User:Joannaolsen12/School uniform

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A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution. They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries.

An example of a uniform would be requiring button-down shirts, trousers for boys and blouses, pleated skirts for girls, with both wearing blazers. A uniform can even be as simple as requiring collared shirts, or restricting colour choices and limiting items students are allowed to wear.

Uniform
Although often used interchangeably, there is an important distinction between dress codes and school uniforms: according to scholars such as Nathan Joseph, clothing can only be considered a uniform when it "(a) serves as a group emblem, (b) certifies an institution's legitimacy by revealing individual's relative positions and (c) suppresses individuality." Conversely, a dress code is much less restrictive, and focuses "on promoting modesty and discouraging anti-social fashion statements", according to Marian Wilde. Examples of a dress code would be not allowing ripped clothing, no logos or limiting the amount of skin that can be shown.

Effects of uniforms on students
The case study of the Long Beach Unified School District was the study of the first large, urban school in the United States to implement a uniform policy. In 1994, mandatory school uniforms were implemented for the districts elementary and middle schools as a strategy to address the students' behaviour issues. The district simultaneously implemented a longitudinal study to research the effects of the uniforms on student behavior. The study attributed favourable student behavioral changes and a significant drop in school discipline issues to the mandatory uniform policy. Wearing school uniforms was associated with fewer absences and truancies and fewer referrals to the office for behavior problems. Suspensions and expulsions were reduced by 28% (elementary) and 36% (middle school), crime and vandalism by 74% (elementary) and 18% (middle school).

Other research found that uniforms were not an effective deterrent to decrease truancy, did not decrease behavior problems, decrease substance use, and in fact may be associated with poorer student achievement relative to students not required to wear school uniforms.

A study suggested that "instead of directly affecting specific outcomes, uniforms act as a catalyst for change and provide a highly visible opportunity for additional programs" within schools. In fact, Brunsma et al., 1998 considered that this was the case with the Long Beach Unified School District case study as several additional reform efforts were implemented simultaneously with the mandatory uniform policy.

Brunsma stated that despite the inconclusiveness of the effects of uniforms, they became more common because "this is an issue of children's rights, of social control, and one related to increasing racial, class and gender inequalities in our schools."

Positives
Advocates of uniforms have proposed multiple reasons supporting their implementation and claiming their success in schools. Advocates believe that uniforms affect student safety by decreasing student victimization, gang activity, and fights.

Kathleen Wade conducted an experiment to see if bullying and gang presence was higher in uniform or non-uniform schools. The research was done with multiple schools where she gave a questionnaire to both students and faculty to see if there was a significant difference. Her results showed that bullying and gang presence significantly decreases with students wearing school uniforms.


 * Differentiating strangers from students in school buildings

For example, in the first year of the mandatory uniform policy in Long Beach, California, officials reported that fighting in schools decreased by more than 50%, assault and battery by 34%, sex offenses by 74%, and robbery by 66%.

Advocates also believe that uniforms increase student learning and positive attitudes toward school through:


 * Enhanced learning environments
 * Heightened school pride
 * Increased student achievement
 * High levels of preparedness
 * Conformity to organizational goals
 * Increased chance of staying in school
 * Increased commitment to learning
 * Increased use of school setting to the student's advantage

Wearing uniforms leads to decreased behavior problems by increasing attendance rates, lowering suspension rates, and decreasing substance use among the student body. These outcomes help students become more successful in their school work when they attend class and attentively listen to lectures. {CITE NEEDED} Proponents also attribute positive psychological outcomes like increased self-esteem, increased spirit, and reinforced feelings of oneness among students to wearing uniforms. Additional proponent arguments include that school uniforms:


 * Encourage discipline
 * Help students resist peer pressure to buy trendy clothes
 * Diminish economic and social barriers between students
 * Decreases bullying

Currently, pros of school uniforms center around how uniforms affect school environments. Safe learning environments for students help them focus on school work and can lead them to great academic accomplishments. Students that wear school uniforms won't have to feel anxious or nervous about peer pressure in buying new clothes to fit in or being teased by other fellow classmates. {CITE NEEDED} Proponents have found a significant positive impact on school climate, safety, and students' self-perception from the implementation of uniforms.

