Uniforms for All

Waking up in the morning, students in the United States meticulously plan their outfits for the day. For them to be content, every strand of hair and every accessory must be in perfect position. They do this with one goal in mind: to impress others through their clothing choices.

I believe this goal is overshadowed by the enormous costs of maintaining the “in” wardrobe and the distraction of peers through unnecessary exposure of skin. Although others may say clothing choice is a way for students to express themselves freely, if this leads to gangs of a feeling of inferiority to others, then this freedom must be taken away. Parents know it’s time to pull out their wallets when September comes around. Annually, parents of high school students spend hundreds of dollars on this season’s outfits. With the welcome transition to uniforms, parents won’t have to worry about being nagged into buying their teen a new pair of Uggs.

Obviously, there would be the initial investment of buying these uniforms, but because of the durability of the uniforms and how they eliminate the need to follow current trends, parents would be saving money in the long run. Uniforms are beneficial to cutting costs during this the economic slump we are currently going through. Uniforms eliminate both costs of a wardrobe and distraction of students from the learning process. Nowadays, the entertainment industry promotes that acting and dressing just like the stars of movies do is the way to grab attention and the key to enjoying a flourishing social life. This leads to more and more students wearing revealing garments, which distracts their peers from learning efficiently. This distraction takes away time from learning, the actual reason why students are in school in the first place.

Uniforms would drastically curtail the number of distractions a student faces throughout the day and thus create a better learning environment for the student. Defenders of the no-uniform policy say a student’s choice of clothes is a way of self-expression, similar to singing or dancing. But they are negligent to remember that this so-called self expression may lead to unwanted events, such as the formation of gangs and a sense of inferiority in the students who don’t have the “right” type of clothes. Because of the results students’ self expression can potentially create, uniforms must be enforced in high schools. I hope that in the future, when students blearily open their eyes and walk to their closets, they won’t have to think twice about what to wear.

Instead, they’ll put on their uniforms and have time left over to look over their English paper. With their new uniforms, students will confidently be able to produce their best work in a learning environment free of distractions, and, don’t forget to mention, at the optimum price.