School Uniforms Essay

Olivia Broussard David Rodriguez English 102 11 February 2018 School Uniforms: An Academic Blunder With the evolution of today’s education system, school officials are beginning to force the idea of a dress code on a large amount of public schools across the country. School uniforms used to only be mandatory for private schools; yet now they are starting to become a staple for other education branches as well due to the belief that [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] they [[[---]]] enhance student education. Many school administrators believe that school uniforms allow students to pay attention more in class, encourage higher attendance, and crack down on gang violence. Even though school uniforms seem appealing to school officials, they are more inconvenient than useful when it comes to public schools. [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] Solid claim [[[---]]] When it comes to school uniforms, schools send out a list of guidelines relating to certain articles of clothing that the students are required to wear to receive an education there. Most schools offer a choice between three different colored shirts and khaki or navy pants, or skirts for ladies; [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] Semicolons go between two full sentences, like a period. This issue occurs in other places in the paper as well. [[[---]]] if not more. That means that parents of students must go to the store and purchase those specific clothes separate from their children’s regular clothes in order to pacify the school system. In today’s economy, school uniforms are quite costly. Targeted News Science [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] Italics [[[---]]] in Washington D.C. reports that “on average parents overspend on school uniforms by Pounds170 [$241.22] per child each year. Parents reported that this leads to children going to school in ill-fitting school uniforms, being sent home from school or to families cutting back on food or other basic essentials” (“The Cost of School Uniforms and Its Impact on Equality”). [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] This is an interesting quote, but the connection between “overspending” and “ill-fitting” uniforms isn’t clear. The fact that a DC publication is calculating costs in pounds is also mysterious. [[[---]]] The idea of paying such a high amount of money every year for uniforms that most students can only wear for nine to ten months is repulsive. It is an unnecessary burden for parents of any income to have to spend so much of their hard-earned money on “special clothes” just so their child can attend public school. Another major downside to uniforms is seen from the students’ perspective. Students do not see an appeal in having to wear stuffy uniforms for the duration of their lower-level education. With the addition of school uniforms comes the addition of more rules. When a student is out of dress code, the school reprimands the student with detention, or any other sort of punishment. At one high school in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, disciplinarians would take jackets that were not uniform-approved during the winter season and hold them until a parent could come and claim them. [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] A citation is required in every sentence where you’re borrowing information [[[---]]] With the school rulebook becoming so thick, students are bound to find ways to dodge a few of those rules that they find absurd. Author Kneia DaCosta from Howard University conducted an investigation and reported that [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] Additional info about the size of this investigation would help support your point [[[---]]] “Findings indicated that the overwhelming majority of students were opposed to and non-compliant with the school uniform policy, and that these responses were unrelated to school performance. Students developed oppositional strategies designed to undermine the policy and to retain some semblance of freedom and dignity” (DaCosta 49). If a teenager does not like something, they are most likely going to find a way to defy it. For example, it is a requirement to wear specific colored polo shirts as part of a school dress code, but students found a way to get around this by wearing a sweatshirt so that teachers would not notice the missing shirts. Now teachers and administrators have to take the time to stop students and ask them to show their polo collars to determine if they are in proper dress code. This takes precious time away from teaching, which is something that uniforms are said to help with. [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] Interesting ideas [[[---]]] When school uniforms started to become more of a policy than an idea, it was only thought to have it applied to students rather than everyone. Uniforms are supposed to be bland and simple so that they cut back on distractions. However, teachers are free to wear what they want to school; as long as it falls under professional guidelines. A teacher wearing a bright pink and orange floral shirt with intricate designs can be a very distracting thing in a dull classroom, yet the teacher is free from any consequences. The idea of uniforms also cuts down on student individuality because students are unable to express themselves due to their dress code policies. [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] This sentence seems like a more natural fit in the previous paragraph [[[---]]] Publisher Scholastic Inc. reports that “If uniforms cut down on distractions for teenagers, wouldn't they cut down on distractions for adults as well? Shouldn't all teachers and school administrators wear uniforms to make them more productive? Of course not. The idea is ridiculous. Schools all across the U.S. have already proven that there is no need to tear down students' individuality just to educate them” ("Uniforms Help Students Learn / Uniforms Deny Students' Choice” 12). [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] Quotes longer than four lines need block quote formatting [[[---]]] If students were allowed to wear normal clothing to school as teachers do, then there are no distractions, students are more comfortable, and they can also express who they are by wearing what they like, as long as it is appropriate. Instead of making rules that impede on [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] impinge on [[[---]]] students’ individuality by having them wear uniforms, school systems should give students guidelines on what regular clothing is appropriate for a school environment. W [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] With each transition, we need to see the argument building connections between its points [[[---]]] hen school uniforms were first approved for public schools, it was guaranteed that they would do a great deal of good for the schools that adopted them. One of the biggest promises of school uniforms is that they crack down on gang-related