Are Uniforms a Good Way to Improve Student Discipline and Motivation, Essay Example

In recent times, the debate about the essence of school uniforms as part of the overall schooling process has come under greater scrutiny. As always the subject is as divisive as ever, with proponents and opponents citing somewhat compelling arguments to justify their respective positions. Caught up in the web of this debate are parents, school administrators, school children and a host of other related educational stakeholders. Considering the passionate manner with which all sides of the debate have articulated their positions, my interest to the subject matter became heightened. In following the debate from all sides, I resolved to be opened minded and as a result I have become convinced that above every other reason, the need for adopting school uniforms in both public and private schools is understandable an unassailable necessity that ultimate will better serve the educational system of our day and age.

For this reason, the constituent elements of this essay is primarily hinged on a foundation that is essentially tilted towards proving the relevance of school uniforms in bettering the educational needs of school children today and beyond. It should also be noted that with reference to the open minded approach with which I gauged the respective merits and demerits of the individual arguments I have been able to find somewhat convincing arguments from the side that opposes the incorporation of uniforms as part of the educational activities of our schools today. Even with the best of intentions, I still find trouble with some of the seemingly good counter arguments raised in the arguments, consequently besides proving the case for the incorporation of school uniforms, this essay will also highlight the lame areas in the counter arguments often proliferated by opponents of school uniform regimes. Effectively, this essay will be addressing two sides of the same coin.

To begin with, let it be known that the use of standard clothing mechanisms expressed in the wearing of uniforms fundamentally provides answers to a legion of questions that parents and school children have to answer. In the first instance, the prescription of standard uniforms takes away the trouble of having to assemble a bunch of clothing required to be worn throughout the entire period of the school week. How is that done? If parents and school children are made aware that uniforms are the only acceptable regalia for schooling then, the immediate benefit is that it spares parents and their wards the trouble of searching through piles of cloths in the wardrobe in preparation for school. Mind you, there is often little time to get this done during the rush hour morning periods. Girls are even more inclined to spend even longer time searching for fitting and marching cloths as they prepare for school. Clearly, a simple standard school uniform tentatively takes away such a hassle.

Closely related to the foregoing is another crucially important dimension of the debate. Given the mounting costs of education, incurring additional costs arising from buying fitting cloths is certainly the last thing any responsible parent will want to hear about. The wearing of regular dresses for school poses an even demanding challenge on adolescents who are known to exhibit a high affinity for fashion and trendy dressing. Parents will therefore have to struggle with this impulse to meet the fashion needs of their young children. Either way being able to meet or otherwise the fashionable taste of a ward is a risky undertaken, knowing that in the case of the former children can get too obsessed with physical appearance much to the detriment of relevant academic work. On the other hand, a failure to meet the trendy wants of a school child induces bad feelings in the child.

According to school administrators who stand in favor of prescribing standard uniforms for school children, often times school children engage in needless discussions based on comparison of their cloths as though the school system is yet another outlet for a juvenile fashion showcase. It is also known that these practices have proven to be unhealthy for school discipline and morale judging by the fact that it triggers a situation similar to a caste system within the school environment based on prestige and social class expressed in the quality of the cloths a pupil puts on. Such cases provide fertile breeding grounds for ill feelings which also has the potential to dampen morale and even in extreme cases reports of arbitrary hatred and animosity amongst pupils.

It will at this juncture better serve the interest of this essay to cite a major argument proliferated by opponents of school uniforms. Their greatest concern is that school uniforms take away the sense of individuality of each of the students. Talking about individuality, there certainly is no problem having and maintaining a unique sense of individuality. But the trouble with the individuality question lies in the inappropriate definition of what constitutes individuality and what it does not constitute. What the opponents have failed to address, which as a result has defeated their case is that the wearing of uniforms as prevalent in the security agencies, medical and financial institutions has not by any means eroded the level of individuality amongst the pupil serving in these professions. Needless to say that nothing can be farther from the truth in this case.

On the contrary, a child wearing a school uniform is more inclined to be psychologically tuned to respond to the educational processes with every form of seriousness. Take an illustration in a child who finds his or her parent smartly dressed every morning poised to get to work is naturally going to accept the uniform as his or her own defined terrain of approaching the days activities with the same level of seriousness depicted in the dressing of his or her parent as seen in the regular outfit of a parent. Then comes the issue of the child understanding that if a parent is not undervalued by any physical dressing then his or her fanciness will not in any way be an impediment to individuality or personality development. It is also prudent to state the ultimate aim of educating our children is to prepare them to take up positions of responsibilities in the future (Gregory, 2007). It is also true that in most instances, most work environments require the wearing of uniforms or even dressing conservatively to say the least. Wearing uniforms within the school system provides the nurturing grounds for the eventual assimilation into the working dispensation that is prevalent in most parts of the world.

The process of teaching and learning best takes place in atmosphere of discipline and congeniality. To this end, the wearing of school uniforms provides the best platform for attaining such a state given the fact that in the most apparent form children will be on the same physical and social wavelength paving the way for the process of intellectual development. It takes away other needlessly distracting elements bordering on social class and physical appeal. The real and important aspects of the personality of the individual therefore take supremacy over the lesser factors. It is against this background that former President Bill Clinton was quoted as saying:

If it means that the school rooms will be more orderly and more disciplined, and that our     young people will learn to evaluate themselves by what they are on the inside, instead of what they’re wearing on the outside, then our public schools should be able to require their students to wear uniforms.[1]

It would also be interesting for the opponents of school uniforms in both private and public schools to know that wearing uniforms ultimately boils down to yet another question of being able to offers orderliness, safety and security for school children on the school premises during regular times of schooling. A uniform can no doubt be a way of putting away infiltrators who are not in any way part of the student population. It enables school authorities and security systems to easily make a distinction between members of the school population from intruders. Another fact worth telling is that school uniforms provide a sense of togetherness amongst the school children as it works to infuse pride in their school and whatever peculiar values the school stands for amongst the list of schools within a given locality.

In summing up, another equally compelling dimension of the debate lies in what is also a weak spot in the arguments put forward by opponents of school uniforms, lies in the premise that restricted dress codes can provide an alternative to school uniforms. Making such an assertion fails to make provision for how this should be monitored bearing in mind that relaxing the rules on the one hand and calling for strict enforcement in many ways puts school authorities in a position tantamount to commanding them to sit on their hands. It is an additional complication to the process of monitoring and ensuring conformity which is fundamentally assaulted by the call for the removal of school uniforms. In any case if the call for the abolishment of the wearing of uniforms in contemporary schools is such an unassailable fact, why should there be provisions for dressing code since it ultimately boils down to the same question.

Reference List

Gregory Johnson (2007). School uniforms level playing field, build students’ characters. Retrieved on February 10, 2010 from http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/08/post-9.html

The History of Private and Public School Uniforms: Middle Ages. Retrieved from http://www.schooluniformsonline.com.au/school-uniform-history.html on February 10, 2010

Those disgusting School Uniforms (B). Retrieved on February 10, 2010 from http://www.optionality.net/mag/oct98a.html

[1] http://www.buzzle.com/articles/are-school-uniforms-good-or-bad-idea.html