School uniform is obligatory in 99.5% of schools in England. It has been established as a crucial, indispensable part of school life, to the point where even 78% students prefer a school uniform to ordinary clothes. It endows students with a sense of pride and belonging to the establishment they attend; along with garnering respect to one another. It eradicates bullying and harassment based on clothes in the school environment and propels students to a superior standard of grades. It helps to teach students that their individuality and uniqueness goes much deeper than their attire. It has therefore surprised us to say the least, which in the USA, there is an absence of a school uniform in a majority of schools; we are here to encourage change; to enrich the education of American children.
A school uniform gives a student a sense of identity and it gives them something in common with their peers, developing a safer and more propitious community for students to share. School uniform enforces students to draw a clear line of demarcation between life in school and that outside. Urging them to associate a central point of learning with one and relaxation and recreation, with the other. It encourages students to see each other as equal and takes away the judging of peers based solely on clothing. Furthermore school uniforms beneficially impact the community outside of school. Students are less likely to misbehave on their journey to and from school and on school trips, when wearing uniform. This is because it associates them with the school and makes them more identifiable and therefore more responsible for their actions. Normal clothes, on the other hand, gives them a sense of anonymity and generally will lead to more incivility which rears negative impacts to the community out of school.
Additionally, the University of California found that that the average child wastes 20 minutes every night deciding what to wear to school the next day. Time surely better spent studying or getting an earlier nights slept or for much-needed relaxation. Likewise, it was found that 1 in 3 cases of tardiness to school were due to clothing related delays. Why do students spend so much time preparing to clothe to wear to school? Simply put, due to the needless social pressure to fit in, entwined with the superfluous threat of being bullied or embarrassed due to a students clothes being perceivable not in or weird by classmates. It can lead to the substantial amount of stress to the student and lead to a strong sense of not belonging which can cause permanent insecurities that students will carry with them to adulthood. With a school uniform the bias between peers based on the way someone dresses would be eradicated and the horrendously increasing amount of cases of bullying based on the way in which someone dresses would be completely extinguished. School uniform helps to insulate children from bullying, in its absence, there are unnecessary problems for many children, and therefore in our opinion and we dearly hope yours too, this surpasses any benefits received by children who prefer and have no problems with wearing their clothes to school.
Additionally, despite the consensus, school uniform works out significantly cheaper than regular clothing. While school uniform may be more expensive than a generic pair of clothes, generic clothes are not what most kids wear to school nowadays. Children tend to want the latest in clothing so they can fit in with peers. If a fashion trend is made in school they want to keep up with it. This tends to amount to an exuberant figure. In addition to this, school uniform prices are dropping year by year, with lots of supermarkets such as Walmart providing budget deals for uniforms. Research conducted by the University of California shows that the average amount spent on a childs clothing is 20% higher if they do not have a school uniform. Uniform is not only infinitely beneficial for the student but also economical for the parents. Moreover, recent research by the University of New York found that uniform can improve concentration in the class by up to 20%, taking away distractions caused by inappropriate, unruly and explicitly revealing clothes. Not to mention that in all inner city school in Manhattan that have introduced school uniform in the past five years, there has been up to a 35% increase in grades! These exceptional results are just another example of the abundant advantageous uniform provides.
We must introduce School uniforms in all schools in the USA. It provides schools with a crucial backbone of unity and belonging which in turn leads to profoundly better academics and social relationships. Relationships which students will carry throughout their lifetime. Academics which will be their ticket to a fruitful future. Conceivably there are teenagers who will demonstrate that school uniform cages their personalities or that it represses their individuality, but these arguments have little merit. We believe a students individualism should be expressed not by what they wear but their demeanour, attitude and actions. For that reason we urge all schools in the USA to implement a one year trial period for school uniforms.
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