• PRO

    Students or schools have to dish out extra cash for...

    School Uniforms are unnecessary

    School Uniforms, while they may look tasteful, are unnecessary for most if not all schools. Students or schools have to dish out extra cash for clothing that adds little if any academic value as studies has shown. I also doubt that school advertising on uniforms is going to contribute to gaining more students as if the parents have a choice in where they send their child to school they are going look for the safest schools with the best academic performance, not because they saw a shirt with a logo, and the second reason I doubt that advertisement would work on school uniforms is based on the fact that you wear the uniform mostly in school so only people who already go to said school would see it. I understand that sometimes they wear their uniforms to special events, but a majority of the time spent in the uniform is in the school. As for your last two arguments, they are both non-issues. Identification's main benefit is safety, but nowadays many schools are getting more and more secure, and I doubt those few extra seconds picking out an outfit are going to affect anything. http://freakonomics.com... https://www.greatschools.org... https://www.brookings.edu... https://www.npr.org...

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/School-Uniforms-are-unnecessary/2/
  • PRO

    Kids have the freedom to dress however they want after...

    school uniforms

    Kids have the freedom to dress however they want after school. Uniforms just keep everything easy. Their not there to be super models, you're there to learn.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/school-uniforms/78/
  • CON

    School uniforms covers others's personality for one...

    School Uniforms

    School uniforms covers others's personality for one thing. Everyone would be all the same colors. And it's never going to be acceptable by all students.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/School-Uniforms/37/
  • PRO

    3% less people failed the 3rd grade, all thanks to...

    School Uniforms, on Balance, are Beneficial

    I thank my opponent for accepting this debate. By looking at his profile for just a few minutes I can see that he is a quality debater, which is pretty awesome. Looking forward to the clash. ----- I just want to give everyone this fact with a time frame, so they can check if either sides' sources are out of date or not: The first school district in the USA to require all K-8 students to wear uniforms was in Long Beach, CA, in 1994 ----- Deterance of Crime: According to the University of Nevada, there are some pretty awesome benefits that occur when there are uniforms in place in public schools [1], such as less crime, less bullying, and even less gang involvement (pretty crazy to think that uniforms lead to less gangs). I have some numbers for you here, these were after two years of school uniform policy in Long Beach, California [2]: Assault wiithin the school district dropped by 34% Assault with a deadly weapon dropped by 50% Fighting incidents went down by 51% Sex offenses down by 74% Robbery dropped by 65% Possession of weapons (or weapon look-a-likes) dropped 52% Possession of drugs (legal or otherwise) dropped by 69% Vandalism dropped by 18% Now, I know what you are thinking: "Is Long Beach, CA representative of America?" (I'm assuming that we both live in the USA by saying America), and the answer is pretty much mostly. But I understand that you want some more sources that back this up, and here you are: In 2012, there was a study conducted in Sparks Middle School, Nevada, which showed that after the schools there instuted school uniforms, there was a 63% decrease in some police log reports, and decreses (not mentioned in a number, but I assume drastically enough to be noted) in gang activity, student fights, graffity, property damage (to the schools) and battery [3]. Increased Productivity: A letter published by the NASSP, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, said that, "When all students are wearing the same outfit, they are less concerned about how they look and how they fit in with their peers; thus, they can concentrate on their schoolwork" [4]. In 2010, the University of Houston conducted a study that showed that when elementary schools implemented school uniforms, the average test score for a girl went up by 3% [5]. Before I go on, I just want you to think about that statistic, and the implications of it. 3% less people failed the 3rd grade, all thanks to wearing something that was provided by a school, at little or no cost. Here is a syllogism that I will provide to you: Premise I: Things that indcrease productivity at low cost are beneficial Premise II: School uniforms increase priductivity, and are of low cost (I will explain low cost in next contention) Premise III: School uniforms are beneficial This syllogism directly proves how I have successfully fulfilled my BoP to prove that, on balance, school uniforms are beneficial. Low Cost. I believe that this contention is pretty self-explanatory. Parents often reduce their financial burden due to low income when their children have only one type of clothes to wear to school, instead of having to buy a large variety, when most uniforms come with 2-3 pairs. In 2013, there was a study of 517 US school leaders that found that nearly 95% of them (exact statistic is 94%) believe that one of the main benefits to parents is that shcool uniforms are more cost-effective than regular apparel [6]. In this study, 77% of leaders estimated that the average annual cost of school uniforms per child (with replacements included due to accidents) is going to be less than or equal to $150 [6]. The student uniform compant, called French Toast (which is an awesome name) reportes that the average cost of their complete uniforms is about $45, and that most students only require about 2 sets (maybe 3 if they are accident prone), which means that the average cost per student per year is only going to be around $135 a year if they are clumsy, or $90 a year if they are pretty cautious (which most students are) [7]. Allows for free expression. Now, before you start yelling in caps at me for making this rather offense-sided contention, just hear me out. I am pretty sure that I am going to be hearing the "but, uh, our students need their ability to creatively express themselves" argument, which is valid, but wrong. In 1969, the US Supreme Court (which I should remind you, is the Supreme Court of the Land), heard a case "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District", which was about the ability of some teenagers to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War (which I support their right to do so), and they ruled that this was constitutional for the district to set up school uniforms, on the basis that the right of free speech "does not relate to regulation of the length of skirts or the type of clothing" [8]. That basically means that the Supreme Court, the guys that check if something is constitutional or not, said that school uniforms are. I mean, you can't really be standing up here and be preaching to me, "omg lexus, but what about the freedemomom of expersion?" (not an impression of you, just an impression of some uninformed people), when it is totally constitutional for schools to be setting up these kind of regulations. [1]: "News." School Uniform Study: University of Nevada, Reno. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2015. [2}: M. Sue Stanley, "School Uniforms and Safety," Education and Urban Society, Aug. 1996 (cannot list page numbers, this was throughout the book) [3]: Claudene Wharton, "College of Education Researchers Conduct Study on Impacts of School Uniforms," unr.edu, Apr. 23, 2013 [4]: Peter Caruso, "Individuality vs. Conformity: The Issue behind School Uniforms," NASSP (National Association of Secondary School Principals) Bulletin, Sep. 1996 [5]: Elisabetta Gentile and Scott A. Imberman, "Dressed for Success? The Effect of School Uniforms on Student Achievement and Behavior," utdallas.edu, Jan. 15, 2010 [6]: National Association of Elementary School Principals, "National Survey of School Leaders Reveals 2013 School Uniform Trends," naesp.org, July 30, 2013 [7]: French Toast Official School Wear, "Why School Uniforms?," frenchtoast.com (accessed late 2014, sorry if out of date at current time) [8]: David L. Hudson Jr., "Clothing, Dress Codes & Uniforms," firstamendmentcenter.org, Apr. 1, 2002 Thanks for accepting, con. Looking forward to your case

