Goodbye Designers, Hello Equality

For students, school is a time to see their friends, make plans, and enjoy time away from home.  They can wear pretty much anything they please, within reason.  However, when a student wears clothing that is too tight or shows too much of their body, it can be a sign of disrespect to their fellow peers and teachers.  The other students may not want to see extremely tight clothing on their friends, but sometimes have no choice.  Every day, these pupils are forced to watch others disrespect people around them by wearing offensive clothing.

School uniforms would be a great way to assist with this situation.  They save parents money while providing clothing for students that is respectable.  Uniforms also teach children how to dress modestly.  Students think they express themselves by what they wear, but really, they are representing their school and the kind of students that go there. This is the one aspect that is overlooked by many pupils.  The message they are sending to people about their school and themselves may not be what they want it to be.

As mentioned before, uniforms would bring down clothing costs considerably.  The average shirt costs 25 dollars.  The price for 15 shirts for a school wardrobe would then be 375 dollars.  Now, let's say jeans are (on average) 50 dollars.  For 7 pairs of jeans, it would be 350 dollars, bringing the grand total to 725 dollars.  A week's-worth of uniforms would cost (on average) 150 dollars.  That's 575 dollars savings for a child's school wardrobe.  Additionally, adding to the selection of shirts and jeans for the first wardrobe could mean the difference between staying home all summer and going on a cruise.

Students should be worrying about their education, not what others and they are wearing.  If we got uniforms, people would be focusing more on how they can improve academically rather than socially.  Students may get along more, and no one could be excluded because of what they wore.  I used to go to a school that wore uniforms, and students felt more equal.  They weren't worried about the latest trend and what accessory goes best with it, but rather what was happening in class.  I think this is what school was intended for.

Many may argue that uniforms revoke their individualism, but it's not individualism to buy the same clothes as everyone else from the same place.  Students are not expressing themselves by only wearing what is in style, but are only wearing them BECAUSE they are in style, thinking that the clothes you wear make you popular or a dork.  Also, children may state that their school already has a strict dress code.  As this is true, it is also true that people don't always follow it.  If the dress code were really that strict, it would be able to be enforced more.  Finally, pupils may argue that uniforms are simply ugly.  However, there are millions of respectable uniform choices that are pleasing to the eye.  Plus, there would always be the option to mix and match to make new combinations.

In conclusion, students should be wearing more respectable clothing.  They should be aware that they are not only expressing themselves by what they wear, but also their school.  Since children seem to think this is too difficult, there should be a new system to follow--the old-fashioned system of school uniforms.