Frequently Asked Questions About School Uniforms

Q. Won’t uniforms improve school security?

Proponents of uniforms argue that having kids dressed in uniforms will make it easy to spot someone who doesn’t belong at the school. This is incorrect for several reasons.

1. To be constitutional, courts have ruled that uniform policies must have a parental “opt-out” clause. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that 100% of the students at any school will be wearing the uniform, effectively erasing the effect of making an intruder immediately visible since there will always be a small percentage of students out of uniform.

2. If uniforms are simply store-bought items in certain colors, they can be obtained by anyone who wishes to enter a school, camouflaging them and allowing them to blend into the student body.

3. If uniforms are mandated as specific shirts with embroidered logos, they are still difficult to identify from a distance, making it easy for someone to blend into a crowd. Also embroidered shirts negate any arguable cost savings that uniform proponents could claim. (see next question).

4. While it is true that similar clothing makes keeping groups together on field trips easier, this can be done in much simpler ways than requiring uniforms everyday when kids may take field trips only 2-3 days per school year. For instance, it is currently done at BTES by having the kids purchase t-shirts for about $10 that they are requested to wear on the field trips. Kids who join the class after the t-shirt purchase date are requested to wear a shirt the same color as the purchased shirt on field trip days.

5. Adult intruders are a major source of security concern at the schools, particularly the elementary schools. Unless teachers are also required to wear the uniform, the uniform policy does nothing to address that concern. Even if teachers were required to wear a uniform, the constant stream of volunteers and parents in and out of the schools, not wearing uniforms, means there would always be people in the buildings not wearing uniforms for an intruder to blend in with.

Uniform advocates also claim that student-on-student violence decreases, and gang activity is prevented, when uniforms are required to be worn by students. No credible, conclusive research supports these claims. As researchers at the University of Notre Dame pointed out in their study on the subject of school uniforms, case studies that claim to show successes from implementing uniform policies in schools cannot show a clear relationship between the uniform policies and the school improvements. The changes in the schools can almost certainly be credited to other events that took place at the same time the uniforms were implemented, or simply to the attention that was brought to the school’s problems by the implementation of the policy. There is no research to support the idea that actual wearing of uniforms improves student behavior or security.

Q. Aren’t uniforms cheaper and easier for parents?

Uniforms are simpler and easier in one way: assuming that your child’s uniform is clean and in their closet in the morning, there are no arguments about what to wear to school. But that one possible advantage is outweighed by several downsides in both hassle and cost.

First, there are the laundry problems. Uniforms would end up generating twice as much laundry (and thus higher water and electric bills) for most families, since most kids would wear two outfits in a day instead of one. Also, if only a very limited set of clothes could be worn to school, there would have to be constant vigilance to ensure that those clothes were clean for wearing. This would mean more frequent laundry quite probably for most households.

Then there are the cost arguments that are put forward in favor of uniforms. Buying some cheap pants and shirts for kids for school rather than the wardrobes they wear now might sound cheaper but in fact for most families it will increase their wardrobe costs. This would be especially true if embroidered shirts, expensive compared to discount store polo shirts, were required as part of the uniforms.

Very few kids are going to want to wear their uniforms after school. This will be especially true for older, more fashion-conscious kids. They will end up needing their uniform wardrobe as well as an after-school wardrobe – two whole wardrobes instead of just one.

In many families, like mine, using clothing as gifts for birthdays and holidays cuts clothes shopping budgets. Outfits or clothes store gift cards are practical gifts that the kids love to get. Somehow I doubt that most kids would be thrilled to receive school uniforms from Nana for Christmas, or would want to spend their birthday gift card from the Gap on khakis and golf shirts they can wear to school.

Q. Aren’t uniforms easier to enforce than a dress code?

Contrary to popular belief, dress codes still need to be part of uniform policies. Enforcement of uniform policies is not a black-and-white “either you are wearing the uniform or you are not” decision with no gray area to interpret. Even if it is dicated what color pants and what kind of shirts are to be worn, there still needs to be dress code rules about what constitutes pants that are too tight or too loose, skirts and shorts that are too short, shirts that are see-through or too tight, etc. Uniforms do not remove the need for school staff to police these sorts of gray areas in the uniform policy. It just dictates what colors of shirts and pants they are looking at when they do it.

Q. Don’t uniforms make kids more equal socially?

Uniform supporters like to believe that promoting “sameness” in appearance through uniforms will encourage kids to look past each others’ external appearance and instead at each others’ characters. This is unfortunately not realistic. In fact, uniforms don't prevent social stratification and can actually promote it in some cases.

Even with a strictly mandated uniform, children from families with more money will still be apparent. Their uniforms will be higher quality, not worn out, and fit better. Their accessories like shoes, watches, school bags, and haircuts will be more expensive and better maintained. These will be noticed among the children and a class system by financial status will still be in place.

Judgments being made by looks will still happen, and could even be increased by uniforms. Certain kids, who look good in anything, will still look good. Kids whose body type or coloring is not suited to the uniform's color or cut will be forced into wearing unflattering clothes everyday with no way to dress themselves in a more flattering way like they could if they had more options.

The social scene for most children extends well outside the school doors. Social judging and classing will happen in those contacts outside school, and will not simply be left behind the moment everyone walks through the doors in their school uniforms. That is a reality of life for our children that school uniforms cannot change.

Q. Don’t uniforms enhance the educational environment and promote learning?

A major argument for uniforms is that they “enhance the learning environment.” However, there is no credible and conclusive research that supports that argument. Studies at both Notre Dame and Michigan State University both concluded that uniforms did not improve the learning environment.