Journal 30

I would have to emphatically say no to the idea of school uniforms. I think the purpose they are trying to achieve is absolutely ridiculous. They are trying to make sure that everybody is equal. They think that it will limit bullying and everything else because people will not be ridiculed for the style or type of clothing that they have. However, I think this is unnecessary at Pleasant Plains High School. Here, I rarely see anyone ever being made fun of for the type of clothing they wear. In fact, I think the real pressing issue here is the need for individuality rather than the need for equality.

I think in our society today kids spend way too much time trying to fit in and be like everybody else. All the media tells us to do is dress like the stars and become like the stars and all of that nonsense. So if there is in fact bullying based upon the way somebody dresses, the problem is that they are all so self-conscious about not being good enough that they feel the need to bring everybody else down. So taking away one of those reasons is not going to remedy the entire situation. What we need to do is strongly emphasize individuality in kids and each other.

Now I know the school cannot correct the student's need to be accepted all on their own. But they can refrain from taking another outlet of individuality and creativity away from the kids.

Aside from that, there is also the money factor. Not everybody can afford to pay for nice school uniforms, especially when they usually have to be specially ordered and are expensive. Some people just do their shopping at wal-mart, or Goodwill, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that whatsoever. They cannot afford to get these nice sets of school uniforms for the kids to be wearing every day. And maybe they could only afford to get one or two uniforms, and then they would have to continually wash them like every single day.