Today across America several thousand children and adolescents of all ages are constantly being harassed and bullied for simply what they choose to wear. School uniforms being enforced would be beneficial to everyone. It has proven to not only reduce violence, but also has lead to fewer distractions in the classrooms making it easier for students and teachers.

Imagine waking up one morning already knowing what you were going to wear, thus saving you ten minutes. Those ten minutes can even be spent sleeping. Which according to the NSF (National Sleep Foundation) most teenagers are losing their “quality of life” due to sleep deprivation. Their grades, and overall school performance is suffering heavily.

Kids will not only be better rested, but also learn to dress nicer. Soon they will become accustomed to dressing in more formal attire, making it easier to get used to a tie and suit or dress as an adult. By just changing how you dress can change how you and others think for the better. No more getting distracted during a math lesson due to someone wearing a bright yellow t-shirt.

Appearance is also a major key factor in bullying across the country. Bullying still goes on in every school in some way or form in the United States. To me it seems to be one of the cruelest and most common things kids do to each other every day. Whether it’s making fun of someone’s shoes or their haircut it still goes on and shows no sign of coming to a much needed end, and I’m not just saying that uniforms can magically make bullying go away. No, I am saying that school uniforms can help the cause to reduce the amount of bullying going on. According to the Long Beach School district in New York soon after enforcing uniforms, fighting and reported muggings decreased by 50 %, and the number of sexual offenses dropped an astonishing 74 %. Melissa Kelly, a long time educator for 13 years in classrooms said, “Having uniforms in schools not only increases attentiveness but also prevents violence.” Violence being bullying and fighting, she made a good point.

Now a lot of people say that school uniforms restrict a student’s right to express themselves, but really kids need to express themselves through their actions, not their clothes. I think kids shouldn’t be judged by the way they dress, they should be judged for who they are on the inside. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is a common cliché, but it applies here because by having kids dress how they want just encourages others to judge one another not how they act but how they look.

Also, many people complain that uniforms are ugly but honestly who is going to comment on your uniform being ugly when they are wearing the exact same thing as you.
You’d think that this higher quality of appearance would cost more, but in reality the cost is much less. The cost of uniforms almost always is going to be cheaper that designer shirts and expensive jeans, and this way kids won’t have to always have to keep up with “the trends”. What if you could come home from school one day and have your closet be less congested with shoes, t-shirts, and pants, and some people wouldn’t have their rooms filled up to their knees in dirty laundry.

Overall uniforms are a key to having a great school, stopping violence, and increasing attentiveness. Today across America kids are being harassed and bullied for just expressing themselves and it’s time someone did something about it, by enforcing uniforms to save time and money.