School+Uniforms+or+Street+Clothes?

1. 3rd person point of view- only. 2. Revise thesis to eliminate the "I think" statement. 3. Parenthetical citations all have page #1 - if these are internet resources, there shouldn't be a page. Check the citation type and then correct your citations. 4. Go to [] for help with citations. 5. Also - your details look very general. Make sure the information is specific when you write your essay. Draft: There is a lot of controversy over school uniforms, whether people are for or against them. When it comes to students at schools around the world trying to express themselves or increase their confidence for the day, most people turn to what they are going to wear first, because that's what almost always comes to mind before you see your peers, family, co-workers, whoever you see that day. There's something about getting that cute shirt yesterday that makes kids everywhere feel good, but with school uniforms, this is taken away. So, schools should not have required school uniforms, or in fact, have them at all.

There's been many stories in the past involving students, facuilty, and, most importantly, school uniforms. For example, in Arkansas, there was a story about students at school protesting the school uniform policy with black armbands. "The district implemented the uniform policy in 2006 for grades 7-12. That fall, several students were disciplined for wearing black armbands, the same method used by the students in Tinker to protest the Vietnam War to express their opposition to the school dress code. There was no suggestion that the armband protest disrupted school ." (Walsh) This shows that students who don't agree with school uniforms are willing to stand up for their rights, and it didn't even need to be violent in this case! Also, if these students protested the uniforms, there is a chance, with the massive world population there is, that students all over the world must have protested as well. Back in the 1960's, there really weren't a whole lot of school uniforms back then. "Not many high schools and colleges had school uniforms in the 1960s, but most had dress codes. For a good portion of the 1960s young women were not allowed to wear pants of any kind to class, and young men were forbidden to wear blue jeans. Students were expected to maintain a neat appearance, and until the second half of the decade they generally complied without much complaint." (Discovering U.S. History). Dress codes worked out just fine back then, so they should work out just fine now. Plus, it would also show people how to dress more appropriately in the outside world as well. When people know how to dress without others telling us what to wear, they are more likely to be successful.

There's also controversy over school uniforms in America because of how it has worked out in countries so similar, like Britain. "In the United States, most private schools that require uniforms choose a plaid or specific item that the students must buy to signal that they belong to that school . This may be costly because these items might be available only at one or two places. In the United Kingdom, schools choose "generic" items that can be bought anywhere. When every school must follow the rule, more of the items become available at lower costs." (Whamsley) This would not work in America because of how many schools don't have uniforms and how long it would take to get uniforms out there to everyone. It would also take away funding from other retailing, like regular street clothes. On top of that, a fraction of the schools that have school uniforms only have students wear them voluntary, not mandatory."Many suggest that students, particularly at the high school level, would claim that they have the constitutional right to opt out. In the United States, for those schools that adopt school uniform policies, about 40% make the wearing of uniforms voluntary while 60% make wearing uniforms mandatory (Daugherty 2001)." (Whamsley). The schools who only make this voluntary might as well not have school uniforms at all, because most kids would rather wear their new shirt or pair of jeans to school. More specifically, if it's a constituitional right to opt out, than people most certainly will. Overall, people protest, argue, and opt out of school uniforms, so there really is no need for all the hassle to get them for every school in America.

Some people say that school uniforms are needed because of all the violence in American schools. For example,"The fashion trend at schools, especially urban schools, is largely dominated by children wearing gang-related or gang-like clothing. With respect to gang-related clothing, gang members frequently roam streets near schools and often enter schools. Hence, the color of clothing that students wear can result in their becoming targets of intentional or unintentional violence. With such clothing glamorized by music videos and television sitcoms, more children wear similar styles of baggy, oversized shirts and pants to school . Such clothing can become a means of transporting weapons or drugs into school and thus indirectly increase school violence." (Whamsley). People can understand how others get to this conclusion, but just because a kid wears baggy pants or shirts dosn't mean that they automatically become violent and aggressive. They could just be wearing it because they seen it on television. Others also look at the study in Long Beach United School districts and begin to want school uniforms in their schools as well. "Long Beach (Calif.) Unified School District -- comprising 56 elementary schools," middle schools, and nearly 60,000 students -- was the first large urban school district in the United States to require school uniforms for all students, kindergarten through grade eight. Since 1994, when mandatory uniform policies were adopted in this school district, district officials have found that violence and discipline problems dramatically decreased. In the first year following implementation, overall school crime decreased by 36%; sex offenses, by 74%; physical fights between students, by 51%; weapons offenses, by 50%; assault and battery offenses, by 34%; school suspensions, by 32%; and vandalism, by 18%." First off, this is only one school district in California, where there aren't typically a lot of hardcore gangs. Notice how this study dosn't include High Schools, either, where most violences happen."While Long Beach Unified School District claims that mandatory school uniforms resulted in decreased school crime and violence, other steps to improve student behavior -- such as more teachers patrolling hallways during class changes -- were implemented at the same time as the school uniform policy. Due to these possible confounding variables, the ACLU has stated that it is currently impossible to determine whether uniforms were responsible for the results." (Whamsley). This is almost considered a fallacy because of how unreliable the study is for school uniforms. School uniforms at Long Beach might also be disguising another solution to violence, which is not a good thing at all. They could have been put into place at schools that desperately need it. In conclusion, people might not have to look to school uniforms for a solution against violence.

