There is lot of talk on school uniforms nowadays. School uniforms are hot subject of ongoing school uniform debates. There are numerous school uniform debates hotly going on all over the world. These school uniform debates are all about the issues of public schools making school uniforms mandatory for children. Often, troubled by this mandatory status of school uniforms, people intentionally or unintentionally get involved into these school uniform debates.
These school uniform debates have two groups – one for school uniforms and other against school uniforms – debating on school uniforms. These debating groups in school uniform debates have their own reasons and logics for their respective stances on school uniforms.
The group supporting school uniform debates that school uniforms are necessary for smooth and safe working of schools. According to this group of school uniform exponents, schools uniforms help creating ideal climate of learning in schools. School uniforms helps creating safe atmosphere in schools, as they make it easier to identify trespassers and help reducing the activities of gangs in schools. School uniforms instill the spirit of discipline and responsibility among the students, and help students to concentrate more in studies and school assignments. School uniforms also help eliminating the socio-economical disparities among the students.
In the support of their argument, the supporters offer the figures of US Department of Education, 1996, which affirm that “school uniforms helped decreasing school crimes by 36%, school violence by 51%, and vandalism by 8%.” They also offer the NAESP’s (National Association of Elementary School Principals) study in 1998, which articulated that schools with active uniform policies had almost 20% better discipline rate, and 10% better results that the schools with non-active uniform policies.
However, the group opposing school uniform debates that school uniforms are unnecessary and evil. According to this group of opposers, the very idea of school uniforms is against the right to liberty and self expression. School uniforms make students submissive and servile and thus hider their personality development. The schools with strict uniform policies just produce submissive citizens rather than free thinkers of future.
The group opposing school uniform debates that school uniforms put extra financial burden on parents. This group feels that school uniforms are utterly unnecessary and evil. They should be abolished for the free and proper development of students.
Hence, both the groups in school uniform debates hold their stands vigorously and appear to be unyielding, which has made school uniform debates, unending.