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Drew Rambacher

Teacher

English

5/05/2023

Do School uniforms have any benefits?

The topic of school uniforms has long been a subject of debate among educators, parents, and

students alike. While the practice of requiring uniforms in schools is more common in Europe

and private schools, it is gaining traction in public schools across America. The idea of a dress

code that mandates specific clothing for students is being discussed at school board meetings

across the country. Those in favor of the change argue that school uniforms have many

advantages, such as reducing bullying and promoting a sense of unity among students. However,

the benefits of school uniforms are severely outweighed by their downsides or simply inaccurate.

Critics of school uniforms argue that they can be expensive, limit students' self-expression, and

have no proven effect on academic performance or behavior. Additionally, uniforms can create a

false sense of conformity and mask social and economic inequalities among students. In essence,

school uniforms may not provide any tangible benefits to students and may even do more harm

than good. Therefore school uniforms do not hold any benefit for the students.

To begin with, let's talk about why many organizations require uniforms to begin with. Many

different organizations that require uniforms that are not schools, from the military to sports

teams, to doctors and nurses, from fast food employees to janitors and even inmates. Most of

these require a uniform to some extent. Why is this?

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Uniforms play a crucial role in promoting recognition, both within and outside of a group or

organization. One of the primary reasons for using uniforms is to make it easier to identify

members of the group. For instance, in retail settings like Home Depot, uniforms such as aprons

allow customers to quickly identify employees and seek assistance. Similarly, in janitorial

services, uniforms like overalls can help distinguish staff members, particularly in situations

where immediate action is needed, such as cleaning up a spill. Uniforms are also important in

sports, where the recognition of the team's colors and design helps players and officials avoid

confusion and potential mistakes during games. In essence, uniforms serve as a visual

representation of the group or organization, helping to establish a sense of identity and belonging

among members. Furthermore, they facilitate external recognition, making it easier for outsiders

to identify and interact with the group. Overall, uniforms play a vital role in enhancing

recognition and promoting a sense of unity within a group, making them an essential tool for

many organizations.

Also, along the same lines as identification, it gives the ability to recognize who should be

where, such as if all doctors are wearing the same scrubs, it makes it easy to see who should be

allowed in places like operating rooms and who should not. And the same thing applies to

parents as well. Another example is inmates. If all the prisoners have the same orange jumpsuit it

makes it simple to see who the inmates are making the job of being a prison guard easier, and

also making it easier to spot escaped inmates in the short term.

The act of wearing a uniform can have a powerful effect on building a sense of community.

Sociological studies have shown that when individuals wear the same clothing, they are more
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likely to feel a sense of belonging and togetherness. The sense of community is particularly

important in groups that require a high level of teamwork and cooperation, such as sports teams

and militaries. In these groups, the uniform serves not only as a means of identification but also

as a symbol of solidarity and shared purpose. When everyone is dressed alike, it creates a sense

of equality and helps to break down barriers that may exist between individuals. Additionally,

wearing a uniform can also promote a sense of pride in one's group or organization, which can

further enhance the feeling of community. Thus, the act of uniform-wearing can play a crucial

role in fostering a strong sense of community and unity within a group or organization.

Here we see an example of what the typical public school uniform looks like.
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Let's start with one of the main benefits that school uniforms claim to have: a decrease in

bullying. As claimed in Matthew Patrick's video where he says the many proponents of school

uniforms claim that because all of the students are in the same clothing, no one can be bullied for

their clothes. However, in the same video, there are counterclaims through a mixture of personal

testimonies, reacher papers, and logic that proves this theory is false. He lays out his

counterclaim as follows: 1: that even though everyone is wearing the same thing there are no

limitations on brands still leaving room for bullying due to social status. So the richer kids can

still buy the same uniform but with the parts making it up being more expensive. This will go to

still show off a student's social prowess. Also, there is no limitation on excess. Such as wearing

expensive necklaces. 2: Most bullying is because of body type, which school uniforms do

nothing to change, which can make things worse because a student cannot select an outfit that

compliments their body shape. And 3: that students feel less of a sense of belonging in schools

where there are uniforms compared to schools where there are not. This debunks this whole

point, proving that school uniforms don't increase a sense of belonging or decrease bullying but

can increase both the lack of belonging and the bullying. Proving that implementing school

uniforms, for this reason, is not only ineffective but also constitutive.

In a paper by Gale Opposing Viewpoints, many pros and cons are given, but let's focus on the

pros for now. One point is that school uniforms relieve both mental and financial stress for

students. Many students struggle with stress every morning over what to wear to school that day.

Students struggling with that stress can be further compounded by seeing other people's outfits

and things that are better than theirs and so on. The answer to this problem is school uniforms. If

every student is forced to wear the same clothing every day at school then there is no worrying
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about what to wear because they all wear the same thing. This theory says that if you relieve

stress from students it will improve their lives. And as for financial stress, that point will be

covered later.

In the same paper from Gale, it states that wearing a school uniform helps to prepare a student

for the real world because many places of employment have a uniform, and it helps to prepare

the student for the inevitability. Or many places of improvement have a strict dress code, or even

a dress category all employees must follow, so having uniforms makes kids ready for this when

they join the workforce.

