Opinion: Uniforms in Public Schools

Some public school districts are considering making uniforms mandatory for students. While uniforms would prevent students from wearing inappropriate items of clothing to school, there are several drawbacks related to the use of uniforms. Uniforms are expensive, and they also infringe upon a student’s rights and their self confidence.

Many students in public school struggle with finances. A student may not be able to afford a uniform. The school would then have to provide money for the purchase of the student’s clothing. The expenses could add up quickly, and the school may find itself spending large amounts of money on uniforms that it cannot afford.

Along with expense, uniforms infringe upon a student’s rights. Public schools need to support freedom of expression. When kids are forced to wear bland and boring uniforms, they can’t express themselves with their own choice of clothing. Forcing every student to wear the same outfit detracts from individuality.

Other than individuality, self-confidence is also another major problem. Many students struggle with self-confidence and if they can’t even choose what they want to wear, they might feel even more self-conscious. Uniforms affect self-image in another way; students would compare themselves to others if everyone wore the same uniform. Every student will wear the uniform differently, causing students to possibly feel worse about their self-image.

Some believe that school uniforms can improve student behavior. This, however, is not true. If a student is wearing his or her school uniform in public and exhibits poor behavior, the school may earn a bad reputation. Another problem that schools could face with uniforms is the possibility of exhibiting sexism. Females would be offended if they had to wear a skirt every day and weren’t allowed the option of pants, like males. The males would get offended if they were told they had to wear a tie every day, while the girls do not.

Clearly there are two sides to the uniform debate, but the cons certainly outweigh the pros. Instead of enforcing mandatory uniforms, a simple solution would be to make a school dress code and enforce it. Obviously there are certain items of clothing students should not be permitted to wear to school, but that is not a good enough reason to force every student to wear the same thing. Students should have the ability to express themselves, and dress the way they please.