Purpose: To Persuade
Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that school children do not need to wear uniform
Thesis Statement: I want to persuade my audience to abolish school uniforms among school going children because 1) it limits the ability of school children to express themselves in color 2) removing the requirement to wear uniforms enhances children’s esteem and 3) the benefits associated with abolishment of school uniforms are many.
Questions
What are the limitations of having school uniform requirements for kids?
Does school uniform play any part in the learning process?
What are some of the problems associated with having a school uniform?
What is the alternative?
What will be the situation if the alternative is implemented?
Attention
There is no particular reason why hundreds of kids gathered in a school compound to learn should wear clothes of the same color. Parents and guardians have a concern over the limited options that they have in dressing kids. Moreover, it is obvious that most of the people in the world do not see the rationale behind having a dress code that is based on color. The understanding is that young children are motivated by their appearance, and the color is an integral aspect of their understanding of appearance. Definitely, having a requirement on what the children wear for school is an attempt to prune extraordinary abilities or talents with view to making the children to be equal in terms of cognitive ability and talents, a factor that only contributes to less confidence and reduced self-esteem as the kids work hard to comply with general standards as opposed to working on their individual talents. This problem leads to a stunted development of talents among the weak kids and an over-emphasized sense of empowerment on the academically privileged ones, characters that go on to be manifested in adulthood.
Transition
In the next paragraph I will show the need for a change of the status quo to allow the choice of what children wear to school be at the discretion of parents.
Need
Almost 70% of parents in America do not see the necessity of school uniform according to polls by a debate organization (Debate). The sentiments in the comments reveal a common distaste for the school uniform requirement, citing the disadvantages of wearing uniforms, from the fact that school uniform is expensive to the argument that it reduces the options for kids to express themselves. The assurance that there will be demand for the clothing makes producers and dealers to inflate the prices and pass the costs to buyers who include parents, relatives, and guardians. The fact that a kid needs more than two pairs in a week means that children from poor backgrounds face difficulties in acquiring the sets of uniforms.
Diversity is a fundamental aspect of human beings and school going children are not an exception. Normally, the kids are as diverse as the general population, and the requirement to wear school uniform robs them the chance to understand their culture and background, and get in peace with it. For instance, a Muslim child who has to comply with school requirements by wearing the same clothes with the other kids might not understand the role played by his/her religion in interacting with other people, a factor that does not prepare the children for bigotry and discrimination directed at them when they grow up and become adults. Having the right to express one’s culture through clothing serves to enhance the pride associated with that culture, and expose the culture to fellow kids on first hand, to avoid judgment and speculation later in life. Understandably, when kids interact at an innocent level, they will appreciate someone from a different culture setting through the use of such measures like warm-heartedness, kindness, and ability to play together and share. That would help in removing the barriers constructed by politicians and demagogues to separate people based on their religion, skin color or ancestry.
Allowing children to wear clothes of their choice (or parents’ choice) will help them to construct characters based on their tastes and preferences. For instance, a child who wants to grow up and become a lawyer may be seen for her/his preference for official clothing while a potential fashion designer will show a taste for colorful clothes. In that regard, the school administration should just set up a dress code that guides the parents and children on the clothes to wear regarding size and range of style with an insistence on decency as opposed to sameness. The increased variety would also play a big role on poor children as the increased alternatives enable their guardians to buy cheaper and (most probably) better clothes for the kids. Thus, allowing for diversity in clothing serves as an advantage to the kids and the parents.
Personally, I hated wearing school uniform in all my school days. I had distaste for Monday mornings because I always thought of my full closet and the fact that I had to wear the same clothes for six days in a week, leaving me with only one day to wear the tens of other options in the closet. I particularly used to be depressed by the fact that the uniform was dull, while I love bright colors. I always thought that bright colors make us happy because every time I went out shopping with my mom on Saturday evenings, we would don bright clothes. Also, in the glossary stores, the children section was always painted in bright colors, making me appreciate the role played by color on the happiness of kids. That makes this debate on the need to wear school uniform very important to me because I know that I am not the only one who disliked the aspect of wearing the same color in school.
One particular event that I will never forget is that of a poor kid whose parents had been rendered jobless by the recession (I came to learn that later). He turned up for school in his home clothes, and the principal was rough on him, sending him back home to wear school uniform. Little did we know that he had nowhere to go, his family had been thrown out by the landlord, and they lived down in the streets. The boy has never seen in school again, and we later heard the rumor that he joined a gang in an attempt to make a living for himself and his family. An issue that began as a lack of school uniform escalated and became a life to shutter event. That irked me as something that could have been prevented. I thought that school should not try to make us look equal by putting up a requirement to wear uniform; rather, it should give children the freedom to carry their backgrounds with them. That would promote the understanding between kids and teachers, and children and other children. In that perspective, the issue of wearing uniform is not only inappropriate but also a source of societal imbalance.
Transition
Now that we have discussed the problem of having school uniforms in our schools let us discuss the solutions. The solutions will highlight the interventions that will solve the issues brought up by the requirement to have school uniform for all children in school.
