School Uniforms
Written June 2002
School uniforms. A topic often debated by students
and educators alike. It used to be thought that only students in
private schools wore uniforms, but that is no longer the case. Public schools
across the US are beginning to have a uniform policy. The question is,
do they have an effect on students?
I feel that it would be good for schools, public
and private, to have uniform policies. That way, there would not be teasing
because of what a student wears, since they would all be wearing the same
thing. Also, studies prove that some schools with uniform policies have higher
scores on standardized tests than some schools without them.
There would not be teasing because of clothing at
uniform schools, because everyone would be wearing the same thing.
For example, Silver Ridge Elementary School in Davie, Florida did not have
uniforms in the 1998-1999 school year, and a lot of kids were being teased
because they were not wearing the latest ‘cool’ clothing. The next year
there was a uniform policy at the school, and that kind of teasing almost
disappeared.
Some studies that have been conducted have shown
that some schools with uniform policies have higher test scores than some
schools without uniform policies. A school in Texas’ standardized test scores
skyrocketed last year. The study, however, shows that it might not be the
uniforms that caused it, as there were many other changes made to the school
that year. Indian Ridge Middle School, a uniformed school in Davie, Florida
had some of the highest test scores in Broward County for the 2000-2001
school year on the FCAT tests.
In my point of view, school uniforms would be an
improvement to American schools. What harm could it do, to try a new thing
to see if it has positive effects on the education of American children?
None at all, that I can see.