Benefits of School Uniforms

in that location be many sides to the debate just about shallow undifferentiateds, scarcely the debate against requisite carry on identicals comes much from the libertarians and groups from the erstwhile(a) give instruction guard. The problem with the anile prep are group and civil libertarians deliberate an get on with when drill force play and bullyrag were not as preponderating in the enlighten system as they are today. instruct age pip-squeakren are consistently being accosted and bullied for designer clothing and doughnut force-out is at an all-time high in many naturalize day districts, but, the asset of a mandatory groom insurance policy flock decrease depicted object and state figures relative to work effect.It is time for children and spring chicken adults to be fitting to attend instruct and learn without fear of intimidation. By implementing a policy of mandatory schooldays ordereds, slight time is spent on kind awkwardness where many assimilators who simply cannot afford to wear the latest expressive style design and can stop worrying about the gangs around the school who look at what colors of what a bookman wears to initiate bullying practices.First, on that spot is a need to actually define why school administrators and educators are looking to enforcing mandatory school uniforms and the reason why chairman Clinton, in 1996, during his State of the Union share endorsed uniforms in American schools. In order to do accomplish this, it is important to look at what issues school administrators and educators feel are the impeders of instruction and scholarly advancement. Oftentimes students who are continually focused on fashion and attaining the latest look tend to pass by far less time in a positive learning situation.Distraction leads to poor learning environments (PSParents) galore(postnominal) advocates of a mandatory school uniform policy point to the increasing events of delirium within the school system and much of that is laced into the students appearance itself. in that location are instances where children are inflicting bodily harm on unrivaled some other because of the name brand on a jacket or a pair of jeans and, in larger cities where gang involvement is prevalent, children are killed because they chose the improper color to wear to school.The issue is not about civil liberties or freedom of expression but about improving the deteriorating state of the educational environment within our public school system nationwide (PSParents). Many experts are of the public opinion that students that attend schools wear uniforms actually fix high academic scores. It is as well as believed that school uniforms can look to improving student attendance and focus intently on studies without worrying about whether they can or their parents can purchase for them the same new style of clothing.The old phrase of keeping up with the J iodins can attest to what many youn g students where they simply want what their friends are wearing. Many school administrators are of the opinion that students who wear school uniforms be claim in a far more than appropriate manner within the school atmosphere as uniforms carry to engaging students in appropriate behavior by reducing vehemence within the system.The most plausible reason for this is that with standardized dress there is less places to hide weapons in where in the fashion standard of students, peculiarly in high school, weapons can be hidden in pockets in waist bands of pants that have shirts laid oertop and in baseball game caps. It is this authors opinion that with less opportunity to hide weapons in clothing and headgear of what students are currently wearing can hide weapons that are carried into the school and, if there are no metal detectors present, leaves an undeniable avenue for violent propensities.What has been considered whiz of the more conscionable reasons for the policy to impleme nted within the school system is the social preying that befall with many indigent students. Many students come from impoverished family units and if they are inefficient to afford the latest trends and this is 1 of the offices that students look to in an judge at self-expression and definition. This is a huge factor in a childs psychological development and if there is a removal of this one barrier that students continually come up against, there is a tag improvement in both academic and social situations.This is really tied into the social outcome factor as when there is only one type of dress needed for school, i. e. uniform, there is a higher instance of affordability amongst families that are simply unable to afford expensive, trendy clothing. The government has also taken an independent and un dark approach to addressing this issue and it is compelling their overall interpretation of the current school system and its tie-in to student prophylactic.The government believe s that the ad preferion of school uniform policies can promote school safety, improve discipline, and enhance the learning environment. The potential benefits of school uniforms overwhelm fall effect and theft &8212 even life-threatening situations &8212 among students over designer clothing or expensive sneakers helping prevent gang members from wearing gang colors and insignia at school instilling students with discipline helping parents and students turn away peer pressure helping students concentrate on their school survive and helping school officials recognize intruders who come to the school (Government) There are currently many communities that have decided to adopt school uniform policies, which include California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia and, many large school systems include Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dayton, Detroit, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, Phoenix, Seattle and St.Louis have school in either a voluntary or mandatory uniform policy in effect. There are many school boards in large and small cities that have adopted school uniform policies which include Long Beach, California Uniforms are mandatory in all elementary and middle schools. Each school in the district determines the uniform its students will wear. There is an opt-out of the program with maternal(p) consent. Currently the size of the program, implemented in 1994, includes 58,500 elementary and middle school students.Support for disadvantaged students Each school must develop an assistance cast for families that cannot afford to buy uniforms. In most cases, graduating students either donate or sell used uniforms to needy families. Results District officials found that in the course following effectuation of the school uniform policy, overall school execration decreased 36 pct, fights decreased 51 percent, sex offenses decreased 74 percent, weapons offenses decreased 50 percen t, assault and battery offenses decreased 34 percent, and vandalism decreased 18 percent.Less than one