In recent years uniforms have become a popular choice for many schools. Some people feel they’re unnecessary, and others don’t see the harm in making them a requirement.

Price has been a common issue with uniforms. Adding the cost of skirts, pants, collared shirts, socks, and shoes to the already expensive list of school supplies can become a burden for families.

Some families already have difficulty affording the basic necessities of life, making paying for multiple uniforms seem pointless.

On average, it costs parents $100-$600 per full uniform, according to costhelper.com

That’s money that families can’t use for other important needs like putting food on the table or paying rent.

This few hundred dollars could be used to pay for school supplies that everyone thinks students need, such as calculators, pencils, or paper.

Other people believe that uniforms actually decrease money spent on school. Instead of buying 10 or 20 outfits for one student, parents can buy five shirts, pairs of pants, etc. You could even buy less than five items of each, depending on how much laundry you’re willing to do.

Junior Barbara Hawes thinks that requiring uniforms would make money an issue in the Kearsley community.

“A lot of people in our district wouldn’t be able to afford them,” Hawes said.

Many students think implementing a school uniform policy would be a poor choice, for more than just monetary reasons.

Fashion choices would be severely limited, and most students don’t feel the change would even be necessary.

“I like to express myself through my clothing and we wouldn’t have any freedom to be different if we had to wear uniforms,” Hawes said.

For some people, choosing between a hoodie or a blouse every morning is a nice way to control some aspect of their lives. Other people feel that deciding what to wear isn’t such a big deal and is only a tiny part of their every day routine.

While a lot of students have a negative opinion on uniforms, some think wearing one wouldn’t be so bad.

Sophomore Stephanie Lane wouldn’t mind wearing a uniform every day.

“I obviously dress different from others and that’s fine. It’s a good thing that we all have the opportunity to be unique,” Lane said. “But if we had to wear them, I don’t think it would be such a terrible thing.”

Marc Brooks is a junior at Powers Catholic High School, where students are required to wear uniforms.

Brooks doesn’t feel that wearing a uniform affects his ability to express himself.

“Wearing them bothered me at first, but now it doesn’t,” Brooks said. “The only thing I would change is the patterns we have to wear.”

Being limited to the same outfit as everyone else every day might increase school spirit. Having every student dress the same would build a sort of united front, which is good considering students are with each other more than seven hours a day, five days a week.

If Kearsley students had to wear a polo with a hornet emblem on it, for example, it would be another way to show the community how much school pride they have.

It would be similar to our athletes wearing their uniforms throughout game day or wearing a Hornets hoodie on a lazy day.

Showing school pride could increase students relationships, making everyone a little happier to be a part of the Kearsley community.