School uniforms have long been a common characteristic of both private and parochial institutions in the US. However, US public schools have joined the trend by increasingly adopting school uniforms. As such, there have been ongoing arguments regarding whether it is appropriate for students to wear school uniforms or not. Schools have increasingly adopted uniforms among students for a variety of reasons ranging from identity to the security of the individual students. Moreover, schools may use uniforms to publicize their brand. The most intriguing fact regarding the adoption of school uniforms is that they are common among schools in high poverty areas.
I support the existence of the school uniforms simply for their aesthetic element among various other reasons. School uniforms enhance the self-esteem of students as the uniforms provide a level ground for both social and cognitive growth. Uniforms also make it easy for teachers to manage the movement and conduct of students more efficiently. As such, I see more benefits as opposed to setbacks regarding existence of uniforms in our public schools. Such factors along with various others affirm my position for the adoption of uniforms in US public schools.
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School uniforms keep students focused on their education rather than their clothes. Students with school uniforms are less concerned about how they look and how the fit in comparison with their peers. As such, the students are able to concentrate on their school work. Many high profile leaders have also seen the importance of school uniforms with regard to the performance of students. The uniforms facilitate high self-esteem as there is less competition regarding the latest fashion thus students are able to communicate freely and share ideas that will lead to mutual progress in terms of learning. Therefore, uniforms facilitate healthy coexistence of students and learning in schools.
School uniforms create a level playing ground among the students, reducing peer pressure and bullying. Uniform dressing in schools reduces competing in clothing choices as well as teasing of those who wear apparently less expensive clothes in the schools. As such, uniforms enhance the mental health of students as they are not subjected to stigma. Therefore, uniforms facilitate harmonious coexistence of students, void of peer pressure and bullying. The existence of a level field provides equal opportunities for learning and personal development in the schools.
Uniform policies save valuable class time because they are easier to enforce as opposed to a standard dress code. Development and implementation of an appropriate dress code is a tedious task in the area of student discipline. A lot of specifications and supervisions are required in enforcing a dress code due to the complexity of dressing styles and clothe designs. On the other hand, uniforms are easy to implement because they are all identical with less or no variance. As such, the uniforms save the school administration valuable time that can be used in enhancing the knowledge of the students.
School uniforms promote conformity over individuality among students in schools. As much as school uniforms are beneficial, there is the other side of the coin regarding the lives of students that they may affect negatively. One such aspect of students’ lives is their individuality. Uniforms are seen to promote conformity in terms of values, traditions, and lifestyle forgetting that every individual student is unique in all respects. Thus, uniforms are likely to affect the individuality of students and they may fail to fully identify and exploit their unique potentials in life. Although I am for school uniforms, I tend to belief that they affect the individuality of the students.
School uniforms do not stop bullying and may increase violent attacks among the students. As much as there is a notion that uniforms reduce bullying and violent attacks among students, there is no empirical evidence to confirm the perceived truth. On the contrary, it is claimed that the school uniforms promote bullying and violence in schools. Furthermore, it is reported that school discipline cases rose significantly during the advent of mandatory uniforms. Therefore, as much I hold on to the idea that uniforms are desirable; this opposing argument has softened my stance.
School uniforms emphasize the socioeconomic divisions they are supposed to eliminate. From a snapshot, school uniforms provide a more practical approach in eliminating socioeconomic divisions in schools. However, a closer look may uncover various issues that uniforms may give rise regarding socioeconomic divisions in learning institutions. Therefore, I will need to examine this argument in order to develop a perspective more different from the one I had in order to view the topic from the eyes of the opponents. This way, I will develop a wide array of views that will enrich my understanding regarding the adoption of uniforms in public schools.
Negativity bias and bandwagon bias may have affected my evaluation of the premises for and against my position. Negativity bias made me to apply selective attention in the process of analyzing the ideas both for and against existence of uniforms in schools. Moreover, the bandwagon bias affected my thinking as I was inclined to the thinking of my peers therefore undermining my capacity to be objective.
My association with the people hailing from regions where schools have adopted uniforms influenced my perceptions and beliefs regarding the influence of uniforms in the school life of students. Therefore, association with particular groups alters ones judgment regarding various issues in the contemporary society.
In order to develop our critical thinking skills, we need to approach argument with an open mind minds (Thayer, 2000). This will enable us to view particular issues from the eyes of our apparent opponents and discover the points that we may have failed to identify initially. This enriches our knowledge with regards to the subject matter as it encourages objectivity.
References
Thayer-Bacon, B. J. (2000). Transforming critical thinking: Thinking constructively . New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Van Gelder, T. (2005). Teaching critical thinking: Some lessons from cognitive science. College Teaching, 53 (1), 41–48.
Willingham, D. T. (2007). Critical thinking: Why is it so hard to teach? American Educator , 8–19.