Solution
The first move should be to abolish school uniforms. Among other reasons, school uniform does not play any part in the learning process, and it is a practice that has been left behind by time and general ideologies about clothing (Cambridge). As noted by a retired head teacher, Tony Cooper, school uniform is an elitist idea that was engineered to boost aristocracy in the early days when education was only for the privileged. The growing liberalization of dress code, even in the professional arena, should be extended to schools. For instance, in the old days politicians and presidents made public appearances in suits and official clothing, but nowadays more and more leaders are coming out from the dress code cocoons by wearing casuals in public. The same evolution that official dressing has gone through should be applied to school uniform (Green Garage).
Doing away with school uniform will usher a new era of dress code descriptions as opposed to wearing the same color. Dress codes describe out requirements for dressing, more like offering boundaries that children should not cross while selecting what to wear. That would increase creativity and comfort, as well as make school going children to express themselves in a better way by wearing different colors and fashion sense. The idea of diversity in dressing in school settings would also offer options to students from minority groups and societies, like Muslims and other religious factions. That would show the creativity within those groups, and help the kids to consolidate their positions in the society by interacting with freely with their school mates. The firsthand experience will change the perceptions of some minority groups, and prevent radicalizations by politicians. Imagine, for example, a politician telling a fifteen-year-old that Muslims are terrorists, while the kid has lived with a Muslim best friend in school for many years. The student will thwart the politician’s ideas by using his/her knowledge of the discriminated group.
I understand that there are some people against the idea of the abolishment of school uniforms. It is noteworthy that dealing with change is usually a very uncomfortable idea for most people, especially making a change on something that has been around for many decades. But first, it helps if we examine the idea behind school uniforms and the objectives. In the old societies, going to school was an elitist privilege. And furthermore, some schools are adopting flexible attires already, even though they have not completely scrapped out the idea of wearing uniforms (Scott).
Transition
We have analyzed some of the solutions to the problem of wearing school uniform. Now, let us go straight to an imagination of the solutions in practice.
Visualization
Imagine during the start of a school session in winter and you have a ten-year-old daughter who has to report to school at seven thirty in the morning. With the headache of the cold weather already, it will not be one of the most welcome ideas to have to grapple with a choice for colors to conform to the school requirements. The ideal scenario is that of choosing the warmest clothes from the closet to ensure that the girl goes to school in adequate warmth.
Also, picture a situation where you have spent hundreds of dollars shopping for your son only for you to donate his clothes every two or three years because he has outgrown them. Mark you, most of the donated clothes have been worn less than twenty times because the only times he is allowed to wear those clothes are over the weekends and during school holidays. If schools abolished school uniforms, you would get the value for your money when you shop for your children because they would wear the clothes to school every day, giving you the motivation to shop more.
With these scenarios, I believe we understand the importance of abolishing school uniform.
Action Step
I have tried to persuade you to consider the idea of abolishing school uniform for children in school. As a parent, I hope that you have understood the importance of giving our children the diversity and privilege of choice when it comes to what they wear to school. I have given out my contact cards, so be free to contact me for the furtherance of the conversation. Thank you.
Audience analysis
I went across my neighborhood for an audience survey, asking all parents I knew about the issue of abolishing uniform among schools. Most of them thought that it does not make sense having children wear the same color of clothes. They hinted that doing away with school uniform would save them a lot of trouble in searching for consistent tailor and retailers of the specific colors and styles needed by the particular schools.
Stylistic Devices
Metaphor - I always thought that bright colors make us happy because every time I went out shopping with my mom on Saturday evenings, we would don bright clothes.
Allusion - For instance, in the old days politicians and presidents made public appearances in suits and official clothing, but nowadays more and more leaders are coming out from the dress code cocoons by wearing casuals in public.
Motive Appeals
Diversity – I always get irked by minority groups bigotry that is in the political scene
Self-expression – Personal branding and expression should start from an early age
Hypothetical Enthymeme
Major Premise – If we abolish school uniform, we will give children an opportunity to express themselves
Minor Premise – Most parents would prefer that uniforms for schools are abolished
Conclusion – My audience wants school uniform to be abolished
Tests:
The antecedent (If we remove the school uniform requirement) and the consequent (improve self-expression) are causally related
The minor Premise (my audience does not want school uniform) affirms the antecedent.
Categorical Enthymeme
Major Premise – Everyone wants to express himself/herself through dressing/clothing
Minor Premise – School going children love to express themselves too
Conclusion – Children want a fashion/clothing self-expression.
Tests
The terms ‘everyone’ and ‘self-expression’ are in the correct spot in the major premise.
The term children is added by the minor premise
The conclusion contains the minor premise term (school going children) and the major premise term, self-expression.
Analysis of ethos
I derived goodwill through my experience as a parent and my memories as a child when I used to go to school. This gave me first hand information and experience about how the children in school feel. For sagacity, I used academic sources and the internet to support my ideas about school uniform.
Works Cited
Cambridge. Uniforms should be abolished, says retired head. Cambridge News, 17 Feb. 2013. Web. 4 July 2016.
Debate. Should kids have to wear school uniforms? 2016. Web. 4 July 2016.
Green Garage. “The green yacht with a underwater home.” 7 July 2015, The Web.
Scott, Jenny. “School Uniforms: A History of ‘rebellion and conformity.’” BBC England 5 Sept. 2014. Web. 4 July 2016.
