Some people say that wearing school uniforms should be compulsory. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Whether adopting school uniforms should be mandatory or not is a matter of remarkable controversy. Some people maintain that compulsory school uniforms deprive students of the opportunity to express their individuality. From my perspective, implementing school uniform is advisable for the following reasons: promoting equality among students and improving their responsibility. To begin with, wearing uniforms could help promote equality in education contexts. There is evidence to demonstrate that school uniforms can create a strong sense of community. In a society that students can be easily alienated based on financial status, school uniforms act as a socioeconomic equalizer promoting social inclusion by emphasizing the similarity between students rather than pointing out the difference, easing ethnic and cultural tensions and therefore helping students assimilate with peers. In addition, the uniformity of school uniforms is strongly believed to remove the opportunity for fashion-related bullying. When all students wear the same clothing, competition in dress and peer pressure could be reduced; hence, students may not have to worry endlessly about their appearance and be obsessed with clothes. Accordingly, the fear of becoming social outcasts or being discriminated against socially could be eliminated, which increases their morale and self-esteem and boosts civility and equality in education settings. Along with enhancing sense of equality, mandatory school uniforms can improve students’ accountability. First, it is widely argued that when students are identified with a particular institution, they could be more aware of their behavior. Students with identifiable uniforms are considered as the representatives of their school; as a consequence, how polite they are, how conderately they treat other people, and what they say could completely evaluate their school. More importantly, compulsory school uniforms offer students a chance to focus more on their schoolwork. Compulsory school uniforms give students the message that school is an important place where they can get an education, not to show off wealth, social pretige and style with prohibitvely expensive jewelry, designer labels or trendy clothes. Some critics of implementing school uniforms may claim that school uniforms should not be made mandatory because they rob students of the right to express their individuality without fear of punishment. However, this view is highly debatable. It is widely believed that students are supposed to wear uniforms only during school hours, which means that they can freely express their individuality and uniqueness through fashion outside the classroom or by engaging in social activities and clubs. From what has been discussed above, adopting compulsory school uniforms could offer extraordinary benefits. Not only can create a feeling of equality among students, implementing mandatory school uniforms can promote students’ accountability.