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Mandatory School Uniforms are a violation of free expression

Many thanks to my opponent for initiating this debate. To be clear, I am assuming that the resolution pertains to the students' free expression rather than to the schools' free expression. With that being said, the contentions of my opening statement are simple: Clothing is used as a means of self-expression. The implementation of school uniforms seeks to eliminate the problems that result from an unequal or suggestive range of clothing by eliminating the students' freedom to express themselves through clothing. Clothing as a Means of Free Expression: Medieval era and Renaissance For the purposes of this discussion, it is imperative to understand that the use of clothing as a means of expression is evident throughout the course of human history. The Medieval era, for instance, features a use of clothing as an expression of nobility and wealth; often times, a coat of arms was implemented onto a suit of armor to demonstrate the wearer's nobility via hereditary means [1]. Even the colors of the clothing itself was used to represent something of its wearer during the medieval era and the renaissance. I will name a few to show you, the reader, the significance of coloration in medieval and renaissance clothing: Red-renaissance: High social standing; royalty Power and Prestige Religious authority in the church or the color of hellfire Red-medieval: The color of kings, usually as a demonstration of a king's valor and successes in war Love; lovers have worn vermilion Wealth Orange: Peasants and middle-class men have used cheap orange-red and russet dyes in an attempt to emulate the red of the nobility in the renaissance Black-renaissance: Seriousness mourning Purple, green, blue, gray, brown, yellow, and white colors in medieval and renaissance clothing had symbolic significance as well. For a longer list, see source 2. Of course, colors are not used by people today as an symbolic expression as they have been in the medieval era and the renaissance (at least, not in the same way; the color of black can still represent mourning when worn during funerals, the color of white still symbolizes purity in a woman's dress, but white clothing is also worn to demonstrate mourning in china [3] ). Rather, the emulation of fashion trends [4] and the act of wearing certain articles of clothing in a specific way (sagging, wearing hats backwards, tearing jeans, etc.) are used as a means of expression through clothing today. So— Without furthur ado, let's jump straight to the chase—Clothing as a Means of Free Expression: Kids and Adolescents Today Young women's sense for fashon is very evident in various studies that show how much they spend on clothing annually and the number of young women who buy a certain number of articles of clothing; from around the 8th of March in 2012 to around the 8th of September in 2012, 41% of girls aged 13-18 purchased 10 or more articles of clothing [5]. It was just in the year of 2003 when teenage women (or their parents) spent a staggering amount of money on their clothing: over $170 billion [6]. Why do teenage girls spend so much money on clothing? Well, let's hear it from them: Teenage girls spend so much money on clothing with particular designer labels because they contribute to their social standing; they don't want to stand out in a negative way. "There's almost like this … boundary that you don't want to cross … because then you'll just be like, weird" -Melanie Burg, a 13-year-old from suburban New York. This quote is justified by findings from the study in source 5; 81 percent of the girls in the study said that they were influenced by their friends and peers while 68 percent said that they were influenced by fashion magazines and advertisements. One would argue that because so much of the average American teenage girl's fashion sense is dictated by fashion trends, the implementation of school uniforms would not violate the adolescents' freedom of expression through clothing, since they are not essentially expressing themselves but the fashion trends. However, that person would be wrong in making that argument; the act of wearing clothing that reflects the latest in fashion trends is still a form of expression nevertheless, even if it does not necessarily showcase the wearer's purely unique personality, fashion sense, or anything else that is unique to the wearer. Expression is expression, regardless of whom or what is expressed. What about adolescent guys? They do not indulge themselves in the fashion trends to the same degree as adolescent girls. That is true, but do not forget that many guys wear clothing in a certain way to express themselves. Here are two articles of clothing associated with adolescent men today and their significance in expressing the adolescent male wearer: Skinny Jeans In addition to hopping onto the fashion bandwagon, guys may choose to wear skinny jeans because it is "aesthetically pleasing" [7]. Personally, I knew of a young man who did a coming-out prestation, if you may, while wearing skinny jeans to emulate the homosexual stereotype associated with them. Sagging Jeans There are several theories arguing why the act of sagging pants became popular in the 1990's. One such theory is that homosexual inmates began to sag their pants to display their sexual orientation [8]. However, more often than not, adolescent men do not sag their pants to convey their sexual orientation. On the contrary, men may sag their pants to emulate characteristics associated with the masculinity of men; they may sag their jeans to look formidable [9]. Need I say more in support of why clothing is used as a form of expression? School Uniorms are a Violation of Free Expression I will make this brief. Compulsory school uniforms restrict students to one outfit, therefore taking away the students' right to express themselves by freely choosing what to wear. Here's chapter 1, section 1 of the School Uniform Policy implemented on the 16th of August in 2004: "A school uniform consists of a limited range of clothing, including footwear and headwear. It identifies students as belonging to a particular school. Schools usually expect students to wear the uniform during school hours, while travelling to and from school, and when engaged in school activities out of school hours." [10] The key words here are "limited" and "expect." In the case with school uniforms, expressing one's self through unique clothing (or "unique" clothing) is out of the question. Likewise, the key word in the definition provided for "free expression" is "we;" free expression pertains to the expression of the students, not to the expression the schools wish for the students to emulate. It does not matter whether or not a student feels that his or her freedom of expression is repressed, like this author in source 11; policies are policies and the policy expressed in compulsory school uniforms is uniformity. I await my opponent's statement(s) or rebuttal(s) supporting why school uniforms are not a violation of free expression. (Just for the record, I am not arguing against school uniforms, just for "pro.") As of 2/2/2013, all of the sources listed below are active: 1) http://www.medieval-castle.com... 2) http://renaissanceclothing.blogspot.com... 3) http://chineseculture.about.com... 4) http://fashion1in1.com... 5) http://www.statisticbrain.com... 6) http://abcnews.go.com... 7) http://www.sassybella.com... 8) http://articles.chicagotribune.com... 9) http://www.whyguides.com... 10) https://www.det.nsw.edu.au... 11) http://www.teenink.com...