Pros & Cons Of School Uniforms
June 16, 2008
School districts have many reasons for bringing up uniforms as a possibility. For primary schools, uniforms are usually presented to parents as being easier for the kids; it takes much less time in the mornings to decide what to wear if the choice has to be a uniform, and often small kids have problems deciding what to wear or don’t want to wear what a parent chooses. School uniforms may significantly reduce peer pressure. With students not having to worry about their looks, fitting in not longer becomes the main worry in kid’s lives.
There are pros to have school uniforms. School uniforms may also provide a way out for poor children who otherwise couldn’t keep up with the trends and would face ridicule or pressure from other children. Many think that schools uniforms help maintain school discipline, decreasing the amount of discipline problems. The argument is that children today are lacking in self-discipline because parents refuse to discipline them. This makes it more difficult on the teacher who has to deal with classes of 25-30 students at a time.
In other hand, there are just as many experts who believe that the cost of school uniforms is a negative factor as those who see it as a positive factor. Some experts believe that it increases the amount of clothing parents will have to buy for their children because the children will still want and need clothing for the hours they are not in school. Uniforms can be more expensive for a family who buys from second-hand stores or who relies on hand-me-down clothing from friends and family
Other cons include school uniforms may hinder self expression through clothing, forcing children to find other ways to put across who they are. Children who wear school uniforms are more likely to use makeup early, and many resort to extreme accessories or to alter their uniforms to differentiate themselves from others. For example, many girls shorten their skirts as a way to rebel against the severity of school uniforms. Some students reject any rules. Forcing them to wear school uniforms only aggravates their rebellious spirit. They alter their school uniform by tightening, widening, shortening, or lengthening them, and teachers are given the impossible task of policing the students on a daily basis.






























