School uniforms should be required
Con argues that "the government cannot force private schools to wear uniforms." Actually,
the government can pass a law to require it if they chose. However, the operative
notion for this debate is "should." the question here is only whether or not it is
a good idea. I would leave it up to local school boards to accept the idea. However,
if con thinks that implementation is a fundamental barrier, then we can amend the
Constitution to allow the mandate. 1) I too would not have liked to have been forced
to wear a uniform in high school, and I agree that many students would not like it.
However, many students do not like to be forced to attend school at all, or to learn
math or science or reading, or to do homework. Nonetheless, all those things are imposed
for the sake of education. Con argues "helping each other to succeed, which is fine
on a team but school is about individualism." Among the things that students can do
to help each other succeed in education are: provide upper class mentoring of students
in lower grades, minimize the social pressure to goof off rather than study, value
the debate team along with the basketball team (well, maybe that is a bit much to
ask for, but you get the idea), provide peer encouragement to "do your best", and
provide a respectful participatory class environment. Con offers no evidence that
discipline is unimportant for general education, or that creativity is suppressed
in general by having uniforms. Maturity is often defined as "accepting postponement of the gratification of wants."
That means learning to accept discipline and to impose self-discipline. Therefore,
these are valid educational goals. Now, I agree the discipline thing can be overdone,
but I cannot see any argument that American schools are now over-disciplined. We should
move in that direction. 2) Con argues "surely does not help students focus as they
will only find other ways to bully or tease one another." Yes, students can find other
ways to misbehave, but that doesn't mean uniforms won't help. Having laws against bank robbery does not prevent bank robbery, but the
laws help. I have no problem with students changing out of uniforms when they are not in class, in fact I think that helps reinforce the concept that
there is a focused "education mode" and a "non-education" mode. Compare it to judges
wearing robes. It helps the judge maintain a judicial attitude, and it helps participants
afford respect to the judge in his judicial role. If the judge had on a comfy jogging suit and sneakers in the courtroom, we would rightly
be concerned that he was not focused on justice. It would be counterproductive if judges wore their robes all the time; similarly,
uniforms should be tied to the learning environment. 3) Con argues, "Who says the boys and
girls must keep their uniforms in fashionable or even clean shape?" Actually, Con previously argued social pressure
would do so, "it encourages others to mock those who do not have their uniforms as perfect as perhaps their own little group..." That would be a significant improvement
over competition through expensive fashion fads. The larger point, however, is that
the best a school can do is teach; it cannot guarantee that each person will learn. The argument for
teaching is that many will learn, even though some do not. 4) I argued, "It encourages
students to evaluate people by their behavior and personality rather than by their
manner of dress." Con argued again that students may find other ways to misbehave.
Again, that is not grounds for failing to do the best job of teaching possible. 5)
con gave no reasons of evidence to support his contention that "Students will be less
likely to want to learn in a strict environment." He discounted the Japan, Taiwan,
and Hong Kong examples to the contrary on the grounds that there were many other differences
in the school systems other than uniforms. I granted those many differences at the outset, however, the common theme in all
of the differences is that there is more strict environment, not a less strict environment.
I have not claimed that uniforms were the only factor or that adopting uniforms would perform miracles. The contention is solely that they move in the direction
of having more focused educational environment, and that would improve academic achievement.
the notion that students are less likely to want to learn in a focused environment
is clear contradicted by the evidence. 6) Con previously argued that students would
immediately change out their uniforms the minute school ended. If there is a problem, that's a good solution. Note that there is larger problem
with students wearing gang colors or clothing styles that provoke violence. there
are cases of students being attacked because they unknowingly wore gang colors. Uniforms solve that problem. 7) There is no reason why uniforms need be uncomfortable. I allowed that parents and administrators should adapt to
local circumstances. Fairbanks will be different from Key West. 8) Teachers should
do nothing to enforce uniform requirements. That is a job for the school administration. Increased discipline helps teachers. Classes in Japan and elsewhere
are much larger than in the US, yet they deliver better education. This is only possible
because there are fewer behavior problems. 9) Con asks for additional evidence, while
providing no counter-evidence of his own. The largest and most prominent example of
a school uniform policy experiment in the United States is that of the Long Beach Unified
School District, the third largest school district in California having 97,000 students in 90 public school programs, with 46 different languages spoken by local students: "The quantitative
outcomes of the policy have been remarkable. Crime report summaries are now available
for the five-year post-uniform policy period and reflect that school crime overall has dropped approximately 86%, even though K-8 student enrollment increased
14%. The five categories of school crime where comparisons can be made between 1993 levels and 1999 levels are as follows:
(a) sex offenses down 93% (from 57 to 4 offenses); (b) robbery/extortion down 85%
(from 34 to 5 cases); (c) selling or using chemical substances down 48% (from 71 to
37 cases); (d) weapons or look-a-likes down 75% (from 145 to 36 cases); and (e) dangerous
devices down 96% (from 46 to 2 cases; LBUSD, 1999). ... Analysis of attendance figures
has also provided interesting outcomes for the uniform initiative. In the fourth year
that school uniforms have been required in K-8 grades, the percent of actual attendance reached almost
95%, noted as the highest point in the 18 years that the district has maintained statistics.
Middle schools also registered comparable improvements in student attendance reaching
almost 95% (LBUSD, 2002)." http://findarticles.com... The city of Baltimore provides
another major experiment with positive results: "Eddie Scott, principal at Meade Middle
on Fort Meade, tells the Baltimore Sun's writer, Anica Butler, "There's research that
shows a correlation between appropriate dress and academic performance." Students
will not be distracted with who is wearing what brand of jeans, shoes or shirts. Students
can focus on learning which is why they are there." http://educationalissues.suite101.com...
In addition to the experience of foreign countries, there are also the evidence of
private and and parochial schools that generally require uniforms and achieve better performance. The policies work most effectively when parents support
them, as in Long Beach and Baltimore, and there are examples when other factors overwhelm
the effect of having uniforms. Requiring uniforms is a step in the right direction.
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