OPPOSING POINT OF VIEW

For this session, we are learning about opposing point of view.

In many cases, you need to weigh up the arguments on different sides and coming to a conclusion
regarding your point of view. When you start reading an argument, you need to try to be as objective as
possible and try to avoid bias. Bias means your prior belief of an issue that affects your perception about
certain issue.

For example the following texts about school uniform; even before reading the text, you may have had a
belief about whether you agree or disagree about it. This may affect how you approach the text. If you
agree with wearing school uniform, you may unconsciously see the pro-uniform argument to be more
appealing to you. That is the bias from your side.

For this exercise, try to suppress your bias and see both merit of the arguments more objectively.

Please answer the following question first before reading the text!
1. Based on your subjective point of view (your belief), should students wear school uniforms?
Explain your answer!

Now, read the texts and answer the following questions (also read the external sources)!
2. What are the main arguments for both sides (one sentence/phrase/clause for each pointer)?
a. Pro:
o ….
o Etc
b. Cons:
o ….
o Etc
3. Based on #2, are the sources of the arguments reliable/believable?
4. Objectively speaking (based on #2 and #3), which argument is stronger (pro/cons)? Explain!
5. Based on #1 and #4, do you change your prior belief or not? Explain why!
Click the numbers for external sources (ctlr + left click)!

Should Students Wear School Uniforms?

PRO
School uniforms may deter crime and increase student safety.
In Long Beach, CA, after two years of a district-wide K-8 mandatory uniform policy, reports of
assault and battery in the district’s schools decreased by 34%, assault with a deadly weapon dropped by
50%, fighting incidents went down by 51%, sex offenses were cut by 74%, robbery dropped by 65%,
possession of weapons (or weapon “look-alikes”) decreased by 52%, possession of drugs went down by
69%, and vandalism was lowered by 18%. [64]
One year after Sparks Middle School in Nevada instituted a uniform policy, school police data
showed a 63% drop in police log reports, and decreases were also noted in gang activity, student fights,
graffiti, property damage, and battery. [25] A peer-reviewed study found that schools with uniform
policies had 12% fewer firearm-related incidents and 15% fewer drug-related incidents than schools
without uniforms. [69]
School uniforms also prevent students from concealing weapons under baggy clothing, [ 38]
make it easier to keep track of students on field trips, and make intruders on campus more visible. Frank
Quatrone, superintendent in the Lodi district of New Jersey, stated that “When you have students
dressed alike, you make them safer. If someone were to come into a building, the intruder could easily
be recognized.” [6]

CON
School uniforms restrict students’ freedom of expression.
The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees that all individuals have the right to
express themselves freely. The US Supreme Court stated in Tinker 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.” [28][8]
In Sweden, a government agency called the School Inspectorate determined that uniforms were
a human rights violation because “dress and appearance should be considered an individual expression,
decided by the students themselves.” [39] Clothing choices are “a crucial form of self-expression,”
according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, 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.” [17]
Uniforms take away the ability to use clothing as means of expressing support for social causes.
Students at Friendly High School in Prince George’s County, MD, were not allowed to wear pink shirts to
support Breast Cancer Awareness Month and 75 students received suspensions for breaking the school’s
uniform restrictions. [11]

Sources: https://school-uniforms.procon.org/