Step Four (First Draft)

             Whenever walking by middle schools and high schools in Korea, all we can find are students in deformed school uniforms. Girls mend their skirts to be as short as Abercrombie shorts, and boys make their pants be as skinny as Hollister Co. super skinny jeans. What likely to happen is their getting detention for violating dress codes. Then, what is the whole point of assigning school uniforms? This is a problem that is not only applied to Korean schools; this is a matter for all schools with school uniforms. School uniforms should be banned because there are not justifiable reasons to support them.

To start with, the school uniform should be banned primarily because it is too expensive considering the use of them. According to Guardion.com, Toby Helm states:

With millions of  children preparing to return to school, a study from charity Family Action, which supports disadvantaged families, says many poorer parents will have paid out 40% of their monthly income in August on "back-to-school costs" alone. It calculates that the bill for equipping a child for the first day of secondary school now averages £191.96 when clothing and equipment are included (Helm).

This would be a huge financial burden for middle or lower class parents. They would even have to buy more and more whenever their children grow. Even if there is a financial aid from the government, most of them would still have to pay. The line between whom to support and whom not to, is not certain. Even those who are not as poor to get financial aid might feel it too expensive. Although there are school uniforms, students still need other clothes even if we already have school uniform to wear. Uniforms are just for school. It’s not like we’re going to wear school uniforms for the whole day. School normally ends at 3~4 p.m. Parents would have to pay for both school uniforms and other clothes whereas they would have had to pay only for normal clothes if there were no school uniforms.

Furthermore, children should be able to express their creativity freely. Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.” (The) According to suite101.com, Rebekah Richards argues that “Forcing students to wear school uniforms reduces their individual expression and free choice. Many teenagers express themselves through their clothes and accessories. Limiting free expression can be compared to limiting the freedom of speech.” (Richards) Schools are keeping children from developing their own creativity and expressing their individuality by making them wear the same clothes. Some say there are other programs for creativity. But, those programs are unnecessary if the schools are not allowing children to express their creativity from the most basic thing like what to wear. Clothes are the fundamental ways of showing themselves.

Some say that if there is no school uniform, poor kids would tend to wear cheaper clothes and that can be a reason for being bullied. But there is also a similar bullying problem caused school uniforms. According to the BBC News, Citizens Advice chief executive David Harker said:

"The costs of taking part in school life can place a great deal of pressure on the budgets of low-income families.Not having the money to buy the correct uniform, join in activities outside the classroom, or go on school trips can mark children out as being poor, and lead to them becoming isolated within school.” (Harker)

Moreover, conformity is not the only solution to the bullying problems. Schools should try to teach children that everyone is different and that each one should be respected equally. That’s what education is. Making everyone look the same is only a short term solution; there are other factors of bullying, too. Learning conformity at school is what makes children turn discriminative towards people who are only a little bit different from them. They should try to teach the difference between people and how they all should be respected equally. That is what the education is in long term. If school uniforms are important in a way of conformity, the enforcement for wearing them cannot be justified.

             To sum up, school uniforms should not be forced at school for three big reasons: they cost too much, they kill students’ creativity, and they pursue conformity. If the schools could not give a better and logical reason than to argue that uniforms help unity of the students, there is no justification they can make in order to keep the uniform policy. Uniforms only cause bad effects for both the students and their family by wasting their money and suppressing their individuality. It’s not time to think more deeply on this issue. Sometimes, accepting every single rule without any doubts on them is not the answer.

Works Cited

Harker, David. "School Uniform 'bullying Risk'" BBC News. BBC, 09 Jan. 2005. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/4204594.stm>.

Helm, Toby. "School Uniform Costs 'break the Bank' for Poorer Families." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 03 Sept. 2011. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/sep/03/school-uniform-costs-break-bank>.

Richards, Rebekah. "Cons of School Uniforms." Suite101.com. Glam Family, 19 Feb. 2010. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://suite101.com/article/cons-of-school-uniforms-a203837>.

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, Declaration of Human Rights, Human Rights Declaration, Human Rights Charter, The Un and Human Rights." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 10 June 2012. <http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/>.