School uniforms are a popular topic of debate these days, especially since the Catholic School Board just made them mandatory. There are essentially two standpoints on the issue of uniforms, one of which is they help to maintain unity and discipline in schools by taking away the distinctions of clothing. The second argument is that they violate the personal freedoms of the student. It is also said that school uniforms will help students to develop discipline. I cant figure this one out. One argument that I keep hearing in the favour of having uniforms is that it allows students to get up in the morning and throw on clothing without wasting time trying to decide what to wear. That isnt discipline in my opinion, its merely a routine. I believe that discipline is having a wardrobe full of clothes and selecting those appropriate for the activity. Having to meet a dress code would better serve this goal. Another idea about uniforms is that they will help to decrease violence, bullying and theft among students over designer and brand name clothing. In my opinion, people have to decide whether or not wearing cute and expensive items is worth the risk of having it stolen. If you choose to wear these specific items, you may get hurt or your things might get stolen.

Another argument for uniforms is that they will prevent gang members from wearing gang colors and insignia at school. You can take away the full gang outfit, but the gangs will eventually come up with some new symbol. For example, if a gangs previous symbol was a red bandana, they could change the symbol to a certain colour of socks, or wear a certain necklace or something along those lines.

School uniforms also would make everyone look like clones, which contradicts the common lesson or saying of "be yourself," or "dont follow the crowd," or "If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do it?" Students are taught by both their parents and their teachers that they should not smoke or do drugs to be like others, they should not join gangs to fit in, and they should not choose their clothes based on what other kids wear. It is highly important for students to be individuals and to respect their own choices. If uniforms became mandatory, students would essentially be "jumping off the bridge."

Personally, I disagree with having uniforms in schools. Clothes alone will not make a student behave. It would indeed be much easier to change a students wardrobe than to do the hard work of really creating an environment of cooperation and learning. Even with mandatory uniforms, students could still figure out a way to look different, by either hiking up their skirt so it becomes a mini-skirt, or by opening their buttons, or getting their uniforms in a couple sizes too big so that their boxers are exposed.

There would also be the problem of the financial cost on parents. Uniforms are very expensive since you cant wear the same one day after day, as they need to be washed. A single item, say a skirt for example could easily cost anywhere from $40-50 each, and maybe even more. Uniforms would just become a financial burden for some families, such as single parent families, or families on welfare.

In school, students are taught to not take the easy way out of problems or issues, and yet, making uniforms mandatory is contradicting their teachings as the administration wishes to impose them. I believe that there are more important issues out there than making students look like clones. There are many issues in schools that need to be attended to such as poor test scores, insufficient books, old desks and chairs and poor or limited supplies. These issues are more important in my opinion than uniforms are. One point of having uniforms would be to create a safe and generally better learning environment for students, but how are they supposed to achieve that goal when the important things such as good books and other supplies are insufficient for learning? Instead of school uniforms, more funding should go towards books, desks, and other supplies. If some form of action does need to take place, then a dress code should be suffice. It would still allow the students to express themselves, but inappropriate clothing such as clothes with inappropriate words or sayings, or clothes that show too much skin would be gone.