As you drive past the school you catch a glimpse at the bus riders. Each boy is wearing khaki pants and a blue polo. Each girl that exits the school is wearing a plaid skirt and white polo. They look civilized, but not totally ecstatic. School uniforms are implemented mostly to exonerate harassment because of kids’ clothes, distractions, and to make the students look neat.
Over the years a kid being harassed for his or her clothes has been a big issue. Because of this, many kids have hated their appearance and sometimes even committed suicide. According to Pennlive.com, a fourteen-year-old named Brandon Bitner, a straight A student and very talented violinist, jumped in front of a RV on the highway so he didn’t have to endure another few years of being called sissy and other inappropriate names in school. Every day if you look close enough you will see kids being bullied for what they are wearing. There are many other reasons to put school uniforms in play. Reasons that involve the jewelry kids wear nowadays.
Teachers have had to take away more and more jewelry from kids because they are distracting them from their work. Not only do they distract the kid that is wearing the jewelry, but the clinking and clanking can also distract other kids. This is one of the main reasons more and more schools are getting school uniforms. According to socyberty.com, some of the new fads such as silly bands have been banned because of expense, envy, and most importantly distractions. Because of these distractions during school lessons, many kids test scores also drop. There is another reason to get school uniforms, but before we go to this issue, ask yourself do you think kids look more mature or neat in khakis and polo’s or in the tattered jeans and messy shirts that kids think are cool today.
The clothes kids wear today are getting more and more inappropriate. Some stores don’t even let their workers wear some of the clothes they sell. Kids think that pants with holes, shirts with holes, and shirts that start at the upper arms are the clothes that are “in.” If we don’t get school uniforms then kids won’t think they are cool, but are instead dweebs because their parents can’t afford the clothes that are “in.” The schools will look more organized and civilized when they are wearing the clothes they will be wearing when they grow up. They need to get into the habit of wearing nice and neat clothes so they will look good enough to be hired at a job interview. But many kids think otherwise.
Many girls are upset about the idea of school uniforms because every once in a while, their families go out to the mall and buy school clothes. They think that school uniforms will get rid of this tradition but even though the clothes they buy will be way different, they can still go and get clothes together. Just because they can’t buy the clothes that are “in”, they can still carry on the tradition. They also think they can’t express themselves if we get uniforms, or won’t be able to show off their clothes. Are there not other ways to express yourself, and why show off your clothes? Showing off your clothes makes other kids feel bad about them because they don’t have those clothes or their parents can’t afford them. Kids also are concerned for the expense, but that’s ridiculous too.
Many kids are worried about having to spend too much money on school uniforms. That’s a horrible excuse because the clothes they wear now are about fifty dollars, while they can go to Wal-Mart and get the same clothes that are just as good for ten dollars. Kids are also concerned about having to get rid of all the clothes they have now. Even if that is the case, they can hand them down to their relatives, or keep them and wear them over the weekend. The kids that are against uniforms need to do some thinking about how to solve their problems before turning their back on uniforms and thinking their problems are insolvable.
For all these reasons, I think that Concordia Elementary School should get school uniforms. They will get rid of most of the harassment that happens in our schools and even in our neighborhoods. School uniforms will get rid of many of the distractions that help our test scores drop and also get rid of our sports eligibility. Last but not least, we will look like a neat and organized school, and uniforms will help represent our school well in school events where we go to other schools like in Science Olympiad and math relays. See if you look at your problems and actually try to solve them, you can realize just how helpful school uniforms can be!
