School Uniforms Shouldn't Be Required

Sigh...I've already won this six times. Nevertheless, everyone forfeited at least one round of my 5 serious debates, and Ajab seems to have never forfeited, so I trust that he'll become the first debater to not forfeit one of my serious School Uniform Debates.I define "required" as "forced, mandatory".You may start on round one. MY OPENING STATEMENTS/ARGUMENTSIn the adult world students have to make their own choices and school uniforms exclude that "training excercise" of having to choose what clothes to wear. [1]School uniforms send out a sense of anti-individuality that goes against our personal liberty and freedom of expression. A nation should not go against its beliefs. It would not really matter if this was not in the constitution in the first place, but seriously--the constitution is the basic belief of America, and breaking it is a big blunder! [2]Although school uniforms can bring a sense of unity among students, the unity is too robot-like! As shown in source [3], a parent openly states "I believe we should...advance independent, creative thinkers -- not standardized, uniformed thinkers." Frudden said. "To do anything less is to do our children and our society a disservice."In addition, school uniforms are simply a band-aid on school violence. In fact, in a study published in The Journal of Educational Research, the authors concluded that requiring students to wear uniforms has no direct effect on substance abuse, behavioral problems, or school attendance. Further tests proved the students they studied who were required to wear uniforms actually scored lower on standardized achievement tests than did a comparable group not required to wear them(Brunsma, Rockquemore). [4]This only supports the fact that because uniforms do not allow creativity through expression of clothes, and Albert Einstein once said "Creativity is intelligence having fun", this study highlights Einstein's fact and proves both of my argumemts to be correct. In other words, not only do school uniforms have negative impacts as demonstrated, this study also strengthens my argument about the uniform restricting students' creativity. (Einstein's quote is in source [5])As shown from source [1], parents are unsatisfied with the school uniform prices, indicating that school uniforms don't exactly save parents money. They would not complain if the school uniforms actually saved money! This shows school unforms are a financial burden for poor families, and morever, are an unfair additional expense for parents who pay taxes for a free public education. To demonstrate this, on average clothing costs $72.00 per month. [6] In contrast, school uniforms can go all the way up to $156 for boys, $140 for girls, approximately twice as much as money spent in a month. [7] And if the school uniform gets too small or ripped...well, the cost is doubled! This just shows how unfair the cost of school uniforms is.People usually judge other people based on the clothes they wear, I agree, but a person's clothes really have nothing to do what goes on. If someone isn't very smart or physically capable they will still get bullied regardless of the fact that they look the same as everyone else. In other words, bullies can still persist, teasing other students concerning their mental ability instead of physical. Kids might be more likely to be made fun of if they are overachievers. Likewise, kids who struggle academically, or kids with mental disorders, might become easier targets for bullies. [8] Furthermore, not everyone bases people on their clothing. Sure, nobody's like the Beauty from "Beauty and the Beast", but everyone can see some desirable traits underneath the ugly face! (No offense, Mr. Beast)There are even more ways for bullies to get to other students if they wear uniform. One example is if a child doesn't feel comfortable in his uniform, his silent cues makes him more likely to be victimized by students who would prey on his insecurities. [8] This actually makes sense, as some students do not dare stand up against these school rules and their poor ability to fight back is practically a lure for bullies!In fact, even those who stand up can be annoying. Without school uniforms, obviously nobody would complain about their lack of freedom. However, in source [9], even though the author completely dismisses the victim and says "Mike DePinto is wasting time", this only shows the further complications that school uniforms bring. If school uniforms weren't required in the first place, Mika DePinto would have been happy and not have rebelled. Another example is presented way back in source [3]. Again, if school uniforms weren't required, there would be no need for the arguing over the emblems and all these complex problems would be solved.Onto you, con! SOURCES 1-3 IN MLA CITATION[1]Brosnan, Peter, and Alexis Brindley. "What Not to Wear: A School's Dress Code Limits Clothing Styles and Colors." Current Events, a Weekly Reader Publication 28 Mar. 2011: 7. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.Web. 10 Feb.2014." [2]Fetzer, Kent J. "School Uniforms Stifle Freedom of Expression." Salt Lake Tribune [Detroit] 18 Apr. 2002: F2. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.Web. 10 Feb.2014." [3]Dolan, Maura. "CALIFORNIA; Court Rejects School's Shirts; Judges Say Requiring Students to Wear the School's Motto Is a Free-Speech Violation." Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles] 15 Feb. 2014: AA3. Elibrary. Web. 21 Feb. 2014." [4] http://www.gate.net...;[5] http://www.goodreads.com...[6] http://www.loweryourspending.com...[7] http://www.classroomuniforms.com...[8] http://www.ehow.com...