School Uniforms VS No Uniforms

The views on school uniform vary according to an age, social status, location, position and cultural preferences. While children may treat the uniform as something that should be taken for granted and parents may appreciate it, teenagers might probably hate it. The opinions of a principle of the school, a teacher and a pupil or student can be absolutely contrary. This makes the question on whether the school uniform is a necessary attribute for study more complicated. Here are the arguments concerning pros and cons, which you can use for your essay or research paper.

Pro-Arguments About School Uniform

1. Similar outfits will lessen bullying and peer pressure at school as children and teenagers will have less reasons for teasing each other when having similar looks. This will enforce the feeling of equality among students.
2. Having similar official looks improves discipline and attendance. Paying less attention to clothes, students will dedicate more time to studying and academic affairs.
3. School uniform discourages crime and improves the safety at school. One of the examples of how it works is lack of chances for students to hide weapons or drugs in the uniform while baggy clothing can easily conceal them.
4. There is the concept which unites the school to a large extent. It is known as a “school pride unity”, and school uniform is one of the tools that helps to support it. It maintains the community spirit among the representatives of one school. Especially, it is effective if teachers and students have the same elements in their clothing.
5. One more positive side of the school uniform is its capacity to save parents’ money. Instead of buying a number of outfits that would be suitable for school and pleasant for a child its parents can spend the earnings for a school uniform only.
6. It is not true that uniforms are boring and restrict student’s self-expression and creativity which can be demonstrated by clothing. On the contrary, students can develop their taste by adding suitable accessories and varying the uniforms so as to stand out of the crowd.

Con-Arguments on School Uniform

1. The first and the strongest argument against school uniform is its violating the human right for self-expression and freedom, which is guaranteed by the Constitution. It must be taken into account that when choosing the clothes, we choose the way we want to look and be perceived by our surrounding. This is why this kind of restriction causes undesirable social confrontations.
2. In fact, school uniform does not save parent’s money but wastes it. Usually, the certain design of uniform represents certain commercial interests of the school and its partners.
3. If we think globally, we will realize that school uniforms oppress individuality and liberate the conformity instead. While all schools are aimed on setting free the diversity, uniform and self-expression restriction carry the message of conformity.
4. It must be considered that most students are against wearing the uniform: typically, it irritates them or they dislike how it looks or how they look if putting it on. Such opposition between the student and the uniform rule is rather dangerous as starting with reluctance to wear the uniform, the student may later on conflict with the school and education in general.

School Uniforms Issue Around the World

So, to wear or not to wear: that is the question which is being discussed by many educators worldwide. As we can see even from a few arguments mentioned above, the most challenging roadblock on the way to the final solution, however paradoxically it may seem, can be presented with the help of the two main and very essential issues:

• on the one hand, it is closely connected with the urge to keep discipline and equality among students of different age and social background;
• on the other hand, very strict regulations regarding the choice of clothes (that is one of the most remarkable ways of self-expression) may threaten to obliterate students’ individual features of self-presentation and self-identification.

Thus, when writing an essay about the long-lasting school uniform dispute, one of your main tasks is to maneuver between these two ideas very neatly. It means that you should make your own opinion sound both reasonable and unambiguous, so that you reader, even if he or she takes the opposite side of the argument, could understand you and, probably, even get imbued with your point of view.

Definitely, a good essay cannot go without a pair of valid facts taken either from history or from the present time, which can serve as nice examples supporting your own considerations. So, below you will find three real solutions which particular countries have come up with in recent years hence putting an end to the uniform dispute within them. Hope, they will stand you a good stead becoming great illustrations for the thoughts you are going to uphold in your paper.

Solution #1: British Style

Great Britain is actually known as the country of uniforms, and the student dress-code is regulated quite strictly there. However, the style speaks for itself. Well, if you associate it with Hogwarts uniforms from the famous Harry Potter series, you are on the right way despite the fact that the whole story of the Boy Who Survived is a fairy tale in its essence. Still, have a quick look at the young sorcerers’ and sorceresses’ uniforms from the movie and at those of real British students who study at real schools and colleges. You may be really surprised to see that they look quite similar (in real life there are no cloaks though).

Solution #2: Chinese Practicality

In recent years, the government of China has implemented quite an interesting regulation concerning school uniforms all over the country. According to it, pupils have to wear sport suits and sneakers. The colors of the pupils’ uniforms determine the school they study at. Such a solution appears to be a really practical for children who move a lot, so comfortable sportswear is probably right what they need.

Solution #3: Eastern European Liberalism

In most countries of Eastern Europe, there is student dress-code, yet uniforms, which would be designed specially for this and that school, are not very popular. Naturally, in most schools it is not allowed to wear very bright colors, baggy or plunging clothes and some large accessories. However, students do not have to adhere to a particular uniform as well.