It's Been Three Weeks Now....

It's been three weeks now that I've been delving into this topic.  Delving has helped me discover in depth why both sides feel how they do about school uniforms.  When I first started researching this topic I was swaying towards the "against school uniforms" side of the fence.  After about the first week though, I changed to the "for school uniforms" side of the fence.  The reason I changed my mind about which side of the fence I'm on is that I agree with the pro uniformers' chief claims.  I was uneducated before researching the topic as to why people would be pro uniform.
There are many reasons to be on either side of the issue.  If you are pro uniforms you could cite reasons like they positively affect family stress, they help create a positive atmosphere in schools, they decrease discipline issues, and they help facilitate safety for students and staff of schools on and off campus.  If you are anti school uniforms you could cite the reasons that they create more family stress, the positive atmosphere that is said to come from uniforms is perceived not fact, they create more things for staff to keep track of including who has opted out and who hasn't, that students will find a way to be violent if they want to whether they are wearing uniforms or not, and that they infringe upon student's rights to have self expression and freedom of speech.
Having decided for sure where I stand, now it is time to educate others why I did so and support my reasoning as firmly and clearly as possible.

Definitions

Sometimes as writers we need to define things about our topic for our audience.  Today, in class, we chose terms that may need definition and cited how other authors of our topic do this.  For my topic I chose the terms gang violence, school climate, school uniform, morale, and opting out.  These terms cover a wide range of the knowledge needed to understand the debate being covered.
It is important for the audience to know the definition of these terms so they can think about and analyze for themselves the argument being presented.  For example, it is important to know that school yard gang violence is just an extension of street gang violence and is just as deadly.  Knowing that, in most cases where school uniforms are the rule, there is a clause of opting out is important to the audience.  Morale and climate speak to the emotional side of schooling and inform that there is more to consider than test scores alone.  To make a successful claim these terms need to be addressed and illustrated before the argument can really be debated.

Cost Advantages of School Uniforms

This advertisement is nothing unusual.  The appeal is to needs and desires.  The needs and desires addressed are frugality, availability, and feeling unique. This store advertising school uniforms is easily accessible to most people in America.
Support for my argument in favor of school uniforms is obvious in this ad.  Highlighted points are easy access, affordability, and large individual choice available.  Opponents of school uniforms stress that uniforms are costly, hard to find, and limit your choice of apparel.

School Board Favors Uniforms

An article in News Journal informs about a school board in favor of district wide uniforms.  The author, Linda Tremble, is an education writer.  Tremble presents the process of the decision, focusing the most on the positives of the action.  In the conclusion Tremble cites a few of the negative opinions.
The argument style that Tremble uses is deductive.  Tremble introduces the broad topic of what decision was made and then details the steps taken to come to the decision.  Her focus on mostly positive aspects clues in the audience to her stance on the argument.
Tremble sets up the major premise in the beginning of the argument process and then spends most of the article detailing the minor premise. In the end, Tremble's use of a mother's negative claim on school uniforms gives the audience the knowledge that she is aware of the opposition and understands their claims. Doing so, Tremble furthers the belief that she is solid on her stance.

Article: Mar. 30, 2011 News journal.  Linda Tremble.

All You Ever Wanted to Know About My Sources

My first source is Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.  Wallin is a licensed psychologist, life coach, and author.  She provides many therapy services and coaches people with personal difficulties including school underachievement. Her claims are valuable because she has professional experience interpreting data from statisics and applying the data to given situations.  When she has a particular view on something involving school success we can trust her because she has experience working with school underachievers and has certainties about what is successful in those cases.
My second source is Carol Motsinger.  Motsinger works for USA Today.  She initially comes from a talent development program called Leadership and Diversity.  This program picks only the most promising and talented candidates for their opportunities.  Motsinger started to work with USA Today through this program.  The USA Today paper is extremely liberal and so are it's writers.  When we read a claim from Motsinger we can trust that it will be current, educated, and coming from a writer that is experienced and has amazing access to sources.

Topic of debate

Recently I was driving through an intersection where two different schools had just let their students out for the day.  I got the chance to see the students from both schools walking to their different destinations.  The transition looked normal enough so I started thinking about other things when I realized that the students at one school wore uniforms and the students from the other did not.   I started to wonder about the reasons for the two different stands on attire that the schools had made.  Thus I am going to delve into the debate going on with this decision.  My opinion at the onset is that students should have some restrictions on what they wear.  I also think that uniforms are an unnecessary demand.  Maybe my opinion will change.