Students from Chestatee High School wrote letters to the editor to The Times on a number of subjects as part of a social studies class project.
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Numerous people believe that school uniforms can solve many problems in schools. They think that it would decrease the violence, theft, and possibly bring the school together as a whole.
School uniforms have always been an issue in public schools whether it be for or against having them. Some say that having uniforms have many potential benefits in the school's community. But I disagree completely.
School uniforms aren't the answer to the current problems that are present in public schools. Some believe that by not having a uniform, it creates violence, such as gangs and their choice of colors. But you cannot solve the problem of gangs and their colors by giving the entire school certain colors they must wear.
Gangs have many colors they wear. For example, one of the largest and most dangerous gangs in Gainesville, SUR 13, wear the colors navy blue, white and gray. Ironically enough those are some of the same colors that West Hall High School wears. Even if they were given uniforms, they couldn't even wear their school colors without being at risk of wearing the gang's colors.
Uniforms are also seen as a way to make peers equal. By wearing the exact same clothes there will be no judgement and this should make everyone more friendly. But if you begin to put school uniforms into play right now, it would do no good. Teenagers are already friends with who they choose to be friends with and putting them in uniforms will have no affect on how peers treat one another, unfortunately.
School uniforms are not the answer to most of the problems in public school these days. If anything, we should make the dress code more rigorous, making it clear what students should and shouldn't wear on the campus during school hours. If theft is a main issue, then students should begin to buy lockers and locks to put their clothes into during gym class or extra curricular activities. This will make the student more responsible for his or her things.
It may be a good idea to have school uniforms in some schools, but I do not believe it will be able to solve the issues that public schools are having currently.
Caitlyn Weaver