The Advantage of School Uniforms

Did you know that as many as twenty-five percent of the nation's pubic elementary, middle, and junior high schools have successfully implemented a school uniform policy? (Isaacson, 1998) School uniforms greatly benefit both the students and faculty by creating an atmosphere in which the students are able to get the most out of their education. I believe that all students should wear school uniforms regardless of whether or not the school is public. Below are clear-cut arguments in favor of school uniforms.

First, one of the chief benefits of school uniforms is their ability to make schools safer. Studies have shown that they help to reduce gang influences. (Isaacson, 1998) Many gang members wear particular types of colors and clothes to signify their membership to a certain gang. With every student wearing the same articles of clothing, gang members will not be able to establish a rivalry within the school. Uniforms also minimize violence by reducing some sources of conflict. A Long Beach Superintendent stated the first year that the uniforms had been implemented into his school, crimes decreased by thirty-six percent, school violence by fifty-one percent, and vandalism to the school dropped eighteen percent. (US Dept. of Ed., 1996) Uniforms will also make it easier for trespassers to be identified. (Ryan & Cooper, 2000) These trespassers will stick out like a soar thumb because they will not have on a uniform like everyone else. Identifying and properly escorting the trespassers to where the need to be will ensure parents that the school is a safe and secure place for their kids to get an education.

Second, school uniforms helps to eliminate socio-economical barriers. Many students come from diverse backgrounds; however, inside the walls of the school, economic advantages and disadvantages are no longer obvious. (R, 2000) Parents' incomes no longer determine how well his or her son or daughter dresses the next day at school. Uniforms help to erase the tense cultural and economic differences among the students. Not only do students and teachers benefit from the wearing of uniforms, but parents do as well. Parents are no longer pressured to buy the latest fashions; therefore they spend less money on clothes and fashionable apparel.

Third, school uniforms help to promote structure and discipline inside of the classroom. This structure creates a strong learning environment and improves the students' behavior and attitude towards schooling. In 1998 a study done by The National Association of Elementary School Principals and Land's End discovered that schools with an active uniform policy had almost a twenty percent better discipline rate than that of a non-active uniform