Should McAuliffe have more free dress days? Some eighth-grade students feel like they don’t have as many fun activities or enjoyment as the younger grades, and think that McAuliffe’s dress code does not allow them to express themselves. Some kids who have various creative outlets have been proven in research to be able to socialize really well and handle their emotions. For many, wearing a personalized style of clothes can make daily events more interesting and school more exciting.

However, I strongly believe that school uniforms are incredibly beneficial for both students and teachers, but it is also critical to show your personality. McAuliffe has a dress code policy in which students should be wearing a shirt or hoodie with the word “McAuliffe” printed on it, while the bottom should be black, beige, or grey. Compared to many other schools that require students to wear blouses, skirts, and dressy pants, McAuliffe has a much more practical dress code. The uniforms are comfortable and there are many different options in colors, with various options for warm and cold days.

Uniforms establish a safe environment, where students can focus more seriously and not worry about their clothes. It increases the amount of professionalism and gets the school’s academic purpose out more straightforwardly. Additionally, schools are much less hazardous with an enforced uniform, as officials can easily detect trespassers. This is yet another reason that McAuliffe does not allow hoods up, as it makes it clearer which people are students or which could be potential threats to the school.

I agree with the daily uniforms because McAuliffe is very easygoing with slight adjustments or exceptions to the policy, but students should receive a free dress day every month, or at least every couple of months. According to Jeff Grabmeier, an author for the “Ohio State News, “Despite the belief of many parents and teachers, school uniforms don’t seem to have any effect on young students’ behavior or attendance overall, a new national study found. But students who attended schools requiring school uniforms did report lower levels of “school belonging” in fifth grade than did students in schools without uniforms. The findings came from data on more than 6,000 school-age children.”

Some may argue that children can dress however they would like outside of school, but education takes up more than 1,000 hours in a 180-day school year. Uniforms should definitely be enforced at McAuliffe, but we should also have a balance of freedom and discipline, which is why it is healthy to have both uniform and some free dress days.