One of the many things that students despise about school is wearing school uniform.  On some occasions they’re cool to wear, but to wear the same clothing every single day must draw some hate, and what other reasons are there that make uniforms so universally hated by students?  Uniforms should not be worn because they are tight and uncomfortable to wear, have a bad taste in clothing, and restrict students from expressing their feelings.

To begin with, the uniforms in some schools are not made of comfortable materials like cotton but also has wool in it, which is the same material used for suits. The cutting on school uniforms is also horrible.  Some uniforms are very hard to stretch and will rip if you do.  For example, I used to go to a school where the uniform material was ghastly.  Every time in class, I would try to stretch my back and arms.  Whenever I did so, I could feel the uniform shirt on the verge of ripping because it was just not meant for much moving.  I felt so confined in my uniforms and so uncomfortable.  I knew about many incidents where the uniforms of some students ripped from being used too much. 

Secondly, school uniforms look dreadful.  If you search up school uniforms, you will get pictures of children in suits.  You do not really want students to be attending class with that look do you?  Suits like that look like they are going for their graduation when in reality they are just taking a stroll through class in that suit.  Uniforms could be made so that they can be comfortable to wear and pleasing to look at because you want the uniforms at least to look “good”, and not like they are going to a funeral.

The final reason is that by condemning kids to their atrocious uniforms, schools are taking away their freedom of expression and takes away what makes them unique.  By taking away uniforms, school is a dull and lifeless place no one wants to be in.  Clothes are what express our feelings and emotions and taking away a child’s decision of clothing is taking away their right to express emotion as well as personality.  Every free dress day at school, I see kids wearing all sorts of different clothing and a bit of their personality shown through it.  Some kids like sports so they wear sports clothing and basketball kicks.  A kid who likes a particular metal band might wear a shirt with that band on it to show their interest in it.  “Kids should be able to develop self-expression and their personal identity. Instead, they might resort to unwonted piercings and tattoos”, says Nancy E. Bailey, PhD, education author and activist

One solution for this ‘problem’ is to allow students to wear what they feel would be comfortable for the day. For schools that feel uncomfortable about allowing kids to choose their own clothing, schools can put down more rules about what colors they can wear or if students can wear jackets.  It just depends on the school. Although students do not wear school uniforms on normal days, they might have to wear them on special school days like Photo Day, or special guest event that is going to happen.  Although some critics may say that kids who wear their own clothes get bullied more because of their clothing choices, many studies and people have found that to be false. Nancy E. Bailey, PhD, as mentioned above also stated that “Bullying occurs whether students wear uniforms or not. The root cause of bullying should be addressed.”  This says that bullying is not caused by the clothes people wear.  For example, it does not make a difference whether or not someone would get bullied if they were wearing school uniform or a brown shirt.  In fact, by wearing school uniforms, bullies come up with more creative ideas to bully and make fun of the victim.  Clothing choice is not the main cause of bullying because bullies tend to make fun of people because of their face or their body, not because of their clothes.  It seems like only a stereotypical bully would make fun of a person because of the color of their shirt.

Schools are forcing their students to wear school uniform, even without any cold, hard facts that uniforms actually affect learning and bullying.  Therefore, school uniforms should not be worn because they are uncomfortable and are made of poor material, school uniforms do not look good, and uniforms are taking away students’ freedom of expression.