"This morning I want to talk with you about what we can do to break hold of gangs and violence in our schools and what we can do to create an atmosphere in our schools that promotes discipline and order and learning ... I believe we should give strong support to school districts that decide to require young students to wear school uniforms. We've all seen the tragic headlines screaming of the death of a teenager who was killed for a pair of sneakers or jewelry or a designer jacket. 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. Just this past December in Oxon Hill, Maryland, a 17-year old honor student was killed at a bus stop, caught in the cross fire during the robbery of another students designer jacket (Clinton, 2)."
Stephen Fry - Rehearsals at NorCaT
Stephen Marley @ Catalyst (Feb 19, 2009)
English: Lamar High School (Houston, Texas) courty...Why are we attempting to mandate school uniforms for most elementary and middle schools students, while at the same time excluding high school students? Isn't it obvious, by the President's own justification, that the problem group is teenage students ages 15 and older?
The Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Justice, and under the direction of President Clinton, has developed the Manual of School Uniforms. On February 24, 1996, President Clinton signed a directive to distribute this manual to the Nation's 1600 public school districts (Clinton,1). Although the president has issued the manual, most of the school districts appear to have carelessly ignored his new proposal. A recent national survey of 5,500 elementary school principals shows that, they feel school uniforms would help eliminate violence in high schools, and that, they aren't really needed in elementary schools (Stephens, 14). Statistics show that incidents of fighting will...