Taking a Stand Against Uniforms

I am a seventh-grader at Charles Evans Hughes Middle School and am upset about the recent decision regarding uniforms (Times, Jan. 20). I think this is a totally unnecessary measure.

I understand the desire to keep our schools gang-free, but why should those of us who aren’t gang-related have to suffer? How bad could the problem be in elementary schools?

Uniforms will not solve the gang problem. Gangs always find a way to let people know who they are. Also, we don’t need uniforms to feel safe and unthreatened at school. In my two years at Hughes, neither I nor anyone I know has been bothered by a gang member.

In middle school, we are at a stage in our lives when fashion is very important to us. It’s a way of expressing ourselves, of finding out who we are. At Hughes, the dress code is already extremely rigid. How can anyone take away what freedom we have left?

The 1st Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, which allows everyone to express their feelings. Isn’t clothing a form of expression? Public schools are supposed to represent the positive aspects of America. One of the things that Americans are noted for is their individuality. We children will get the wrong idea that being different than anyone else is wrong and unwanted.

Uniformity is not the American way.

ANDREA SAENZ

Long Beach