Mandatory Uniforms In Public Schools

Traditionally favored by private schools, uniforms are being adopted by US public schools in increasing numbers. Almost one in five US public schools required students to wear uniforms during the 2011-2012 school year, up from one in eight in 2003-2004. Mandatory uniform policies in public schools are found mostly in poverty areas, People say that school uniforms make schools safer for students, create a "level playing field" that reduces disparities, and encourage children to focus on their studies rather than their clothes.

Others say school uniforms infringe upon students ' right to express them selves, have no positive effect on behavior and academic achievement, and emphasize disparities they are supposed to disguise. So what are the

5. School uniforms restrict students ' freedom of expression.The First Amendment of the US Constitution says that all individuals have the right to express themselves freely. The US Supreme Court stated inTinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District(7-2, 1969) that "it can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."In the 1970 case, which revolved around a boy refusing to have his hair cut shorter, the US First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that "compelled conformity to conventional standards of appearance" does not "seem a justifiable part of the educational process."Clothing choices are "a crucial form of self-expression," which also stated that "allowing students to choose their clothing is an empowering message from the schools that a student is a maturing person who is entitled to the most basic self-determination."Clothing is also a popular means of expressing support for various social causes and compulsory uniforms largely remove that option. In Oct. 2013, students at Friendly High School in Prince George 's County, MD, were not allowed to wear pink shirts to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So

School uniforms promote conformity over individuality.At a time when schools are encouraging an appreciation of diversity, enforcing standardized dress sends a contradictory message.Chicago junior high school student Kyler Sumter wrote in theHuffington Post: "They decide to teach us about people like Rosa Parks, Susan B. Anthony and Booker T. Washington... We learn about how these people expressed themselves and conquered and we can 't even express ourselves in the hallways."Troy Shuman, a senior in Harford County, MD, said the introduction of a mandatory uniform policy to his school would be "teaching conformity and squelching individual thought. Just think of prisons and gangs. The ultimate socializer to crush rebellion is conformity in appearance. If a school system starts at clothes, where does it end?"Late satirist George Carlin asked, "Don 't these schools do enough damage, making all these children think alike? Now they 're gonna get them to look