Do school uniforms make for a better school? Pinnacle Unit 1 Do school uniforms make for a better school?

Assertions Uniforms help students focus Pro – Uniforms Con - No Uniforms Uniforms help students focus Uniforms save time families time Uniforms prevent bullying Uniforms violate student rights Uniforms are not worth the money Uniforms promote discrimination Pro = Uniforms good. Con = Uniforms bad.

CON Arguments

1. UNIFORMS VIOLATE STUDENT RIGHTS REASONING What is “freedom of expression?” Why is it important for students to be able to express themselves? How do school uniforms take away student’s ability to express themselves? Con Argument

1. UNIFORMS VIOLATE STUDENT RIGHTS REASONING What is “freedom of choice?” Why is it important for students to be able to express themselves? How do school uniforms take away student’s ability to express themselves? Con Argument

1. UNIFORMS VIOLATE STUDENT RIGHTS EVIDENCE According to educational psychologist Alan Helfer, school uniforms have an extremely negative impact on high school students. At that age, if they feel that they cannot express themselves…it will affect their mental health and growth negatively. Con Argument

1. UNIFORMS VIOLATE STUDENT RIGHTS IMPACT How would you feel if you never got to express your opinions, thoughts or feelings? Would you be a happy person? If school doesn’t let you express yourself, will you want to go there and learn? Will you get a good education? What will happen if children don’t learn how to express themselves when they are young? What kind of adults will they become? Con Argument

2. UNIFORMS ARE NOT WORTH THE MONEY REASONING Do students outgrow their school uniforms very quickly? Do students usually wear their school uniforms as regular, everyday clothes? Are school uniforms expensive? How much do they cost? Why is it cheaper for students to just wear their regular clothes to school? Con Argument

2. UNIFORMS ARE NOT WORTH THE MONEY EVIDENCE In the UK, 96% of parents reported that the costs of school uniforms were too high! 86% of Korean parents felt that school uniforms were too expensive (Korean YMCA). The average uniform in Korea costs 200,000 won! The government has tried to lower the prices, but… In Korea there is School Uniform Lobby (a group of companies that make school uniforms) that disobeys government rules and keeps raising the prices of school uniforms. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/high-price-of-school-uniforms-leaves-children-at-risk-of-bullying-10065734.html http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=1885203 Con Argument

2. UNIFORMS ARE NOT WORTH THE MONEY IMPACT If school uniforms are so expensive, how will this hurt poor families? If families have to spend lots of money on uniforms, what will they be unable to buy? Con Argument

3. UNIFORMS CAUSE DISCRIMINATION REASONING What is “discrimination?” Do all schools in a country have the same uniform? What kinds of schools get the nice uniforms? What kinds of schools get the cheap uniforms? Why will this cause bullying? How might this make students feel? Con Argument

3. UNIFORMS PROMOTE DISCRIMINATION EVIDENCE Around 800,000 students in the UK are at risk of bullying because they have to wear cheap, badly-fitting uniforms (The Independent) In Korea, some companies sell cheap and nice, expensive versions of a school’s uniform. Can students tell the difference between these two? If a student is wearing a cheaper uniform, what does that say about them? http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/high-price-of-school-uniforms-leaves-children-at-risk-of-bullying-10065734.html http://thegrandnarrative.com/2011/02/02/korean-school-uniforms-advertisements/ Con Argument

3. UNIFORMS PROMOTE DISCRIMINATION IMPACT Will uniforms make it easier for students from “rich” schools to bully students from “poor schools? Why is this worse than the bullying that is happening now? If uniforms make bullying worse, should schools make students wear them? Con Argument