Even from the earliest grades, children feel the pressure to conform to idealized standards of dress, which may be beyond their family's means. Uniforms eliminate this pressure and allow the attention of students to be directed to learning and growing. Affordable school uniforms can reduce clothing costs substantially. The average clothing cost per child in schools with a student uniform is markedly less than that in schools without uniforms. Instead of feeling alienated or disconnected, students enjoy the sense of belonging that school uniforms bring.
Dress affects attitude and behavior.
Children generally act the way they are dressed. Children with uniforms come to school to work. School is then seen as a workplace for teaching and learning It is not seen as a battleground, playground or fashion stage. At Whittier Elementary School, the first central area elementary school in Long Beach to adopt uniforms, a remarkable increase in attendance followed adoption of uniforms. Student uniforms have had a dramatic impact on creating a positive learning climate at that school.