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English 102.44
13 April 2016
Accessible and Affordable School Uniforms
Introduction
During the 1990’s the escalation of violence in America’s cities was noticed to be getting
ever closer to affecting public school safety. The leading reason for this was the effects of gang
affiliation starting at younger ages and it was most notable in how these children dressed. It
could something as simple as wearing a team jersey that’s a particular color to wearing an entire
outfit that is easily identified by rival gangs and creates the perception that being in a gang is a
family business. In the School Safety Handbook, Schools have responded by dealing with the
symptoms instead of the causes of violence. An increasingly frequent response has been to
restrict the display of gang colors and to implement dress codes aimed at banning what are to be
believed to be gang attire, in the belief and hope that violence on the school campuses will end.
(Lane, 1996, p.86-87)
The most accepted method of creating the safe campuses for bot students and staff have
been the implementation of a common school uniform. The uniforms can either be mandatory or
non-mandatory/voluntary. That decision is left up to individual school districts based on the
support they get by the community. The school districts that do implement a uniform policy
believe:
A safe and disciplined learning environment is needed for a good school. Students need
to feel safe and secure, learn basic American values and the essentials of good
citizenship, are better students. With the increase of school violence, teachers, parents
and school administrators feel the need for school uniforms as a positive and creative way
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to increase school safety and reduce discipline problems. (“Manual on School Uniforms”,
1996, p.3)
Even as the acceptance and implementation of school uniforms was successful, there lies
the problem of having these uniforms affordable and available for all parents with children in a
school that uses uniforms. It’s no secret that buying clothes for growing children can be
expensive and that parents are always looking for a bargain. But what if the store hopping and
the bargain hunting could be removed from the process of buying children the uniforms they
need for school? By creating a simple affordable and logistical method of obtaining uniforms for
parents, there will less opposition by these parents for buying the uniforms and thus further
promoting public schools to be the safe places for education that they should be.
The Problem
