School crime has plunged 76 percent since, says spokesman Dick Van Der Laan. Attendance is the highest it's been since 1980. Can the uniform policy take this credit? "Very definitely," Van Der Laan says. "Uniforms sets a message of "You are in the business of learning" (Merchant 3). "In the first year following implication, overall school crime decreased by 36%, sex offenses by 74%, physical flight to point students by 51%, weapon offenses by 50%, assault and battery by 34%, school suspensions by 32%, and vandalism by 18%" (Merchant 2). According to statistics, the majority of the population supports implementing school uniforms. Parents all over the United States fear that their children might be attacked inadvertently for wearing the wrong color scarf or hat that might provoke rivalry among local gangs. Many parents of children victims of gang warfare would like to see uniforms instituted in all schools. According to Dale Stover, "In gang-ravaged Los Angeles, as well as other communities with gang activity, a dress code also helps maintain peace among rival groups by prohibiting the wearing of clothing associated with local gangs" (Sauerwein 1). Opponents of the policy believe that other factors have to do with the lowering of crime within the school system. Dennis Evans believes that "Where gang members are concerned, the wearing of school uniforms will be cosmetic at best and will not change the gang mentality or reduce the potential of antisocial gang related behavior, either on campus or off. Ironically, mandating the wearing of school uniforms might even make it easier to be a gang member and school administrators could no longer readily recognize the trapping of the gangs" (Hirsch 54). Once a child becomes a gang member, they always will be no matter what they are wearing. Other children will know who the gang members are just by word of mouth. Whether a child is forced to conceal their identity, or not, the problem of gangs will always persist in schools.
