Many school superintendents agree school uniforms are for the betterment of the student body and the school environment. Statistics, based on certain schools in various cities that have already implemented uniforms into their school structure, have shown a decrease in negative activities, including fights, sexual assaults, thefts, drugs, and weapons. For instance, the Long Beach California school district put school uniforms into practice in 1994. Long Beach School systems have had a major decrease in fights by fifty-one percent; sex offenses fell by seventy-four percent; weapons dropped by fifty percent, and assault and battery by thirty-four percent since school uniforms were adopted (Inside School Safety). Schools in places such as Miami and Dade County, Florida have had different outcomes after putting uniform wearing in their school system.
For this reason only, one should not assume that the use of school uniforms will always produce a positive outcome. This paper will focus on three specific reasons why an individual may see that school uniforms have a negative effect on the student body and the student. Uniforms stifles individualism, school uniforms takes away from personal interactions, and it also provokes rebellion within the school. For these reasons, school uniforms should not be used.
School uniforms stifle student's individualism. School is not just for educational purposes, but it is also there to help students find their own voice and be individuals. With the implementation of school uniforms the student body will sound the same, and also look the same. Clothing helps define a person's character, mood, or beliefs. People religious foundation and heritage determines what they will or will not put on. Some people wear clothing based if the sun is out or it is rainy and gloomy, or if they are happy or depressed. Clothes make people feel different. No one likes to be duplicated by hundreds of people, especially when they are forced to look a like.