Should Students Wear School Uniforms?

Should students be required to wear school uniforms? The arguments against the requirement of school uniforms is not new. During the 1800’s England required all of their students to wear uniforms. In the United States, this school requirement began in 1987 in an inner-city school in Baltimore. In 1994, a school district in California followed suit. People who oppose school uniforms argue that requiring students to dress in a particular way is against the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Another opposing argument is that School uniforms restrict the students’ freedom of expression. Another argument against school uniforms is the claim that it forces conformity and decreases creativity development. Plainly stated, most students don’t like the requirement of school uniforms. Others who support school uniforms will argue that school uniforms improve academic achievement, school safety and the overall benefits for students’ social atmosphere …show more content…
The requirement of school uniforms demonstrates an increase students’ school academic achievement.James Comer, as reported in Daniels’ article, “Uniforms a Hit at Four Public Schools”, said that dress code could aid students’ academic performance. On page 48 of Schachter’s article, "Do Clothes Make the Student?", he quotes the superintendent of the Cahokia (Ill.) Unit School District 187, Jed Deds, about the benefits of school uniforms. Deds reports that school uniforms, “have become the colors of success, and he points to the student body’s two-grade-level improvement on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills since the uniform policy went into effect.” That is data to support an increase in student achievement. Sharon Shamburger Pate conducted a study of standardized test scores of students in elementary and middle schools in two different school districts to compare the impact of school uniforms before and after the uniform