By Ella Lucero
Schools are meant to be places where kids can learn and grow into functional adults who contribute to society. It is where we can safely express ourselves and fail in a kind environment. During the time that we are in school, we learn about ourselves and become who we will be for the rest of our lives. A child’s school experience can determine what kind of person they will become. When schools dictate what a child needs to wear to school, they are stripping that student of their personal identity.
School uniform mandates do not benefit students because they limit the students’ individuality. When a child is forced to wear the same outfit everyday, their freedom to experiment with style and fashion in those critical years is taken away. When a child cannot go through the necessary stages of discovering what type of clothing they prefer, they are left to go through those phases during their adulthood.
By the time a student graduates from high school, they should have a pretty good idea of what they want to wear and how they want to present themselves to the world. They should have gone through and tested out different styles of clothing throughout their lives. Clothes are more than just fabrics sewn together; The clothes that we wear show the world who we are. A person’s style is the first thing that people see when they meet them. It sets the tone for what kind of jobs someone can get and what kind of friends they will have.
When students are able to wear their own clothes to school, they can go through the necessary stages of style throughout their adolescence. By the time they graduate, kids will be more confident and comfortable with the clothes they have chosen to wear. Fashion is an outlet that is used by kids as they discover who they are. Being able to go through the stages of finding ourselves is crucial to becoming a successful adult.
Kids should be able to express themselves in front of their peers and teachers. Nonverbal communication is very important to children, especially as they are figuring out how to verbally express themselves. It serves students in the long run to be able to wear the clothing of their choice.