Should school uniforms be mandatory Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Should school uniforms be mandatory - Term Paper Example studies and school experiences have proved that uniform dress code can play pivotal roles in controlling and rather minimizing the threats of violence. This article explains why school uniform is mandatory and how it benefits students and parents in achieving progressive academic performance and improved discipline. Relevant studies showed that one in four students reports that they were worrying of becoming a victim of crime and one in eight reports having been victimized at schools (King, 1998). Enforcing uniform dress code has shown moderate success in controlling the violence. How do clothes that students wear and rate of violence in schools relate? Fashion trend, especially at urban schools and gang-related clothing have been found to have significant roles in violence as gang-related children and gang-belonging groups frequently roam streets, enter schools and involve in violence. Their baggy pants and oversized shirts are often used to hide weapons and cause severe dangers on others. Strong enforcement of uniform code in schools will certainly reduce the violence and thus improve academic performance as well. California’s Long Beach School District, that comprises of more than 50 schools and 60,000 students, has implemented uniforms for all its students. Since it made uniforms mandatory for its students, district officials have found that discipline issues decreased dramatically, school crimes decreased by 36%, sex offenses by 74 %, weapon offenses by 50%, physical fights by 51%, vandalism by 18% and assault and battery by 34% (King, 1998) Some parents and students argue that enforcing uniforms in turn violates the rights of children to wear dresses according to their wish and denies freedom of expression (Craik, 2005, p. 70), despite the fact that an Arizona court held that a mandatory school uniform policy is constitutional and school’s policy and rules are merely ‘content-neutral’ (Alexander and Alexander, 2005, p. 377). When they argue for