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/School-Uniforms-on-Balance-are-Beneficial/1/
  • PRO

    Parents can buy used uniforms through used book and...

    school uniforms

    Parents can still buy their children "everyday clothes" that they can wear after school. Parents can buy used uniforms through used book and clothing sales run by parents of children who have graduated. Parents don't have to spend hundreds of dollars at Donnelly's or other companies. Also depending on the school, the school may allow the children to be more expressive.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/school-uniforms/71/
  • CON

    For the last round I would like to say that in my opinion...

    School uniforms

    For the last round I would like to say that in my opinion school uniforms are horrible because that's violating the first amendment of the bill of rights

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/School-uniforms/26/
  • CON

    School Uniforms are the worst! ... Not only do they...

    School Uniforms

    School Uniforms are the worst! They throw students off focus and fail. Not only do they bother other people, but they are also horrible!

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/School-Uniforms/7/
  • CON

    University of Missouri assistant professor, David Brunsma...

    School Uniforms Should not be Required

    Virginia Draa, assistant professor at Youngstown State University, reviewed attendance, graduation and proficiency pass rates at 64 public high schools in Ohio. Her final analysis surprised her: "I really went into this thinking uniforms don't make a difference, but I came away seeing that they do. At least at these schools, they do. I was absolutely floored." Draa's study concluded that those schools with uniform policies improved in attendance, graduation and suspension rates. She was unable to connect uniforms with academic improvement because of such complicating factors as changing instructional methods and curriculum. University of Missouri assistant professor, David Brunsma reached a different conclusion. In his 2004 book, The School Uniform Movement and What It Tells Us About American Education: A Symbolic Crusade, Brunsma reviewed past studies on the effect of uniforms on academic performance. He also conducted his own analysis of two enormous databases, the 1988 National Educational Longitudinal Study and the 1998 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Brunsma concluded that there is no positive correlation between uniforms and school safety or academic achievement. In closing school uniforms also Help prevent gangs from forming on campus Encourage discipline by teaching students to adhere to rules Help students resist peer pressure to buy trendy clothes Diminish economic and social barriers between students Increase a sense of belonging and school pride How students can be creative at school -by being effective learners, the greatest form of creativity is expressed with knowledge -students can be creative in debate, science projects, chess, acting, sports Anecdotal evidence shows the effectiveness of uniforms Here is how school uniforms prevent bullying School uniforms make act as a leveler between rich and poor students because it means all students wear the same thing no matter what their socio-economic back ground. If students wore their everyday clothes their would be a big gap between what rich students wore and what poor students wore. Clothing would become an indicator of how well off a child's parents were. Children would inevitably begin to be bullied if they were not able to keep up with the latest and often expensive fashion trends. At school all students should be seen as equal amongst their peers and ensuring they all wear the same uniform is one way to ensure that is the case. Students will find enough reasons to bully each other on their own, we do no need to give them another one on the plate.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/School-Uniforms-Should-not-be-Required/1/
  • PRO

    I believe school uniforms should be enforced upon all...

    School Uniforms

    I believe school uniforms should be enforced upon all schools. They will help students focus more on school, they will lower crime and bullying, they will give a sense of unity to the school, they save class time, they can save money, increase attendance and can improve punctuality, save money for parents, and help students get to know each other better based on their personality more than their appearance.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/School-Uniforms/54/
  • CON

    to persons under college age...

    School Uniforms benefit schools

    DEFENITIONS SCHOOL- an institution where instruction is given, esp. to persons under college age (http://dictionary.reference.com...) UNIFORMS- an identifying outfit or style of dress worn by the members of a given profession, organization, or rank. (http://dictionary.reference.com...) BENEFIT- to do good to; be of service to (http://dictionary.reference.com...) CONTENTIONS 1. Uniforms reduce the individuality of the student Clothes are an important way that kids express themselves in a relatively harmless way. When you take this away, kids may express themselves in a more negative way. 2. Classism Only certain families are able to buy school uniforms, as they cost more than other clothes. This discourages any lower class students from going to a school with uniforms. This is clearly classism and blatantly discriminatory. 3. Equality Uniforms teach kids to judge people based on how they dressed, rather than the quality of their character. Children in any school, public or private, should always learn that people are equal to one another.

    • https://www.debate.org/debates/School-Uniforms-benefit-schools/1/