By Emily Everitt
LCS, Grade 6
Did you know that 21 states and the District of Columbia have school uniform requirements? Well, it’s true. Twenty-three percent of all public, private, and sectarian schools have uniform requirements. The five states with the highest school uniform requirements are California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas.
Schools that do not have school uniforms say the kids get mugged for their designer clothes and expensive sneakers. They receive peer pressure to buy expensive clothes. Kids are getting left out of cliques because of what they can afford or cannot afford. Kids are also wearing inappropriate clothing. Schools that do have uniforms say that the overall crime rate has gone down by 90 percent, school suspensions dropped by 90 percent, sex offenses were reduced by 96 percent, and incidents of vandalism went down by 69 percent. School uniforms prevent gangs form wearing gang colors and make it easier to spot intruders.
Uniforms are helpful because they have helped bullying and crime go down by a high percentage. They improve standardized test scores, even though some people say it takes away the ability to show creativity and espression. Rachel Berman says, “The uniforms contributed to a more sedate professional feel that I think mad it easier to focus on school.” Marcia Turner, a mother of two children that wear school uniforms says, “My children attend a school with a school uniform and I love it. Having a specific set of clothes the kids must choose from makes outfit selection a no-brainer. No more fights or discussions about what to wear since that decision has already been virtually made.” Daisy King says, “There were days in college where I found myself missing my uniform because I didn’t know what to wear and would spend 30-40 minutes shuffling through my closet.”
School uniforms have helped many schools reduce crime. Many schools are requiring uniforms and the number is growing. If all the schools in the United States had uniforms the crime rate would reduce to little to none throughout the whole country. We would also see many positive changes.
