Letter of Protest

Tahiya Chowdhury                                                                                                              10/02/13

Dear Bennett,

I am reaching out to you because I wanted to address a major issue occurring throughout our school. Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister and Chanel are some of the major companies that have managed to brainwash our generation. They have stolen the attention of our students and managed to get them to focus on their outlook rather than focusing on more important matters such as, their education. I truly appreciate your open minded approach of giving us the freedom to wear anything we want to school. However, with this freedom, rise many problems that adversely affect the students at our school? It might be hard for you see the issues as a principal, but as a student who has experience of going to both schools where uniforms are mandatory and not mandatory, I can tell you, that the problems led by the lack of uniform outweigh the benefits of having the freedom.

Now, you may wonder what serious problems can arise from the privilege of wearing whatever one wants? To begin with, it may cause lack of self- confidence in some students and even lead to bully. While some students at our school have the financial support to afford fashionable clothes every week, others struggle to keep up with the trend due to financial inability. They feel insecure because they do not have the “latest fashion”. They feel they have low standards compared to their peers who can afford such clothing.  Those students are often being picked on by other students and they become a subject of gossip. The only solution to this issue is to enforce uniform in our school which will instill equality among all students.

This generation is growing up to be a very materialistic generation. Everyone wants the latest technology and fashion. This ultimately leads children to focus on the wrong values. Instead of valuing their education, they value people that dress nicely. Hence, in order to get students to focus on their education and other important things, school uniforms should be implemented so that the students focus, not on their fashion but on more important matters. Don’t you agree that the amount of time some students put into choosing the perfect outfit can be used to improve their grades?

In addition, the lack of uniform threatens the security and safety of the school. You may wonder how so? Well, not having uniform makes it hard to distinguish CPEHS students from an outsider. An outsider can easily enter our school through the yard door after lunch, and cause mischief in the school. It makes it difficult for the security guards to keep an eye on the High School students because there are two other schools in the building. I know you want to make CPEHS a safe environment for all of your students, and I trust that you are willing to do anything you can to preserve the safety. 

High School students often conduct in fights out of school, in the streets and subway stations. Having uniforms will make it easier for you to keep track of any mischief caused by the students from our school, outside of school. This way, you can take action towards the particular students to teach them consequence of their actions and instill safety in the school.

Uniforms can improve school spirit by instilling a sense of pride among the students. It can mentally prepare the students by serving as a constant reminder that they are in school, and the responsibility that comes with being in school. It can also positively impact how others view us outside of school.

Our parents will also thank you for helping them save the money they would otherwise have to spend to buy their children different clothes for school. Some may argue that buying uniform will also require spending extra money. Although this is true, buying uniform is a onetime matter. Once a student purchases a uniform, he or she doesn't have to buy anymore clothes for school the entire year, they can even reuse the uniform next year. Isn't it better to spend money once to buy a uniform than spending money multiple times throughout the year?

Now you may fear the opposition from some students that uniform will take away their self- identity and uniqueness from them. But does individual’s self- identity lie in their clothing? Isn’t it their character is what reveals their identity? Wearing uniform causes shift of values because students no longer have to worry about what is “on the outside”, but on each other’s characters.