Many schools have found that requiring their students to wear uniforms has great advantages that promote a better learning environment for both the students and faculty. While students may initially protest the uniform restrictions, the benefits are too many to ignore. Overall, uniforms keep students focused on the real reason why they're at school: to learn.
The natural tendency of society is to judge others based on what they wear. A person's style of clothing is one of the first things others notice, and the clothing one wears can often determine the type of treatment they receive from others. These are the reasons why people may spend excessive amounts of time obsessing about their wardrobe, and in a scholastic environment, it's far better to shift the focus of students away from their wardrobes in order to pay more attention to what they need to learn to become successful in life.
Uniforms promote harmony between students for better relationships within the school
When everyone wears the same uniform, it gives a feeling of unity among people that encourages individuals to work together in a more harmonious way. Just by the act of wearing uniforms, everyone has something in common, and the opportunity arises to see more of each other's similarities rather than each other's differences.
Uniforms minimize the ability of school gangs and other extreme social cliques to express their personal loyalties through what they wear. Psychologically, uniforms emphasize the unity of students rather than their differences, and this shift in focus helps reduce gang-related violence.
When students wear whatever they like, they'll invariably express their social status through their clothing. Students from a wealthy background will wear the latest fashions from top brands and often begin to worry more about their appearance than about learning. Many students who cannot afford expensive clothes strive to compete with their peers for a better image; however, they often don't earn much extra income by working extra hours at a job, so they can resort to selling drugs at school to make money easier and faster. The more drugs penetrate a school system, the more violence and corruption results, and it's extremely difficult to stop.
Uniforms are more economical for everyone
When a school adopts mandatory uniforms, the students and faculty save a lot of money on personal clothing expenses. This saved money can go towards a higher investment like saving for the students' future college expenses.
Uniforms promote the mental and emotional health of students
The number of junior high and high school student suicides continues to increase each year, and many different studies have shown that it's getting more difficult for the average student to maintain a healthy level of self-confidence. When the differences between students are emphasized in a school without uniforms, they become more self conscious about their appearance, and those who can't afford the clothes they want to wear to feel accepted develop even greater inferiority complexes that aggravate suicidal tendencies. When all students in a school wear uniforms, these negative tendencies become minimized because the students' clothing is no longer a divisive barrier they can use to judge themselves with. When clothes are no longer a standard of comparison, the well-being of students increases.
Jessie Teh writes on issues happening in schools today. She is currently researching the English school system in Malaysia and also the affects so the many different types of international schools in the country. To learn more about international schools in Malaysia, visit POWIIS .
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