Another point brought up in the Gale paper is that not all the research points can be fully trusted.

Because schools in different demographics are more likely to require school uniforms so given

there are many more outside variables that or not accounted for when students are tested from

schools that wore uniforms when compared to schools that did not. Thus making any of the data

unreliable because it doesn't account for these variables.

Now it is time for another big reason why many schools require uniforms: it saves money.

School uniforms save children money in the sense that they don't need to go back to school

clothes shopping which is a large expense for many families. Eliminating this expanse can make

many families' lives easier by relieving the financial burden of back-to-school shopping, as seen

in the testimonial in Abha Bhattara’s paper. But this is not true; in fact, it is in most cases the

opposite of the truth. As seen in many of this paper’s sources, in theory, this point is true, but in
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execution, it is not. Because school uniforms are much more expensive than normal clothes. So,

why yes, the students have to buy fewer clothes, but the clothes they do have to buy are more

expensive. Added to this is the fact that the students still have to buy clothes for when they will

not be in school as the uniforms as not worn outside of school and even though the volume of

these clothes will be reduced from normal, in the end, students who wear school uniforms often

spend more money on clothes than students who do not. Proving this point is utterly wrong.

However, The author has a different experience when it comes to back-to-school shopping. He

does not do back-to-school clothes shopping. Not doing back-to-school clothes shopping might

sound weird to some people, because they are wondering, well how do you have clothes then?

Well, the author buys new clothes when he either grows out of his old clothes or just sees an

outfit he likes. No huge back-to-school shopping spree because he still has all of the clothes from

last year most of which still fit. So if you use this method you still spend the same amount of

money but just spread it out through the year, lessening the immediate financial burden. Again

this is not an option for school uniforms because you must have it for the first day of school.

Others still claim that school uniforms decrease disciplinary measures in the schools where they

are implemented. However, this is also untrue in an interview about the study on the

effectiveness of school uniforms reduce despair in school Arya Ansari says “Uniforms may not

be the most effective way to improve student behavior and engagement.” (Sanchez) Also later in

the interview, she states that she did find an increase in students feeling as tho they don't belong.

It is also claimed that having school uniforms helps to increase school attendance. This is

because the fact that everyone is wearing the same clothes will increase school spirit. When

students have a higher school spirit they will be more willing to come to school because they are

provided for and feel as though they belong. And if they feel a sense of belonging they will want
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to come to school making students skip less. It is stated that 30% of schools agree with this As

found in the Nevada Today paper. But however, this is not to be trusted because later in that same

paraphrase it says this school feels as though it might have an effect as shown here: “interested in

implementing a school uniform policy might believe it is worth the effort.”(Sanchez). Might…

might have an effect. There is no research here it is just a gut feeling, so not reliable.

Moving on from this, let's talk about how students feel about school uniforms. All this time the

talking has been about numbers but let's focus on how the students feel about their uniforms. A

survey done by the University of Nevada found that 90% of students questioned did not like

school uniforms. “90 percent of the students indicated they did not like wearing uniforms”

(Sanchez)

In conclusion, the debate over school uniforms continues to rage on. While some argue that

uniforms promote a sense of community and can reduce bullying, critics counter that they limit

self-expression and can create a false sense of conformity. Ultimately, the benefits of school

uniforms are outweighed by their downsides or simply inaccurate. While uniforms may have

their place in other organizations, such as sports teams or the military, they may not provide any

tangible benefits to students in schools and may even do more harm than good. Instead, schools

should focus on promoting a positive and inclusive learning environment that values diversity

and individuality while fostering a sense of community and belonging.

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Sorces:

Bhattarai, Abha. "School uniforms are on the rise, changing back-to-school shopping."

Washington Post, 22 Aug. 2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A597087268/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=9

6f7c1ef. Accessed 5 Mar. 2023.

Grabmeier, Jeff. “School Uniforms Don't Improve Child Behavior, Study Finds.” College

of Education and Human Ecology, 11 Jan. 2022,

https://ehe.osu.edu/news/listing/school-uniforms-don-t-improve-child-behavior-stu

dy-finds#:~:text=School%20uniforms%20were%20not%20linked,schools%20with

%20no%20uniform%20requirements.

Holmes, Debbie. “Study Shows School Uniforms Don't Improve Student Behavior.”

WOSU News, 6 Jan. 2022,

https://news.wosu.org/news/2022-01-06/study-shows-school-uniforms-dont-improv

e-student-behavior.

n/a, ipl. “Should Students Wear School Uniforms?” Should Students Wear School

Uniforms?, 2023,
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https://www.ipl.org/essay/Should-Students-Wear-School-Uniforms-FK77VM7EAJ

F6.

Ordway, Denise-Marie. “School Uniforms: Do They Really Improve Student Achievement,

Behavior?” The Journalist's Resource, 21 Nov. 2020,

https://journalistsresource.org/education/school-uniforms-research-achievement/.

Sanchez, Jafeth. “School Uniform Study: College of Education Researchers Conduct Study

on Uniform Impacts.” University of Nevada, Reno, University of Nevada, Reno, 23

Apr. 2013, https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2013/school-uniform-study.

"School Uniforms." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2021. Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/PC3010999340/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid

=ca5ff4de. Accessed 5 Mar. 2023.