violence. Authors Kathleen Wade and Mary Stafford report that “Surveys of middle school students and teachers indicate that although students' perceptions did not vary across uniform policy, teachers from schools with uniform policies perceive lower levels of gang presence” (Wade and Stafford 399). This, however, is misleading. While uniforms do force the wearers to dress the same and forbid any sort of diversity, they actually make gang-violence worse. Dennis Evans, a former twenty-one-year high school principle, states that “The wearing of school uniforms will, at best, be cosmetic and will not change the gang mentality nor reduce the potential of anti-social, gang-related behavior on or off campus. Ironically, the wearing of school uniforms might even make it easier to be a gang member since school administrators would no longer be able to easily observe the trappings of the gangs” (Evans 115). If students are being forced to wear uniforms, then teachers and administrators are unable to tell who is in a gang, and who is not. Students wearing uniforms could be in a gang committing wrongful acts on campus, and no one would know because they are no longer distinguished as they were while wearing regular clothes. If administrators knew who was in a gang, they could keep a closer eye on those students to make sure they stay out of trouble. However, they chose to simply disguise the gang members with a dress code, which in turn disguises potential violence caused by those members. [[[COMMENT BY Author ()]]] Interesting ideas [[[---]]] The idea of having school uniforms in public schools proves to be more of an issue rather than a benefit. Dress code policies make promises to help with an abundance of school issues, yet they fail to deliver on them. Students spend a significant amount of their childhood in school, and it is wrong to make them miserable during that time by forcing them to wear school-mandated uniforms. If dress codes were to provide guidelines on appropriate regular clothing for a school environment instead of having students wear uniforms, then school would be a better place for students, and even teachers and administrators. Also, giving students guidelines would help them to learn to make appropriate dress decisions for professional environments, rather than basically telling them that only one thing is right and everything else is wrong. School administrations may think they have the school system’s best interest in mind when making the decision to enforce uniform policies, but they fail to see the bigger picture. Out of all of the things approved by school administrators, school uniforms are a major academic blunder. Works Cited DaCosta, Kneia. "Dress Code Blues: An Exploration of Urban Students' Reactions to a Public High School Uniform Policy." The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 75, no. 1, 2006, pp. 49-59, Research Library, http://ezproxy.selu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/222106654?accountid=13772. Evans, Dennis L. "School Uniforms: An "Unfashionable" Dissent." National Association of Secondary School Principals.NASSP Bulletin, vol. 80, no. 582, 1996, pp. 115-116, Research Library, http://ezproxy.selu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/216036050?accountid=13772. "The Cost of School Uniforms and its Impact on Equality." Targeted News Service, Mar 17, 2015, Research Library, http://ezproxy.selu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1664099933?accountid=13772. "Uniforms Help Students Learn / Uniforms Deny Students' Choice." Junior Scholastic, vol. 100, no. 18, May 11, 1998, pp. 12, Research Library, http://ezproxy.selu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/202820619?accountid=13772. Wade, Kathleen K., and Mary E. Stafford. "Public School Uniforms: Effect on Perceptions of Gang Presence, School Climate, and Student Self-Perceptions." Education and Urban Society, vol. 35, no. 4, 2003, pp. 399-420, Social Science Premium Collection, http://ezproxy.selu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/62162589?accountid=13772. Our goals for this assignment were to argue your position on one of the assigned topics, demonstrating in the process a strong opening paragraph, a multi-perspective argument based on an arguable claim, correct MLA citation and works cited page formatting, the smooth integration of quotes, and credible research used meaningfully to develop the argument. You chose an interesting topic and made several insightful points about it. However, there were still issues we’ll want to work on with the next paper. Areas of concern are marked on the following table. For a fuller description of the criteria for each grade, consult the grading scale posted on our Moodle site. Especially keep in mind the importance of correct MLA citation and formatting. If those areas were issues in your paper, they must be fixed before the proficiency. Writing Skill Minor errors Major errors MLA formatting, which requires one-inch margins, Times New Roman 12 text, double-spaced lines, indented paragraphs, a correct heading on the first page, and a centered title The opening paragraph, which should avoid filler information, introduce the topic, establish some context for the debate around the topic, and deliver a strong arguable claim establishing the student’s argumentative stance on a debatable issue The body paragraphs, which should each offer a supporting point that is clearly connected to the claim, builds on the previous supporting points, does not repeat earlier information, and is substantiated with research X Quoting, which requires an introduction that is grammatically consistent with the quote and correct punctuation with a closing quotation mark at the end of the quote, a space, the citation in parentheses, and then the period MLA citation, which requires the author’s last name and page number or, if there is no author listed, the title of the article in quotation marks and the page number, with a citation and matching works cited entry for all borrowed information X Grammar, which should be free of errors X Works cited page formatting, which requires “Works Cited” centered at the top of the page, un-indented first lines and hanging indents, alphabetical ordering, correct quotation marks and italics, and all pieces of information for each entry X Paper requirements, including the number of academic sources, the types of sources, the number of quotes, and the minimum page length with MLA formatting applied For the above reasons, this paper meets most of the criteria for a… 23.5/25 = 94 A How to Fix the Most Common Issues in 102 Papers MLA Formatting How to set your margins in Word How to change the font and font size in Word How to double-space in Word How to set the indents in Word What goes in the upper left-hand corner of the first page Introducing Quotes and MLA Citations Introducing your quotes: Little, Brown Handbook, page 608 What goes in an in-text citation: Little, Brown Handbook, page 635 How to format your works cited page: Little, Brown Handbook, page 644