Should Uniforms be Required in Public Schools

"School uniforms indeed encourage different ways of expression--but this nevertheless clashes against the uniform's goal at unifying everyone." Kids wearing the same styles or colors of certain articles of clothing, such as shirts, pants, socks, ties, ect., unifies them. Wearingg different articles at different times separates them. Take these pictures for example: These two girls are unified by wearing the same colors, but show self expression. The girl on the left is wearing a navy and white cross-tie, white blouse, and navy skirt. The girl on the right is wearing a white long sleeved shirt with a collar, underneath a navy dresss. All of these uniforms look diverse, yet would work for a school whose colors are red and yellow. No two uniforms match, yet it is evident that they would all be from the same school. Also, this argument depends on your definition of unify. According to http://www.merriam-webster.com... , unify means "to cause (people or things) to be joined or brought together". An example of this is "two very different people unified by a common belief". Uniforms can unify people by using the same colors or styles, while self-expression allows variation within these boundaries. You can unify a group of people without forcing them to give up their individuality. Boy Scouts wear the same uniform, but due to their different badges, patches, pins, and beads, they are allowed to show their personal achievements and preferences. Letterman jackets also allow people in schools to be unified while showing personal achievements. http://www.wisegeek.org... explains what Letterman jackets are and how kids personalize it, while keeping the school pride. "My opponent concedes that uniforms does not necessarily halt bullying. Even experts say that uniforms won't stop bullying." I have already addressed this. See previous arguments. "Changing this policy would require meetings, discussing, agreement, and lots of money to buy all the uniforms from the school. While private schools may earn money, most public schools are free. Therefore there not only remains the problem of time and process needed to change this no-uniform policy, public schools would have problem garnering up enough money for buying uniforms every year for new students in the school." I do agree that changing this policy would require all of these things- initially. After initial cost, and time, is settled, uniforms are greatly inexpensive and durable. It is not the school's responsibility to provide uniforms, but to provide a path to obtaining school approved uniforms through resources such as magazines, websites, and catalogs. If parents could not provide uniforms to start with, then schools could provide interest-free loans to help offset the cost. Unless public schools wanted to completely take the whole burden of the cost, which they could do through fundraisers, they would not need to collect money for uniforms. Besides that, uniforms and their costs are as diverse as the school districts they will be representing. In other words, each school district will have to decide for themselves the economic situation of their student body and decide how costly a uniform can be to represent them. Each school would have to choose a uniform that falls within the student body's economic range. Through the implementation of small uniform swap stores, parents wouldn't need to "buy uniforms every year for new students in the school". The uniforms would be turned in and exchanged for uniforms of a different size or for cash. "Opponent contradicts himself. Uniforms do not change the students' physique. They will still be worried about looking fat. Uniforms do not solve the problem my opponent proposes." Uniforms will not solve the problem of looking fat. Uniforms, will however, solve the problem of kids becoming obsessed over whether or not they have a certain style of clothing. By looking the same, I in no way meant that they would become identical in stature or weight. My opponent twisted my argument of not having to worry about not looking good in name-brand clothes. Allowing free-dress also is not the solution to kids being self-conscious about how they look. Allowing kids to dress however they please will not only put down the kids who can't afford designer clothing, but will also make the kids who don't look good in clothing made for smaller kids self-conscious. "In addition, poor people will be unable to afford the uniforms at once." I refuted that in my argument about interest-free loans and swap stores. "Ah, see? School uniforms are so restricting even my opponent thinks that they shouldn't be required all the time." This was not the argument that we were having. My opponent claimed in the second round that "Not all work requires uniforms. For those that don't require uniforms, using uniforms will decrease the students' abilities to chose their clothing wisely." Due to this argument, I conceded that to have practice choosing clothing wisely, free dress days once monthly would be sufficient, in addition to weekends. I do not believe that uniforms are restricting whatsoever, but in order to gain favor with children that are opposed to uniforms, I see the point in opening up dress once monthly. "My opponent gives us two statistic websites, yet do not tell us what they show and why they are credible." I do apologize for giving statistic sites and not explaining what they mean. I will now explain them. http://www.statisticbrain.com... shows how many percent of parents marked "Agree" or "Strongly Agree" on the following questions survey asked the Survey was taken after the implementation of uniforms. The questions are stated below. Survey Question Parents Teachers Policy has hindered self expression and creativity 34 % 5 % Policy has hindered individual student’s personal liberty 36 % 0 % Has promoted a sense of security 41 % 86 % Has increased school pride and has created a sense of community 42 % 80 % The school uniform has been financially beneficial for my household 49 % 86 % Has addressed the peer pressure issue of "fitting in" by wearing specific brands 47 % 90 % Has promoted positive student behavior 37 % 95 % Policy has minimized disruption and distractions 38 % 81 % Has eliminated competition among students 36 % 52 % School uniforms have improved the learning environment 35 % 81 % The Board should extend the school uniform policy indefinitely 42 % 81 % http://kids.lovetoknow.com... gives specific advantages in why uniforms are beneficial in the areas of academia, behavior, and emotion. It also shows the financial effects being primarily the same. Back to you.