Negatives
The opposing side of uniforms has claimed their ineffectiveness using a variety of justifications, a variety of which have research supporting them. Some of the cons to school uniforms include the following legal, financial, and questionable effectiveness concerns: The primary concern with school uniforms or strict dress codes is that it limits the ability of students to express themselves. Clothing is viewed as a means of expression – making all students wear the same clothes or limit them to what they can wear can disrupt their sense of identity. One of the main controversies focuses on dress code policies versus freedom of speech. This establishes that students cannot wear the latest trends or clothes that the school finds that interrupt the learning environment. However, students can wear clothing that express their religion. "Both the Constitution and most state laws protect students' rights to wear religious attire... such as the wearing of a turban, yarmulke, or headscarf."

Another negative aspect of school uniforms is that the policy can be sexist. Boys and girls are often not disciplined in the same ways when it comes to dress codes. Girls are more commonly disciplined for certain articles of clothing that are prohibited because they "distract" boys. "Transgender students have been sent home for wearing clothing different from what's expected of their legalness, while others have been excluded from yearbooks."

Uniforms also generally disadvantage students, especially girls, in freedom of movement and comfort. The research was conducted on an Australian independent private school and its uniform. Comfort-wise, for boys, the blazer was too hot/cold and uncomfortable. For girls, the light coloured cotton school dress was restrictive, see-through, hot, uncomfortable, and impractical. Furthermore, the stockings were often cold, grey woolen kilt was too heavy and restrictive of movement, and the wind could cause it to reveal more than the girls wanted. When playing and moving around, for boys, the school tie  was a choking hazard, and the trousers had no stretch. For girls, the dress/skirt caused modesty issues (e.g. hard to swing on monkey bars/run around while keeping her privacy, hence stop being active), and the kilts were are too big and heavy.

Research on how school uniforms and school dress codes influence the student can be inconclusive. "In the U.S., over half of public schools have a dress code, which frequently outline gender-specific policies."


 * Legal concerns
 * Focus on the supposition that requiring a uniform violates children's individual rights (Thomas, 1994; Virginia State Dep’t of Edu, 1992)
 * Mandatory uniform policies are being considered largely for urban school districts, and, hence are being forced on a predominantly minority and poor student population (Thomas, 1994)
 * No effect on social status
 * Many students felt the school uniform policy had little impact on the social dynamic of the school and students found ways to express individuality by making minor alterations to the school uniform (Da Costa, 2006). Some parents and students interviewed in a research about the social aspect of school uniforms said that uniforms were a violation of their rights and freedom. "Like adults, children's freedom to choose or to act is also circumscribed by the community – massively so by schools, with their high density, constant supervision and evaluation, lack of privacy, and the obligatory nature of their activities." (Bodine, 2003)
 * Financial concerns
 * Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have voiced concerns about the cost of uniforms, specifically that some disadvantaged parents are unable to afford them (Gursky, 1996)
 * Questionable effectiveness of those policies
 * Strongest opponents of uniform policies charge that no empirical evidence exists to support the numerous and varied claims of uniform proponents (LaPorte, Holoman, & Alleyne, 1992)
 * School uniforms suppress students' individuality by mandating standardization of appearance and removing student expression (Joseph, 1986)
 * While uniform policies have been linked to school climate, safety, and student self-perception, there is no evidence to indicate that a uniform policy increases academic achievement (Wade & Stafford, 2003)

Students that do not wear uniforms can be just as successful as students who do wear school uniforms. The amount of effort and participation a student does during class determines their academic success, regardless of what they are wearing. Students who wear school uniforms does not grant them academic achievement. {CITE NEEDED}

According to Marian Wilde, additional opponent arguments include that school uniforms:


 * Are simply a Band-Aid on the issue of school violence
 * Make students a target for bullies from other schools
 * Are an unfair additional expense for parents who pay taxes for a free public education
 * Are difficult to enforce in state/public (government) schools