Public Schools should not have to wear school uniforms

Public schools should not have to wear school uniforms. By wearing school uniforms you are not able to express yourself. I do believe that there should be rules about what you wear at a public school but everyone should not be forced to wear the same thing.

I accept the challenge.

Firstly I would like to say that I think a lot of schools take uniform waaayyyy to seriously. But personally I think that there should be school uniform but you should be allowed to wear whatever shoes you want (within reason) and have your hair, makeup, jewellery and bags as you want.

The reasons for this are as follows.

1a) Bullying and peer pressure can often be the result of non school uniform. Where school uniform is not present; a child is somewhat forced to choose what to wear and could be targeted because of it. Also it makes peer pressure more prominent. Some kids could be forced to wear something they don't want to wear just because it's 'cool'.

1b)If a family is poor then they won't be able to afford as nice clothes so they may be targeted because of the amount of money they have.

1ci) Similar to point 1b, parents or children may end up feeling forced to spend money that could be used better elswhere on 'cool' clothes so their kids don't get picked on.

1cii) Hand me downs are a perfect example of a pro for school uniform. If it stays the same, parents with more than one child can give younger children the older children's old clothes saving money. This might not be able to happen with other clothes because the younger child may have different style choices for example.

2) Experts believe that children who wearschooluniforms do better academically. This is due to a myriad of reasons, including not wasting time in the morning getting ready, lack of distractions, and a more formal studying environment.

3) It prepares children for later life when they may need to wear a certain uniform/type of clothing in the workplace.

4) It is an important safety thing for school trips, outings and even problems at the school. It helps prevent children getting lost on school trips and if there was say a fire at a school building which was connected to other buildings for other things (Workplaces etc) then outside in amongst the panic school children would be easily identifiable.

5) With no school uniform it would be miles harder for staff as they would have to spend a lot more time enforcing the uniform policy to ensure it was appropriate clothing (eg not too revealing, no unacceptable symbolism like the swastika etc) and it would be much harder to enforce and much easier for children to overstep the line and claim they can't be punished because the rules weren't clear.

Thank you, and I look forward to your arguments and rebuttals.

Sources
[1] http://www.buzzle.com...
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org...

Thank you for excepting this argument.

1) I do not believe it will eliminate bullying in schools. If a bully cannot pick on you for your clothing, they all most likely, find a way to make fun of you for something else. The bully will most likely find it as a challenge. The bully feels very powerful when they bully. Therefore, they will not stop.

2) School uniforms can be very costly whether or not the school or parents are paying for them. If the school is purchasing, the way the economy is they cannot afford to pay for the uniforms. One uniform is not being purchased for one student. Multiple uniforms would have to be purchased for one student. Some schools have had to cut extracurricular activities so they will not have enough money to buy uniforms. If the parents are buying, they are buying an outfit that they cannot wear on weekends or in the summer. They still have to buy clothes for them to wear on those days.

3) Wearing uniforms takes away the freedom of choice. Being in school you don't have a lot of freedom as it is so why take that away as well?

4) Uniforms can create problems. They can be hard to clean because they ate usually white. Wearing a uniform, the schools will have specific requirements how they are supposed to look.

Sources: www.enbrodidered-uniforms.com
Www.topics-mag.com

1) I don't for one moment think it will eliminate bullying in schools. What I said was that non school uniform was a CONTRIBUTING FACTOR to bullying so by having school uniform you may reduce this.

2) School uniforms can be costly but:
a) If schools take the appropriate steps they can find the cheapest solution to school uniform. you can get polo shirts at primark; �3 for 2!
b) The school nearest mine pays for the kids uniforms and does so easily... There are much more costly things than uniforms in a school environment. I only have one uniform I just wash it tuesday nights thursday nights and on saturdays...

3) There are loads of other ways to express yourself such as your hairstyle, your jewellery, your shoes, your makeup (for girls), the way you shave (for boys). And there's always non school uniform day's!

4) My polo is white but my school jumper is black and my trousers are black. I don't know any schools with white uniforms they are usually dark coloured for this very reason!

In conclusion:
School uniforms are bad for the pupil and the family of the pupil for many different reasons. Students can express themselves in other ways!

Thanks and good luck.