University of Missouri assistant professor, David Brunsma...
School Uniforms Should not be Required
Virginia Draa, assistant professor at Youngstown State University, reviewed attendance, graduation and proficiency pass rates at 64 public high schools in Ohio. Her final analysis surprised her: "I really went into this thinking uniforms don't make a difference, but I came away seeing that they do. At least at these schools, they do. I was absolutely floored." Draa's study concluded that those schools with uniform policies improved in attendance, graduation and suspension rates. She was unable to connect uniforms with academic improvement because of such complicating factors as changing instructional methods and curriculum. University of Missouri assistant professor, David Brunsma reached a different conclusion. In his 2004 book, The School Uniform Movement and What It Tells Us About American Education: A Symbolic Crusade, Brunsma reviewed past studies on the effect of uniforms on academic performance. He also conducted his own analysis of two enormous databases, the 1988 National Educational Longitudinal Study and the 1998 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Brunsma concluded that there is no positive correlation between uniforms and school safety or academic achievement. In closing school uniforms also Help prevent gangs from forming on campus Encourage discipline by teaching students to adhere to rules Help students resist peer pressure to buy trendy clothes Diminish economic and social barriers between students Increase a sense of belonging and school pride How students can be creative at school -by being effective learners, the greatest form of creativity is expressed with knowledge -students can be creative in debate, science projects, chess, acting, sports Anecdotal evidence shows the effectiveness of uniforms Here is how school uniforms prevent bullying School uniforms make act as a leveler between rich and poor students because it means all students wear the same thing no matter what their socio-economic back ground. If students wore their everyday clothes their would be a big gap between what rich students wore and what poor students wore. Clothing would become an indicator of how well off a child's parents were. Children would inevitably begin to be bullied if they were not able to keep up with the latest and often expensive fashion trends. At school all students should be seen as equal amongst their peers and ensuring they all wear the same uniform is one way to ensure that is the case. Students will find enough reasons to bully each other on their own, we do no need to give them another one on the plate.