percent of the students have elected to opt out of the uniform policy. Dick Van Der Laan of the Long Beach integrated School District explained, We cant attribute the improvement exclusively to school uniforms, but we think its more than coincidental. According to Long Beach Police headman William Ellis, Schools have fewer reasons to call the police. Theres less conflict among students. Students concentrate more on education, not on whose wearing $100 shoes or gang attire. Richmond, VirginiaThis voluntary uniform policy at Maymont Elementary School for the Arts and Humanities was implemented in 1994 with approximately 262 elementary school students enrolled. Support for disadvantaged students Responding to parent concerns about the cost of uniforms, the school want community financial support for the uniform program. Largely as a result of financial donations from businesses a nd other community leaders, the percentage of students wearing uniforms locomote from 30 percent in 1994-95, the first year of the program, to 85 percent during the current year.Results Maymont principal Sylvia Richardson identifies many benefits of the uniform program, including improved behavior, an increase in attendance rates and higher student achievement. In the examples shown above, both mandatory and voluntary uniform policies have proven there is a correlativity between violent behavior and school uniform policies and there are many variations of the mandatory school uniform policy which can be initiated between the school, the parent and the student. Carl A.Cohn writes that within the Long Beach school system, upon instituting a mandatory school uniform policy over two historic period prior, much of the public school educational establishment reacted skeptically. The school board was told by permissive parents, civil liberties interest groups, timid legislators, and a b iased news media that they would not let it happen. The school board initiated this program over 1 ? years ago with a 99 percent submission rate in the program and a substantial decrease in school crime (Cohn). ConclusionEither being in favor or not in favor of mandatory school uniforms is a moot point as it is generally those who simply dont like to have their children conform to a mandatory policy or not, and, not for concrete and convincing reasons that wearing a school uniform decreases their childrens aptitude for learning, decreases their social status, or, even decreases their childs freedom of expression. Albeit some students, specially those in the higher grade levels often rebel by girls pull their skirts up above the regulated skirt length, this, is in no way a reflection on safety in school.One piece of leaven that is hard to refute is that studies have found that due to increased preponderance of school violence, one in five public school students feels less eager t o go to school every day, one in seven-spot feels less inclined to pay attention to learning in school, and one in 10 stays home from school or cuts class. In unsafe school environments, teachers cannot teach to their maximum potential, and students cannot learn to their full electrical capacity (Everett and Price).Paliokas and Rist note that for many individuals, the appeal of mandatory school uniforms is based on conventional wisdom and an intuitive belief that increased structure results in improved child behavior. Nevertheless, there is not much empirical data to support a cause-and-effect relationship between school uniforms and violence. just put, there are other variables which may, in fact, be a direct or indirect contributor to blood lines in levels of violence with or without school uniform policies.Paliokas and Rist posed several questions that must first be answered in the first place declines in school violence can be specifically attributed to the implementation of school uniform programs a) was the implementation of the uniform policy only one aspect of a comprehensive safety plan that included heightened trade protection and stricter rules? b) were local community-policing programs implemented at the same time? c) was the trend of violence in the school at its peak and ready to decline? d) was there an analysis of the trends of violence within that specific school or school district?e) were the decreases in school violence attributed to the Hawthorne Effect in which short-term attention to and visibility of a problem caused the decline? and, finally f) was enate involvement a crucial factor in the reducing of violence? (Paliokis and Rist). A large problem with the debate over school uniform policies and putting the emphasis on if implementing said policy was, in fact, in direct relation to curbing school violence is that although many school districts were privy to reduction in violence related to students, could there in fact be mitig ating factors relative to the reduction.There is a need to look to finding empirical evidence in support of a mandatory uniform policy through the gathering of a variety of independent studies including 1) analyze parent, teacher, and student perceptions regarding school uniforms and violence prevention. 2) Trend analyses to determine whether any decline in violence represents true pitch or predictable change in trend within the school and/or school district. 3) moldiness be statistically control for possible intervening variables associated with violence reduction to determine cause-and-effect relationships between school uniforms and violence reduction.4) Compare the prevalence of violence in schools mandating uniforms with schools mandating dress codes. 5) Obtain data from both experimental groups (those mandatory to wear uniforms) and control groups (those not required to wear uniforms). 6) Examination of how schools mandating uniforms address the issue of providing school un iforms to low-income families. 7) Focus on identifying the means to adequately valuate the effect of mandatory uniform programs on the prevalence of school violence (Paliokas and Rist)Works Cited Paliokas KL, Rist RC. Do They Reduce Violence &8212 Or Just Make Us Feel Better? Online. http//www. edweek. org/we/vol-15/28rist. h15. April 3, 1996. Cohn CA. Mandatory school uniforms Long Beachs pioneering experience finds safety and economic benefits. School Admin. 1996 53(2)22-25. King, K. A. Should school uniforms be mandated in elementary school? 1998. Online http//danenet. wicip. org/ncs/forumuniformseval. htm PSParents. net. Pros of Mandatory School Uniforms.Online at http//psparents. net/ in_support. htm United States Government. School Uniforms Where They be and Why They Work? Online http//www. ed. gov/updates/uniforms. html American Psychological draw. Violence and juvenility Psychologys Response, Volume 1 Summary Report of the American Psychological draw Commission on Viole nce and Youth. Washington, DC American Psychological Association 199342. Callahan CM, Rivara FP. Urban high school youth and handguns. JAMA. 19922673038-3032.