Public schools across America are searching for solutions to improve safety, school belonging, and discipline in the classroom. One way to improve on these issues would be to implement a uniform policy. We must encourage the use of school uniforms in our school systems across America. .
If a school board decides on adopting a uniform policy, it is important that parents and students be involved in the planning process. Parents should vote on the issue because parent support is essential in order for students to wear the uniform. Some would say that school uniforms violate the freedom of expression and identity; Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds do not honor the freedom of expression nor identity either. There are limits on attire everywhere in the workforce. Uniforms do not violate a student's right to wear what he or she wants, instead uniforms help instill discipline in the classroom.
Various school systems throughout the United States have had tremendous .
success when it comes to the implementation of uniforms. A middle school in Norfolk Virginia, reported a thirty-eight percent reduction in fighting after just six months of enacting a uniform policy. Also in a Long Beach California school district, they reported a seventy-six percent decrease in school crime, just three years after enacting their .
Uniforms in the uniform policy (Journal of Law & Education). If more schools would consider uniforms then it is possible that these results could also have an impact in other schools.
School safety is another important reason why we should have uniforms in public schools. Since the school shooting at Columbine High School, school systems are looking at uniforms more closely. The shooters were part of the "trench coat mafia." The shooters targeted the athletes of the school, because the athletes wore sports caps and athletic apparel. These students lacked the sense of belonging, in part by their appearance in school.