Editing School uniform (section)

=== Negatives ===
The opposing side of uniforms has claimed their ineffectiveness using a variety of justifications, a variety of which have research supporting them. Some of the cons to school uniforms include the following legal, financial, and questionable effectiveness concerns:<ref name="faculty.unlv.edu"/> The primary concern with school uniforms or strict dress codes is that it limits the ability of students to express themselves. While in countries where uniforms are the norm it simply isn't the case. Clothing is viewed as a means of expression – making all students wear the same clothes or limit them to what they can wear can disrupt their sense of identity. One of the main controversies focuses on dress code policies versus freedom of speech.<ref name="School Dress Codes - FindLaw">{{Cite web
| url = http://education.findlaw.com/student-rights/school-dress-codes.html
| title = School Dress Codes - FindLaw
| website = Findlaw
| access-date = 26 February 2016
}}</ref> This establishes that students cannot wear the latest trends or clothes that the school finds that interrupt the learning environment. However, students can wear clothing that express their religion.  "Both the Constitution and most state laws protect students' rights to wear religious attire... such as the wearing of a turban, yarmulke, or headscarf."<ref name="School Dress Codes - FindLaw"/>

Another negative aspect of school uniforms is that the policy can be sexist. Boys and girls are often not disciplined in the same ways when it comes to dress codes. Girls are more commonly disciplined for certain articles of clothing that are prohibited because they "distract" boys. "Transgender students have been sent home for wearing clothing different from what's expected of their legalness, while others have been excluded from yearbooks."<ref name="Zhou">{{Cite web
| url = https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/10/school-dress-codes-are-problematic/410962/
| title = Why School Dress Codes Are Sexist
| last = Zhou
| first = Li
| website = The Atlantic
| date = 20 October 2015
| language = en-US
| access-date = 26 February 2016
}}</ref>
[[File:Chaptal_vers_1880_PF.jpg|thumb|Schoolboys in France, 1880]]

Uniforms also generally disadvantage students, especially girls, in freedom of movement and comfort. The research was conducted on an Australian independent private school and its uniform. Comfort-wise, for boys, the blazer was too hot/cold and uncomfortable. For girls, the light coloured cotton school dress was restrictive, see-through, hot, uncomfortable, and impractical. Furthermore, the stockings were often cold, grey woolen kilt was too heavy and restrictive of movement, and the wind could cause it to reveal more than the girls wanted. When playing and moving around, for boys, the school tie  was a choking hazard, and the trousers had no stretch. For girls, the dress/skirt caused modesty issues (e.g. hard to swing on monkey bars/run around while keeping her privacy, hence stop being active), and the kilts were too big and heavy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://girlsuniformagenda.org/2017/06/14/research-girls-school-uniforms-clear-discriminate/|title=Research on school uniforms - it's clear, they disadvantage girls|date=14 June 2017|website=Girls' Uniform Agenda|language=en-AU|access-date=19 November 2019}}</ref>

Research on how school uniforms and school dress codes influence the student can be inconclusive. "In the U.S., over half of public schools have a dress code, which frequently outline gender-specific policies."<ref name="Zhou" />

*Legal concerns
**Focus on the supposition that requiring a uniform violates children's individual rights (Thomas, 1994; Virginia State Dep’t of Edu, 1992)
**Mandatory uniform policies are being considered largely for urban school districts, and, hence are being forced on a predominantly minority and poor student population (Thomas, 1994)
*No effect on social status
** Many students felt the school uniform policy had little impact on the social dynamic of the school and students found ways to express individuality by making minor alterations to the school uniform (Da Costa, 2006<ref>DaCosta, K. (2006). Dress code blues: An exploration of urban students' reactions to a public High School uniform policy. The Journal of Negro Education, 75(1), 49-59.</ref>). Some parents and students interviewed in a research about the social aspect of school uniforms said that uniforms were a violation of their rights and freedom. "Like adults, children's freedom to choose or to act is also circumscribed by the community – massively so by schools, with their high density, constant supervision and evaluation, lack of privacy, and the obligatory nature of their activities." (Bodine, 2003<ref>Bodine, A. (2003). School uniforms and discourses on childhood. Childhood, 10(1), 43-63.</ref>)
*Financial concerns
**Groups such as the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] have voiced concerns about the cost of uniforms, specifically that some disadvantaged parents are unable to afford them (Gursky, 1996)
*Questionable effectiveness of those policies
**Strongest opponents of uniform policies charge that no empirical evidence exists to support the numerous and varied claims of uniform proponents (LaPorte, Holoman, & Alleyne, 1992)
**School uniforms suppress students' individuality by mandating standardization of appearance and removing student expression (Joseph, 1986<ref>Joseph, Nathan. Uniforms and Nonuniforms: Communication through Clothing. Greenwood Press, New York, NY, 1986. ProQuest. Web. 18 April 2015.</ref>)
**While uniform policies have been linked to school climate, safety, and student self-perception, there is no evidence to indicate that a uniform policy increases academic achievement (Wade & Stafford, 2003<ref>Wade, Kathleen Kiley, and Mary E. Stafford. "Public School Uniforms. Effect on Perceptions of Gang Presence, School Climate, and Student Self-Perceptions." Education and Urban Society 35.4 (2003): 399-420. ProQuest. Web. 18 April 2015.</ref>)
Students that do not wear uniforms can be just as successful as students who do wear school uniforms. The amount of effort and participation a student does during class determines their academic success, regardless of what they are wearing. Students who wear school uniforms does not grant them academic achievement.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brunsma |first=David |title=Uniforms in public schools: A decade of research and debate |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Education |year=2006}}</ref>

According to Marian Wilde,<ref>{{cite web
  | url         = http://www.btuonline.com/pdfs/Education%20News%20PDFs/uniformdebate.pdf
  | title       = The Debate Over Dress Codes and Uniforms
  | last        = Wilde
  | first       = Marian
  | date        = July 2006
  | publisher   = Boward Teachers' Union
  | archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20150427130140/http://www.btuonline.com/pdfs/Education%20News%20PDFs/uniformdebate.pdf
  | archive-date = 27 April 2015
}}</ref> additional opponent arguments include that school uniforms:

* Are simply a Band-Aid on the issue of school violence
* Make students a target for bullies from other schools
* Are an unfair additional expense for parents who pay taxes for a free public education
* Are difficult to enforce in state/public (government) schools