Persuasive Essay Years 7 - 9: School Uniform
Thirteen years of young peopleās lives are spent in school and many say these are
the best years of their lives. However, school brings rules and boundaries including
the need to wear school uniform which many, including myself, believe are
unnecessary.
School uniform is believed to allow teachers and other members of staff to easily
identify pupils within or without the school, which is merely a safety precaution.
Primary school students, I agree should wear school uniform as they are younger
and are more likely to disappear or become lost when out on a school trip.
However, secondary school pupils arrive at the Academy with expectations of
being treated more like adults, but this is diminished by the rule of wearing a
school uniform as it stops you from being your own person.
The younger years of peopleās lives are always the most vulnerable and self-
discovering. Younger people begin to try and find their own personality and make
themselves feel as though they fit in with the other young people that surround
them. However, school uniform does not allow you to have your own personality
show through as it makes everybody look the same and if pupils cannot find out
who they really are then a vital part of school experience is denied.
Although the safety factor is a big issue I believe there are other ways to solve the
problem. This includes the idea of school pupils only having to wear one piece of
school clothing, for example a shirt. This idea would allow pupils to then choose
their own outfit around the shirt and feel more like themselves, more comfortable
and then may be willing to work better. As well as this pupils could be issued with
an identity card. This would work by pupils simply showing an identity card to
sensors at numerous doors allowing them to walk about the school freely. There
are many other ways of solving this situation for example, finger print scanners.
However I do believe that school uniform has advantages. Many people get bullied
because of their clothing, and the way they look. School uniform helps to stop this
as everybody looks the similar or at least hides it till the end of the school day.
School uniform prevents people prejudging others as everybody looks similar to
one another. There are many categories of social groups for example Goths, punks,
indie and popular people but school uniform helps to create a more equal
atmosphere within the school. School years is the time when most young people
are likely to experience abuse and bulling but school uniform allows them to have
the same chance as everybody else sitting around them as they are not worried
about how they look or how other pupils will treat them because of what they are
wearing. Furthermore school uniform shows and teaches young people how to
look smart and prepare them for life after school. Many businesses expect their
colleagues to wear uniform and schools get pupils ready and expect them to wear
uniform.
Uniform can also be extremely expensive for parents to buy for their children
every working year. Each year, especially towards the start of a young personās
start at the Academy they grow which would involve parents having to go out and
buy new clothes. This problem could be avoided by simply allowing young people
to wear their own home clothes, saving on a lot of money as parent do not have to
constantly replace torn or damaged clothes with over-expensive new clothes that
are just going to end up ruined again. Although, I also do believe that buying home
Introduces the topic,
establishes audienceās
attention
Contention established
Logical/rational sequencing
of arguments
Use of personal pronouns
Link established between
the two paragraphs using
the idea of āidentityā
Emotive language/appeals
to fear
Offers a practical solution
and explanation for the
uniform alternative
Rebuttal paragraph -
Opposing point of view
presented and refuted
Oppositionās main
argument discredited
Appeal to fairness
Appeals to hip-pocket
nerve
