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.