Uniforms and the Adolescent Beyond the safety and affiliation issues, uniforms can help to create an environment conducive to the developmental needs of adolescents. During the middle school years, adolescents are busy developing a sense of self. Unlike earlier developmental periods, they begin to think about the kind of persons they will become. Students during these years, place a greater emphasis on looks, popularity and relationships than in earlier years. Uniforms can help eliminate one very stressful aspect to this developmental stage by reducing the need to be fashionably on target until students are more stable and after peer influence begins to decline after age 14.
Adolescence is a time of role experimentation.
Fashion and the peer pressure to abide by certain fashion rules creates tremendous stress during this moratorium. A uniform program might well reduce the pressure from peers to conform to exclusive and conflicting standards since group membership is often determined by clothing. Clothing styles are a language to middle schoolers. Uniforms can also ease the pressure youths receive from parents to adopt a socially acceptable dress code. The way an adolescent dresses may be a no win situation.