Essay on School Uniforms

Submitted By Paige-Bradley
Words: 634
Pages: 3

Paige Bradley
Mr. Cassarino
Psychology; B-4
18 November 2013
# of Words: 736
Infringement on the First Amendment As a 16-year-old female junior attending a public high school in New Hampshire, the issue of school uniforms has become extremely prominent in today’s topics of discussion. Rumors flood the hallways about what is going to happen in the future. Like almost every debated topic, there are two sides: those who are pro uniform and those who are against uniforms. Unfortunately, some people are misled and terribly misinformed as to what uniforms actually do, or even more so, what they don’t do. A school uniform has little to no affect on students’ ability to learn and does not improve the school environment. Enforcing school uniforms in public schools would be extremely costly for student’s parents and/or taxpayers. First of all, the school board would have to decide who would pay for the uniforms for every student. According to Land’s End, on average, a polo t-shirt alone would cost anywhere from $20-$35. If the burden fell upon the parents, they would be upset, especially if they had more than one child enrolled in high school. If it fell upon taxpayers, they would be enraged, especially if they had no children enrolled in the high school. Also, in every area, there are children who come from less fortunate families. How would they be able to afford all of these uniforms? Would there be some sort of aide for them? Lastly, in New Hampshire, the weather changes immensely throughout the fall to spring school year. This would create a need for multiple season uniforms driving up the total cost even further. Overall, enforcing uniforms would be a complicated process and very pricey for students and their families. Placing uniforms in public schools would infringe on the students’ first amendment stated in the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution clearly states “...make no law respecting…abridging the freedom of speech...” This says that there can be nothing put in place to take away from our freedom of expression. This freedom expression, which can be shown through writing, song, dance, or even the way you dress. Most public high schools already enforce strict dress codes that restrict our freedoms; to take them away completely would be unfair and unconstitutional. Therefore, mandatory school uniforms would breach a students’ first amendment. The requirement of school uniforms in a public school might be good for school unity, but as far as academics and school attendance is