NO UNIFORMS

Throughout history, people in America have fought for civil liberties like freedom of expression, religion, and assembly. These rights include the freedom to dress however a person chooses. But in recent years many schools have begun to adopt a uniform policy. This policy goes against the fundaments of an individual’s rights. Not only do they go against the rights of the individual but they subdue the individuality of a person. Students must be allowed to make their own decisions on what to wear because it is a freedom that they are inclined to have from legal documents and natural rights.
The right to dress however a person likes is derived from the idea of freedom of expression. And the freedom to express oneself is an idea ratified in several legal documents. These documents include: the Constitution, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the American Convention on Human Rights. All of these documents promote self expression, yet schools across the United States demand students to wear uniforms. Some schools even suspend a student if their uniform does not meet their uniform code. If everyone is legally granted the right to freely express themselves, then why are students being punished for a display of self expression at the hands of schools? To force a student to wear a uniform and to punish them for not conforming to these demands are wrong and unconstitutional. Even worse it goes against the unalienable rights people have.
By depriving children the natural right of expressing themselves, they are being stricken of an opportunity to define themselves as who they are as people. The choice of what to wear is a right derived from the unalienable rights that Thomas Jefferson had mentioned nearly two centuries ago: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The choice of what to wear is a freedom that all people share. And if schools force students to wear uniforms they impede on these unalienable rights. Without the choice of what to wear students lose their uniqueness that adds to the diversity of a school. Clothes are a way to show heritage, tradition, and culture. It is a representation of who they are and what they stand for. And students have the right exercise this freedom of expression no matter what opposing views may say to this.
Opposing views to the idea of allowing students to wear clothing of their choice, say that it promotes the judging of others and creation of cliques. But in all reality this happens no matter what one wears. It is a mere fact of society that humans are judgmental creatures. So why deprive a student a chance to express what they stand for and who they really are, when in all factuality they will be judged no matter what they wear? There is no reason why a child must conform to the idea that they must suppress their self expression because a school says that it is for their own protection. They should not become drones just to heed to the warnings of the schools. Student should be allowed to wear whatever they choose even if people oppose it.
Students at all schools should be allowed to wear clothes of their choice. It is freedom outlined in multiple legal documents and it is the natural right of the student. Opposition to this may say that the choice of what the student should wear belongs to the school for the prevention of discrimination but the choice belongs to the student and solely the student. It is not for the school to decide what a student should wear but for the student to decide what he or she is to wear.