Advantages of School Uniforms
There are quite a lot of discussion taking place nowadays whether schools should retain the concept of school uniforms or there should be liberty for students to decide what is to be worn in the school and what not. Now surely there are many advantages of keeping school uniforms and mostly students are benefited from this.
Firstly, school is the place where all of us step in at a very tender age. In one word, life begins at school. It's not just education but school gives us the platform to nurture our faith, emotions in such an early stage of life. The importance of making friends, working as a team- we learn all these in school. And wearing the same dress definitely brings a sense of unity among students. In every school there are students from different backgrounds but with the school uniform everyone becomes one- the only identity dominates at that moment is all of them are the representative of the same school. This is a great feeling of togetherness. This also helps kids to overcome inferiority (or superiority) complex which sometimes children have because of the environment they have been brought up. School uniforms flashes out most of the drops of social conflicts.
As school makes our fundamental basics of future it is extremely important to make one feel as a part of the school. A child with a particular school uniform always feels that he belongs to the school. It makes the child more conscious about his individuality which in turn helps building self confidence. A child would be more sympathetic to his fellow class mate who shares the same uniform as his. As mentioned earlier there would be always a mixed crowd in every school. Some of them are rich, some belong to upper middle class and some lower than that- this difference remains everywhere, except those 8 hours in school because of the school uniform. The so called status consciousness doesn't exist with this.
Another valid point comes up while discussing the advantages of school uniform is school children pass through two most important transition periods of life in school- they spend 12 long years in school- from childhood to teenage, from teenage to youth- the school witness the changes ( both physical and mental) occur within one. During these transitions someone hardly cares about the world. That time there is a tendency among all of us to break the rule which needs to be dealt very carefully and diplomatically. At this point wearing school uniforms plays a silent but crucial role in our lives. It instills a deep rooted sense of discipline in the subconscious mind. As a result usually even the most dangerous uniformed student hesitates to do any mischief outside the school as the instant thought plays in his mind that he is going to let down his school with his action. School uniform helps a student to prioritize his necessities-where school and academics comes first.
Apart from this wearing school uniform makes every student proud of his school. Exactly the way we are proud to be an Indian, the same way even after 50 years of school life one identifies himself with his school, his juniors and seniors. Every uniformed student feels that his school uniform gives him an edge over others. A student cherishes every moment of school life and school uniform becomes an integral part of it. Without the uniform a school loses its flavor, its uniqueness. Peer pressure gets easier to tackle with the inclusion of a school uniform. A student can always get to wear the dress of his/her choice outside the school so what's wrong in wearing uniform in the school! There are places other than school where one can flaunt his/her fashion quotient. Wearing school dress also helps a child to get rid of the stresses caused by class and social snobbery. "Everybody is equal in school uniform"-this very thought provides a child a special comfort zone where he is bound to show up greater skills be it academic or extra curriculums.
Also from the school's point of view there are enough reasons for keeping the school uniform. It helps the school officials to recognize their student much faster in case of any emergency. School uniform is the best and safest way to avoid any sort of obscenity inside the school premises. The continuous desire for having more and theft in order to get what one doesn't have also gets prevented if everybody uses the same dress code. This also help parents not to get pressurized by their offspring's' constant demand to match up his schoolmates dress lists. The greatest advantage of a school uniform is the lesser costs which surely brings a fresh air of relief to the parents of growing kids.
Especially as students from various different religions come to a school- school uniform minimizes the religious differences amongst students. This in turn creates a huge impact on reducing violence in the schools. A school uniform brings stability in a school student's day to day life which lately provides the proper and right direction for a bright future. Because wearing school uniform helps a student to have more concentration which is needed to perform academically lot better as it causes lesser distraction.
Finally, we get our first lesson of humanity in school. "Unity in Diversity"-a well known term often used by people and when school students from different places, different environments with difference in opinions stand together in the same uniform-this phrase becomes reality.
Indrani Bhattacharyya
