According to a national study of school-aged children, school uniforms do not seem to improve student behavior or attendance patterns, contrary to the popular belief of educators and parents alike that it instills a culture of unity & inclusivity among pupils.
An estimated 20 percent of U.S public schools in 2017-18 needed uniforms. The National Center for Education Statistics also revealed that a higher percentage of urban public schools required uniforms compared to those in suburbs and rural areas. Another survey showed that even schools where 76 percent of students were eligible for free or cheaper lunches had a compulsory uniform requirement.
Parents and administrators had opined in the past that non-uniform clothing creates a divisive culture among students based on their economic background and brings problems into the classroom. Earlier research showed that having uniforms in schools helped foster feelings of equality and oneness among students which in turn reduced fights and bullying.
“A lot of the core arguments about why school uniforms are good for student behavior don’t hold up in our sample,” said Arya Ansari, a professor of human sciences at Ohio State University and lead author of the study published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
“We didn’t see much difference in our behavior measures, regardless of whether the schools had a uniform policy or not,” Ansari said.
According to Ansari, the percentage of public schools mandating uniforms has seen a sharp increase over the last decade, going from a meager 3% in 1995-96 to approximately 20% in 2011-12. He also added that no significant research has been done in the past 20 years to value the importance of uniforms in schools despite their increasing popularity.
Therefore, to test the effectiveness of school uniforms in driving unity among students, a group of researchers used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Program run by the National Center for Education Statistics, following 6320 students from kindergarten through the end of the fifth grade. Every year, teachers rate each student on the following three parameters:
A. Externalizing behavior problems such as aggression or destruction of property
B. Social skills
C. Internalizing behavior problems such as anxiety & social withdrawal
Their attendance was also duly recorded.
The researchers, through in-depth analysis of the data, found that uniforms didn’t affect student behavior in any grade. Students belonging to low-income families in schools requiring uniforms were reported to have slightly better attendance with the difference not amounting to more than 1 day per year.
The study also found that uniforms had no role to play in the amount of social anxiety they experience while in school or the bullying they faced from other pupils. In fact, students who wore uniforms to schools reported a lower sense of belonging as compared to those attending schools without uniforms.
Ansari admitted that the study flies in the face of the popular belief that school uniforms united students and kept economic and societal differences out of the classrooms. He argued that uniforms can be counter-productive to the growth and development of students as they prevent them to express their personalities through fashion.
“When students can’t show their individuality, they may not feel like they belong as much,” he said.
He concluded by saying that parents and school administration may be wrong to assume that uniforms had a positive impact on students, whereas they may be making them feel more restrained and disconnected from themselves.
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