In no way are we all the same, so why should we try to be?
Should Uniforms be Mandatory in Public Schools?
By: James Flinn & Bianca Paoli
Ever since I was born, I always wanted to be like everyone else, didn’t you? I
wanted to own the exact same clothes as the Jones’. In fact, I wanted to listen to
the same music, drive the same car, and even buy the same brand of toilet
paper. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone were exactly the same?
The truth of the matter is that the world would be bland, dull, and full of
conformists. We would lose every aspect of diversity, individuality, and creativity.
In a sense, we would be losing ourselves, so why then would somebody want
this to happen? The topic of school uniforms has stirred up a lot of controversy
in our public school systems. The majority of public schools would like the
students to wear a uniform and the majority of the students would like to be able
to wear what they want, but which one is right?
I would have to say that the idea of forcing every student to wear the exact same
clothes as all the other students is absolutely ridiculous. We were all born
different. No two people are alike, so why should someone be permitted to try
and make each student as similar as possible?
The schools think that they have good reasons behind the idea of having all
students wear the same uniforms. They think that clothes can be distracting to
someone’s studies, that the clothing just takes away from the importance of why
the student is in school. Clothes express individuality, diversity, and can often
tell a lot about a person. Students wear certain clothes for different reasons.
They might want to look nice one day and so they decide to dress up. Another
day they might want to just wear sweat pants because they want to be
comfortable. They also might not have a choice in what they wear because they
cannot afford to buy certain clothes or even a uniform for that matter. Students
do not wear clothes with the intent of distracting another student, and plus how
many times have you heard a student complain, “Teacher, I am unable to take
my test because John’s shirt is incredibly ugly?”
The fact is that clothes really do not distract the students, they just bother the
teachers. In all seriousness, the students are not the ones complaining and they
are the ones who have to learn.
The school’s biggest argument is that brand name clothing is the cause of much
violence in our inner-city schools. Since when did you hear of somebody getting
beat up with a pair of Calvin Klein jeans? Wasn’t it the gun or the knife that
caused the violence? Wouldn’t the feeling of power of possessing a weapon be
the reason behind taking something from somebody?
The schools also think that T-shirts are too explicit for young children. Students
in high school are usually between the ages of 15 and 18, sometimes 18 or 20.
These students aren’t “children” that still play with He-man and Barbie dolls.
Teachers often expect their students to act like adults, but continue to treat them
like children. I even knew a guy who was suspended from school for wearing a
T-shirt that said, “Bare Naked Ladies.”
The school board believed that the T-shirt was offensive to women. I do believe
that some articles of clothing can be found extremely profane and rather
offensive, but that doesn’t mean that because of those minimal numbers of
offensive T-shirts that students should be forced to wear uniforms. I believe that
students have the right to choose what clothes they want to wear. Why should
teachers be their fashion critics?
The schools are implying that students should all be the same, which they are
not. We are all different. We have different hair, different colour eyes, different
colour skin, different heights and different weights. In no way are we all the
same, so why should we try to be?
A school is a place to learn. I believe that art, music, and clothing encourage
creativity, individuality, and diversity. I believe that students should know about
what makes them different from everyone else. The bottom line is that students
should be allowed to choose the clothing that they want to wear.
Should Uniforms be Mandatory in Public Schools?
Questions
1. In your own words, summarize the essay “Should Uniforms be Mandatory in
Public Schools?’
2. What is the main idea of this essay? Explain your thinking.
3a. Explain the use of the quotation marks in the following sentence:
These students aren’t “children” that still play with He-man and Barbie dolls.
3b. Explain the use of the commas in the following sentence:
In a sense, we would be losing ourselves, so why then would somebody want
this to happen?
4. In your own words, explain the meaning of the underlined phrases from the
essay.
a. The bottom line is that students should be allowed to choose …
In this sentence, bottom line means:
b. some T-shirts are too explicit for young children.
In this sentence, too explicit means:
c. the T-shirt was offensive to women.
In this sentence, offensive to women means:
5. “Should Uniforms be Mandatory in Public Schools?” is an essay. List three
characteristics that show that this is essay writing. For each characteristic, give
an example from the essay to support your answer.
6. The author begins the essay with this question. Ever since I was born, I
always wanted to be like everyone else, didn’t you? Is this an effective
beginning for this essay?
Yes or No … Give reasons for your choice.
7. Use information from the essay to explain why some people think wearing
uniforms is a good idea.
8. The author of the essay states that if students wore uniforms they would,
“lose every aspect of diversity, individuality, and creativity.” Use
information from the essay and your own ideas to support or oppose this
statement.
9. What did you learn from reading this essay? Support your answer using
information from the text and your own ideas.