Uniforms

            Angus Young of the rock band AC/DC is what comes to mind when picturing a school uniform. His uniform or costume if you will, is that of an English schoolboy dressed in a suit type uniform but shorts instead of slacks and a funky hat. A group of small boys and girls all warring the same colored uniforms assembled in front of the catholic school down the street is another picture that comes to my mind when thinking about school uniforms. This is what most people used to think about school uniforms. They have been attached to students of European and private schools. Such pictures of students dressing in school uniforms have led to stereotyping and a negative attitude towards schools enforcing a uniform policy. Displayed as robots without the ability to express them selves in a society that says you must express yourself and be an individual at all cost. The problem is that the cost to express yourself and be an individual is high in some cases, in Detroit, a 15-year-old boy was killed for his $86 basketball shoes (Tweeters 1997). I believe that cost is to high, it would be better to be laughed at and teased about warring a nerdy uniform, than to be shot by some gang member that did not like the color of the pants I"m warring. School uniforms have been the cause of many jokes and harassment to those who wore them. In the past public schools considered uniforms old and out dated trends, though recently many public schools are starting to implement and enforce a uniform policy. The implementation of a school uniform policy is important if we are still striving to improve our students. The arguments against them are fading while the positive reasons are promoting school uniforms and gaining ground. Some of the possible benefits are safety, cost, uniformity and competition in academics instead of fashions. The main argument against them is the need for students to express their individual selves, this argument is losing ground compared to the benefits of the uniform policy.