School Uniforms: Necessity or Excess
Monday, March 22, 2021
Most schools have a regular uniform. Uniforms are clothing that delineates who students are and its additionally decorated with a badge that has the name of the school, its location and a school slogan. A uniform is one of the necessities that every student should have in most schools.
Most students in their life have at least once heard complaints or have themselves complained about why they have to wear uniforms. In this article, we will be discussing whether uniforms are necessary and advantageous for students or whether it is an excess and is disadvantageous.
Uniforms are believed to be able to improve the marks of students. This is because if everyone in the school wears a standard uniform, students can focus on their studies rather than spending time thinking (which may lead to anxiety) about fashion and what their friends might think of them. It also helps students from poor backgrounds because they might feel embarrassed when comparing themselves to the students who may be from a better background. It also helps in reducing bullying and segregation based on fashion. It also instils a sense of professionalism and fraternity in students. The most important being that it increases the safety of students when on field trips. Having a uniform allows teachers to easily identify students thereby reducing the chances of getting lost.
However, along with their merits uniforms also have their disadvantages. The belief the uniforms are able to increase marks is a highly debated topic and there isn't much scientific proof supporting the claim. Students can also act as an additional cost for parents as children need 2-3 sets of uniforms for attending schools 5-6 day a week. Schools also force parents to buy uniform from the school stores, this is believed to increase the income of the school by maintaining a monopoly on uniform sales. Most uniforms are modelled after the Western business suit which leads to a loss in culture and inadvertently, cultural intolerance. Many students also complain that uniforms cause discomfort and restrict freedom of movement. It also reinforces gender inequalities because girls are forced to wear stockings and not pants. Also, boys are forced to wear ties that they may not like. Uniforms also lead to a loss of individuality and creativity. Since students can't express their creativity through the clothes they wear, they tend to change their hairstyles, apply nail polished etc. to show their individuality. Parents would force their children to wear school uniforms which could lead to feelings of resentment against their school or even their parents!! In a way, this also affects a student's decision-making skills as they cannot choose what to wear or how to express themselves. Finally, the uniform may create a barrier to the free and quality universal elementary education promised by many governments across the world because until the school or government make a provision to bear the cost of school uniforms, it would inadvertently fall on the parents which may discourage them from sending their children to schools.
In conclusion, uniforms could help students in school but it also has many demerits which also be kept in mind. It should also be the responsibility of the school or government to sponsor the cost of the uniforms which the school forces parents to buy.
“A policeman in plain clothes is a man; in his uniform, he is ten. Clothes and title are the most potent thing, the most formidable influence, on the earth. They move the human race to willing and spontaneous respect for the judge, the general and the admiral. No great title is efficient without clothes to support it.”
- Mark Twain
Mark Twain (2017). “The Complete Works of Mark Twain (Illustrated Edition): Novels, Short Stories, Memoir, Travel Books, Letters, Biography, Articles & Speeches: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, Yankee in King Arthur's Court…”, p.5021, e-artnow
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