At Morton East, student’s believe they can’t make their uniforms fashionable due to the strict dress code.  

According to Helpful professor.com, “17 Surprising School Uniform Statistics, Facts & Data” Uniforms were first introduced in 1552 at a charity school called Christ’s hospital. After this, the concept of uniform began to spread and became associated with elite wealthier schools. In addition, many believe that wearing uniforms correlates with student performance. However, several studies including Brunsma and Rockquemore 1988 suggest that there is no correlation between academic performance and uniforms. Interestingly, It is said that schools with uniforms have better-behaved students. While this might not always be the case, uniforms do correlate with better discipline. Moreover, 79% of school officials state uniforms improve school safety because staff will be able to easily identify people who are not part of the building, reducing the chances of an intruder entering the school. According to wikiHow “How to look good in school uniform without breaking the rules” includes tucking in your shirt so it looks less baggy and putting on accessories so you stand out without breaking the rules.

In a recent survey of 103 Morton East students, 72 out of 103 think school uniforms can’t be fashionable.  

Students were asked if they liked the idea of wearing uniforms.

“No, Yo prefiero usar ropa que sé que me va a gustar y va con mi estilo,” sophomore Justin Carrasco said.

One student added to this idea.

“No, because it doesn’t allow students to fully express and represent themselves with uniforms,” sophomore Gabriel Suarez said. 

However some students disagree with Gabriel.

“Yes, because I don’t have to face the challenge of spending hours trying to pick an outfit to wear,” junior Carlos Mendosa said. 

In addition, another student made a point of why they believe its a good idea to  wear uniforms.

“Yes, because students can be much safer at school without worrying of an intruder from coming inside the building. For example there are some adults that look younger than their age and they could wear clothes and blend in with the students at school,” junior Ashley Ceballos said. 

We asked staff members to state their opinion on how they believe students could make uniforms more stylish.

“Some ways that students can make their uniforms and themselves more stylish is by wearing makeup, eyelashes are a big thing right now. They could decorate their ID’s with Pins. They could also try new hairstyles like braiding. dying hair is a big thing now. They could get their nails done, rings and choose shoes that fit under the dress code rules. Dyed hair back in the day wasn’t allowed or no one did it,” dean Mrs. Stachura said.

The Librarian added to this.

“Back in my day, I would take a train to get to a store in Chicago to get a hair dye since there was a specific store where you can only get hair dye,” librarian Ms. Lorraine said.

Students were asked if they believed there are ways to make uniforms stylish.

 “I do believe we could make our uniforms more stylish because the school allows certain colors on shoes, long sleeves that are allowed to be worn. People could wear long sleeves like turtlenecks. People can try to look for shoes that do not break the dress code rules. Combine colors that don’t violate the dress code,” senior Yahir Vega said.

In addition to this.

“It is possible to make uniforms more stylish,” junior Ashley Ceballos said.

Moreover students were asked if they use accessories to style their uniform.

“No uso accesorios,” sophomore Justin Carrasco said.

However, some students said they do wear accessories.

“I like to decorate my ID lanyard with pins and stickers,” junior Ashley Ceballos said.

Along with this another student said.

“Some accessories that I wear are pins on my ID, earrings, necklaces and I like to paint my nails,” junior Ashley Ceballos said.

Furthermore there was one student who doesn’t have a clear opinion from either side of the topic.

“In general I don’t worry about how I look but I sometimes think that jeans and hoodies should be allowed because it helps students to express themselves,” sophomore Gabriel Suarez said.

However one student added to the idea of accessories.

”Some accessories I wear are pins. I also suggest that the school should come up with the idea of creating pins for students to purchase so they could use it as accessories for their ID’s,” senior Yahir Vega said.