Essay Example on School Uniforms: An Ongoing Debate in the Contemporary World

In the contemporary world, the school uniform's debate as a dress code has been an issue for many years. Further, there have been many legal issues raised regarding the dress codes and uniforms in the country. The debate has created two different groups of people having the motives behind establishing dress codes in light of the presented need an argument for and against the decision to impose school uniform policies within the learning institutions in the country. Therefore, it is essential to understand these rational arguments on both ends and come up with a justified decision to meet the people's best interests in general.

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The dress code and uniform policies began as early as 1999 when the guidelines in hand were provided for the school boards, and administrators started to develop the need for common uniformity in schools. More than 72% of New York City elementary schools are considered to have established a standardized dress code (Deane, 2015). Similarly, other States also developed its guidelines to empower local districts to set up their uniform policies. However, it is not evident how many districts and schools are now able to enforce a dress code or uniform policy (Deane, 2015). Nonetheless, it is essential to note that the dress code and uniform policies are not similar because the dress code focuses on stating what should not be worn. The uniform policies illustrate the type of dress that needs to be worn. The difference in these dressing policies has led to a nationwide debate on implementing either dress code or uniform policies.

The group against the uniform policy has established itself to support dressing code because it provides various benefits that need to be adopted for students in the long term. These policies disregard the need to address the issue of diversity and confront the injustices of others' humanity. When these policies are not implemented, there will be a form of diversity critical in preparing students for the outside world where diversity is the norm of the day (Cribbie, 2017). Another argument against dress codes and policies is that it deliberately infringe on the freedom of students. Substantially, this is because it focuses on infringing the First Amendment rights as established in the constitution, stifling individuality, and imposing some control among students that is not necessary (Deane, 2015). The uniform policy is noted to restrict the freedom of expression that amounts to nothing more than a band-aid solution for the schools. Besides, in some contexts, it is also causing or leading to the financial burden that is being put on lower-income families in the country (Clausen et al., 2015). The financial burden aspect is based on adapting to changing fashions that are the primary cause for rejecting uniform policy. For instance, some people claim that dress codes focus mainly on female fashions that keep changing with time.

The arguments for adopting dress code and uniform policy also have some essential advantages that need to be understood. The dress code's implementation is facing a problem of such changing fashion among the youth to be specific. The primary reasons that would be immediately determined to apply these policies are that it help minimize disruptive behaviors, remove socioeconomic tension, and maintain high levels of academic standards (Deane, 2015). Then groups that argue for the dress code or uniform policies have various benefits that need to be established. The need to enhance safety among the students is one of the issues that is considered. It is believed that students in the school who dress alike are less likely to be violent. The implementation of policies also assists in enhancing performance since students feel safe, secure, and free from possible threats of violence. This significantly makes it better for students to improve their performance in the future. The need to implement a dress code also enables the creation of family values (Cribbie, 2017). Families gain many benefits, such as not having to buy expensive clothes that are meant for fashion-conscious children. Peer pressure is also eliminated when implementing uniform policies is enforced in schools (Clausen et al., 2015). The focus is to improve higher self-esteem among students, too avoid issues such as depression. Besides, some facts have been obtained from relevant stakeholders in the education system who concur with the idea of implementing dress codes and uniform policies in various measures (Cribbie, 2017). For instance, most principals believed that proper dress codes could improve students' behavior and minimize peer pressure that may lead to sexual harassment. Similarly, the policies are also useful in preparing students for the world in the business or job market.

Notably, even though there are many factors that support the need to implement uniform policy in school, it could also be naïve to understand that it can be the sole solution to the challenges faced. It is essential to incorporate the use of appropriate interventions that positively impact the social environment of these learning schools. For instance, ensuring that some policies are collaborated to ensure that dress codes need to appropriate in a manner that does not become disruptive, offensive, and even provocative to other school students. The perceived advantages of applying dress codes and uniform policies can help diminish the exclusion of students based on what they are wearing. Besides, it also places the need for a stronger focus on academic performance and decreases the opportunities for showing gang affiliation in different ways. To add on, the support of the majority of stakeholders to approve the implementation of dress code and uniform policies is also a significant sign that suggests the need to incorporate the issue among the elementary schools. Nonetheless, the legal issues within the courts should also be discussed in a rational matter to determine the best interest of both the children and the family values that are considered the core principles for the students' higher academic performance in different parts of the country.

References

Clausen, S. B., Guimaraes, S., Howe, S., & Cottle, M. (2015). Assessment of young children on entry to school: Informative, Formative or Performative? International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education, 6(1), 2120-2125.

Cribbie, R. A. (2017). Multiplicity control, school uniforms, and other perplexing debates. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 49(3), 159.

Deane, S. (2015). Dressing Diversity: Politics of Difference and the Case of School Uniforms. Philosophical Studies in Education, 46, 111-120.