For parents of young children who do not dress...
Uniforms In Schools K-12
Your first argument is a transfer fallacy of composition. In other words, it relies on the assumption that what is true of the part (a student with 4 uniforms) is also true of the whole (students with more or less uniforms). By saying that a student "essentially could not attend school" because of unavailable uniform pieces is a bit of an exaggeration. Most schools have a supply of appropriate attire for students to borrow in emergencies. In addition, students who have as many regular clothes as they do uniforms would do the same amount of laundry; therefore making the time spent washing clothes equivalent. The problems you state could just as easily apply to regular clothing. We cannot assume that students who do not wear uniforms have an excess of clothes that are appropriate for school. To argue my claim that school uniforms make getting dressed easier and less time consuming, I propose that we consider other elements of time conservation. 1. Time spent shopping for regular clothes is more time consuming than ordering or picking up a designated uniform. 2. For parents of young children who do not dress themselves, uniforms provide an easy, hassle-free formula for getting dressed in the morning. 3. Those who do not wear uniforms will spend more time picking out what to wear than those who wear uniforms. 2. True, there are situations in which buying/making regular clothes are more economical, and taxpayers may experience an increase. However, whether or not the student wants to wear the uniforms is insignificant (plenty of taxpayer dollars go to things they/others do not want). Thus: 1. Taking into consideration that these uniforms would be used for public schools, the selection of uniforms mandated would probably be priced lower than those of private schools or the more expensive uniforms 2. Uniforms can be bought at places such as Walmart/thrift stores. In these cases buyers would not experience much change in price or quality of clothing. 3. Students who cannot afford uniforms have the option to receive free/reduced priced uniforms that have been donated. 3. You have some good points. There are many things to tease a student over besides the shirt they come to school in. But with the implementation of mandated uniforms: 1)I think we can both agree with one student's account, "The fact is, it really did eliminate clothing as one more thing to obsess about, or pick on people for. It didn't eliminate all teasing or bullying by any means, but it was still an improvement…" **Source: http://www.americasdebate.com... 2) As a veteran teacher, Cecilia Hall writes, "I have taught 40 years and have seen increased PRESSURE in the area of fitting in… plus the clothing industry has taken us WAY OVER the line in sexualizing our young people." **Source: same as above 3) School uniforms would decrease the amount of anxiety students experience, and reinstate a level of appropriateness in educational settings. 4. School uniforms would provide a level of safety in that: 1. People who do not belong at that school can be quickly/easily identified. This is undeniably one element that schools without uniforms must face. 2. Reducing violence stemming from socio-economic status, i.e., conflicts stemming from comments and personal attacks about who has better clothing and so on. **Source: http://www.schoolsecurity.org... 3. One major case study of the effects of adopting school uniforms in Long Beach, CA which appeared in Psychology Today, reported the following effects from the switch to uniforms: * Overall, the crime rate dropped by 91% * School suspensions dropped by 90% * Sex offenses were reduced by 96% * Incidents of vandalism went down 69% These results show a significant change in behavior when students wear school uniforms. Yes, there are cases of violence in schools with uniforms but the overall violence decreased. **Source: http://www.edu...