Will school uniforms help curb student violence

Jet, April 1, 1996

In Detroit, a 15-year-old boy was shot for his $86 basketball shoes. In Fort Lauderdale, a 15-year-old student was robbed of his jewelry. In Oxon Hill, MD, a 17-year-old honor student was killed at a bus stop, caught in cross fire during the robbery of another student's designer jacket.

Tragic news headlines are reminders that expensive, designer fashions have cost some students more than a few dollars. Many have paid with their lives.

So, will school uniforms help curb student violence?

President Bill Clinton thinks so. During his recent State of the Union address, he said public schools should be allowed to require uniforms if it would mean "teenagers will stop killing each other over designer jackets."

Dr. Reginald Wilson, senior scholar at the American Council On Education in Washington, D.C., told JET that uniforms would help discourage violence because students won't have a need to fight over who looks better or want to cause harm in an attempt to take another student's trendy clothes.

"From the surveys that I've looked at, I am inclined to believe that wearing uniforms makes quite a bit of difference in how people behave," said Dr. Wilson. "I've read that violence has gone down in schools with dress codes, and I've been impressed by the difference. In those schools, wearing uniforms apparently worked in reducing violence," Dr. Wilson said.

Some large school systems, including ones in Miami, Baltimore, Detroit, Milwaukee and Los Angeles, have adopted either a mandatory or voluntary uniform policy to discourage violence that could possibly stem from wearing a certain color of clothing or expensive fashions.

The Long Beach (CA) Unified School District became the first public school district in the nation, in 1994, to require that students wear uniforms. In the first year, the district recorded a 50 percent decline in fights and number of cases of students bringing weapons to school, according to a spokesman for the district.

President Clinton found the results to be encouraging, and, in January, he renewed the discussion about uniforms in his State of the Union address.

He recently instructed Education Secretary Richard Riley to distribute a six-page, step-by-step walk-through on how to set up a uniform policy for those schools choosing to do so, and he emphasized that it is voluntary.

Quentin Lawson, executive director of the National Alliance of Black School Educators in Washington, D.C., told JET that he believes uniforms could help curb violence.

"I certainly think it will help. Having uniforms will reduce the financial burden on parents, it will eliminate dress competition and it will reduce the number of instances of stealing or having clothing stolen," said Lawson. "But, it in itself won't eliminate school violence," said Lawson.

He believes that students must also be willing to wear the uniforms before a change can be produced.

"I think youngsters are very open and candid. As long as the school explains why it's being done and get the classes involved in a discussion, or even have the students help in the selection of the color, it would be overwhelmingly supported," Lawson responded.

Thriftone V. Jones, president of the D.C. Congress of Parents and Teachers, told JET that in today's world clothes cause students to become envious if they see a peer wearing fancy or expensive designer clothing which leads to violence in some instances. He says uniforms would foster positive results because if everyone is dressed the same, there is not a reason to envy another.

"A person's appearance means a lot. Some kids who may not dress as well as others may feel subordinate," said Jones, who is also on the board of directors at the National PTA in Chicago. "Clothes breed jealousy because people will want what another has. If everyone is dressed alike, they will feel equal, and it would help children focus on their studies better," said Jones.

Sybil Selfe, a counselor at Bishop Healy, a parochial elementary school on St. Louis' North Side, told JET she isn't sure if uniforms have been a reason for parochial schools' fewer reports of violence than public schools, but she does believe their positive benefits will lessen negative situations that could lead to violence.

"Students won't feel as though they have to compete with their peers, and because of this, they will be able to focus more on academics," said Selfe. "Behaviorally and even academically students' attitudes will be better because their expectations for themselves will be higher because they will feel they must act appropriately wearing uniforms."

Selfe stated that she has noticed that clothes do affect students' perception of themselves, which was a factor in Bishop Healy deciding to change its uniform style.

We wanted uniforms to instill pride by helping the kids fully understand their heritage. Attitude is very important in behavior, and if students feel good about who they are, they will act appropriately at school," said Selfe about the uniform policy at Bishop Healy, which is the first and only parochial school in St. Louis to have Afrocentric-styled uniforms.