Dear Superintendent O’Malley,
“When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.”(Charles Evans Hughes) If we all have the same, boring uniforms, nobody will be different. However, all of us will need to compromise whether we are against or for. Those who are against, like me won’t be able to do anything about it therefore, they aren’t free. Boards of Educations through out the world are requiring school uniforms for students for grades K-12 day by day. Now the Edison Board District is slowly following them. It won’t be correct to punish students who wear their clothes appropriately. It would be unfair to wear specific clothes given and if not wore, the student wouldn’t be able to participate in school that day. 23% of most schools require uniforms. It would be the best choice to avoid uniforms due to the cost, uncomfortableness and losing the opportunity of showing personality and style by clothes.
With uniforms, the cost would be way to costly and expensive and over the budget of most families. Others would say it is better with uniforms since students only need two or three pairs of uniforms and six-ten pairs of home clothes, the clothes we wear now. This is incorrect because parents have to buy the uniforms and more than six-ten pairs of home clothes. Even at home more than six-ten pairs of clothes would be needed because kids still want to show their style outside of school grounds. Just because not in school, doesn’t mean not outside of school. Uniforms can cost till $100 per pair, that’s expensive. Even less money is spent on seven-ten pairs of clothes right now. Most families can’t afford to pay the two or three uniforms and on top of that, a lot of after school clothes. Therefore, the parents would have to find a way to get more money, such as a loan. It is evident that it is expensive when school uniforms and home clothes are purchased.
Most students agree on the fact that school uniforms are uncomfortable at times. In fact, most girls wear skirts and t-shirts as their uniform. When sports day arrives or having to run, it is embarrassing and uncomfortable to the girls. Imagine girls, you wearing a skirt on sports day, wouldn’t it be mortifying and uncomfortable while running? Also, most of the uniforms, both girls and boys require a tie to be wore. A tie is itch, especially on my neck. Others would say it is an iota amount of people who think it is uncomfortable, so let it off the hook. They are wrong because they still have a discomfort with uniforms. While the teacher would be teaching, those kids would be too busy being uncomfortable that they won’t pay close attention. School uniforms are uncomfortable to people and that can also be a distraction.
The opportunity to show style and personality will be taken away with uniforms. With uniforms, people can actually tell what kind of person someone is. For example, when someone wears neat clothes, everyone can tell they belong to a respectable family and when someone wears gang clothes, everyone can tell he/she is irresponsible. So, with uniforms everybody would look the same therefore, nobody can judge what kind of a person someone is. Others would say with uniforms there would be less attention to clothes and more attention to learning. This is wrong because clothes identify the true you. Your uniqueness and individuality, which are also very significant, can be two of the things your clothes show of you.
Punishing innocent students wouldn’t be correct and fair since they wear their outfits appropriately. The Edison Township schools don’t need an expensive and costly coat of clothing, a piece of clothing that is uncomfortable, and pairs of uniforms that make showing personality impossible. The decision has to be taken quickly or this issue could get worse. It is evident that having uniforms would have many consequences attached to it, so no school uniforms.
Sincerely,
Shiksha Kohli
