullying occurs due to cultural differences amongst students. You will find that different cultural groups have unique beliefs and values that are unique to one another. The act of bullying occurs as students tease those of different cultures from them. By wearing the school uniform, it reduces the victimization since all students appear the same.

School uniforms help in saving parents money since they are cost effective. Wearing trendy and designer clothes every day to school is an expensive affair, especially to those parents that strain to make ends meet for their children. When it is back to school, there are fewer things to buy more so the everyday clothes. The uniforms can be purchased once a year and be worn all through the year.

School uniforms go a long way in promoting the school’s spirit. A spirit of togetherness and unity is inspired. You can witness the spirit when the students are participating in school activities such as competitions outside of the school. The uniform automatically ignites a higher sense of school pride.

The primary reason as to why the society and schools emphasize on the uniforms is to create a sense of equality for the students in the learning institutions. Not all students are privileged and come from wealthy families. By wearing uniforms, social status for more unfortunate students will no longer be an issue. It leaves students who face low self-esteem with one less problem to make them worry.

Wearing school uniforms encourages discipline in school. It is a constant reminder to the students of where they are, making them pause and think of the consequences most of the times before impulsive actions.

Cons

Where there are pros, there have to be cons as well. Wearing uniforms limits some factors for both the school and the students. There has been a growing debate regarding this in recent times, to the point that some schools don’t require their students to wear any uniform. However, the number of such schools is way smaller in comparison to those still requiring every child to be dressed in proper school uniform. All in all, some of the cons of having students wear school uniform include:

Self-expression and creativity of students get hindered. Their identity is stripped, and a lot of students tend to feel oppressed.

The issue of comparison, more so for the girls, is inevitable. Who wears it best is what they strive to achieve with the school uniforms and it may even create a more significant divide than when not wearing uniforms.

Resentment of the students towards the school and its administration happens because they feel like they have been forced to wear the uniform. A majority of students do not want to wear the uniforms, and as a result, behavioral problems around the school occur.

School uniform acts as a band-aid to more significant issues. There are those who believe that the uniform is meant to try and solve much more significant problems like bullying and school attendance. The clothing that students wear has a small impact. The more prominent issues should get addressed on a higher platform rather than laying the entire burden on uniforms.

Conclusion

Even after some well-written outline of essays on school uniform, the argument on whether a school uniform violates the students’ right of expression will remain a never-ending discussion. But the truth is, wearing of uniforms should all depend on the circumstances and the image a given school is trying to portray. Regardless, the importance of school uniforms seems to win the day today even as I write this conclusion and even after so many school uniform essays have been written. On a final note, we should try and find permanent ways of solving the growing issues faced by students. We should not rely on school uniforms to swipe the problems under the rug, this does the students no good.