Dressing Code in Schools

One of the key topics of your school newsletter in the forthcoming issue is the discussion about whether students be forced to wear uniforms. You are invited to write an article expressing your views on this topic.

The standard dress codes have been a common practice in secondary schools. However, to some students, a shirt, tie and blazer may not be the ingredients for their favorite outfit. If they were given the choice, they would throw away the idea of school uniform. In my opinion, wearing a uniform is a pride. It means I am half way there to being respectful, buying into what the organization is all about. In fact, there are a wide range of benefits generating from a uniform policy.

A school uniform can improve learning by reducing distraction, sharpening focus on schoolwork and making the classroom a more serious environment. Without the uniform policy, a school will become more of a fashion show than a place for learning. There will be competition about being dressed in the latest trend, which would put a great deal of financial pressure on students and parents. Uniforms allow more attention to be directed toward studies and less attention to what another student is wearing. And students will not busy worrying that they do not have clothes that are as trendy as the person next to them. This enables students to perform better academically.

Uniforms help students feel like they are a part of things at school. Besides the tradition, uniforms give students a sense of belonging to a particular school and create an identity for the school in the community. I believe everyone would have the same feeling as I do. When I see someone wearing the same uniform, I feel familiar to them since we belong to the same school. We sing the same school song and gain daily knowledge in the same place. This makes it easier for us to be friends. In addition, if students wear clothes with different kinds and colors, which are not unified, the whole school looked more like a place for fun instead of studying. The lack of unity makes the school poor in image.

A strict uniform gives the impression that rules are strict too, perhaps helping maintain a sense of order at school. This helps train students to be a well-disciplined person. Since students will become part of workforce in the near future and uniforms are quite common in the workplace, implementing the uniform policy in schools would help prepare students for the real world, where they don’t always get to do what they want. Many experts believe that when the entire student body is dressed in uniforms, they develop a stronger team mentality. They are more likely to embrace others and take part in collaborative work in future.

Other benefits such as fewer cases of school bullying can be enjoyed. Potential bullies have one less target for their insults; it’s hard to make fun of what someone is wearing when you’re dressed exactly the same. Naysayers might contend that all these benefits are not concrete enough. But the uniform policy has a long tradition which somewhat reveals its ineffaceable existing value.