School uniforms have been a mistake for many reasons. First, some school uniforms get so "uniform" that it goes too far. This quote is a perfect example of that. "Raegan Booth, 16, and Aby Western, 15, were sent home from Rednock School in England and told not to come back until they dyed their hair brown. Headmaster David Alexander says the girls violated school rules banning "unnatural" hair colors. Both girls have blonde hair." (Oliver). This is clearly not fair for the girls, especailly because they really wern't breaking any rules. People can have naturally really bright blonde hair, and they would probably like to keep it that way. Uniforms arn't meant for wearing all the time. Another reason why uniforms are a mistake is because of budget cuts made in some schools just to keep the school uniforms. "From The Cleveland Plain Dealer: The Cleveland school district will continue requiring students to wear uniforms, but because of budget cuts will no longer help thousands of needy children pay for the clothing. The district last year spent roughly $375,000 to outfit about 7,500 students, 15 percent of the enrollment. Each student received a $50 voucher, good for two collared shirts or blouses, two skirts or pairs of pants, a belt and a sweater." (American School and University.) From these statistics on how much money they spent on uniforms, they would have been better off cutting the uniforms, and the students didn't get a bunch of clothes to wear for the entire year either. Needy children also already have clothes to wear, so they don't need to spend even more money on uniforms when they could be spending it on family bills or food on the table. Speaking of poorer, high poverty areas, uniforms also tend to show up in their schools as well as rich schools, but not for the same reasons. "Targeting school uniforms to high-poverty areas in the United States is a mistake. Most high-poverty schools suggest school uniforms because they believe that will reduce the threat of violence. While this seems to be working for these schools (Wade and Stafford 2003; White 2000), we're creating a culture where parents think that a public school where children wear uniforms is an unsafe place to send their child. In other words, school uniforms in public schools are becoming associated with schools facing violence problems." When people go to poorer sides of towns, they will tend to see more kids in uniforms, and maybe even see them acting violent anyway, so uniforms never seem to make many differences there. There are other ways to help tame the violence in poorer areas, but uniforms isn't one of them. There was acually a study taken to see how much impact school uniforms have on students and the learning environment. "It notes that in 2005, 14 percent of public schools mandated the use of uniforms, up from 5 percent in 1995. Despite that trend, researchers found no statistical difference between students in schools with and without uniforms in the district they studied." (Education Week, August.) This really shows how little we need school uniforms. Schools should strive to find other cheaper, better, and more effective solutions that will help make a C into an A or fear of other people into fun with friends. School uniforms play a role in a lot of student's lives in America, and all around the world. There really is no need for them, because they aren't a solution against violence, they don't increase grades or increase self- confidence, and in this world of developing fashion where there are so many choices to express your style, students shouldn't have to be chained down because of uniforms. Although uniforms have worked out in other countries, they also had their flaws. All in all, should America adopt such a boring, unessesary idea? The answer is no, not at all.

Name: Lauren Boyce Topic: Should schools require school uniforms? Thesis Statement: I think schools should not have to require school uniforms. Outline: I. Introduction II. Body Paragraph #1 III. Body Paragraph #2 IV. Body paragraph #3 V. Body Paragraph #4 VI. Conclusion
 * There is a lot of controversy over school uniforms...
 * Students expresing themselves and self confindence
 * Schools should not have required uniforms.
 * ... or in fact, have school uniforms at all.
 * Background intro
 * Arkansas Student Armband Protest (Walsh)
 * Fashion in the 1960's (Discovering U.S. History)
 * More Background information
 * Cost so Low in Britain (Walmsley)
 * Mandatory or Voluntary in High school (Whamsley)
 * Counterargument introduction
 * gang clothes (Whamsley)
 * Long Beach (Whamsley)
 * Long Beach Flaws (Whamsley)
 * Introduction for support
 * Two girls were sent home because of hair color. (Oliver)
 * Cleveland budget cuts: They could be spending that money on other things (American School and University)
 * High poverty areas and why uniforms there are a mistake. (Whamsley)
 * No Effect (Education Week, August)