Updated, April 12 -- Mandatory student uniforms are required in many private and parochial schools in the U.S. But over the last decade, public school districts from Boston to Los Angeles have introduced mandatory school uniform programs, often at the urging of parents concerned with poor grades and school violence. Other cities have experimented with voluntary uniform programs that offer parents the option of sending their children to school wearing uniforms.

On One Hand...

Clothes serve as status symbols in many schools and can be distracting. Uniforms promote equality and a sense of community, so students can focus on schoolwork.

School uniforms also ease the financial burdens on parents, who otherwise are forced to spend hundreds of dollars outfitting their children in the latest designer clothes.

Uniforms also add to security since it is harder to conceal weapons while wearing a uniform and school administrators can easily detect non-students. These factors create a safer, more open learning environment.

On the Other Hand...

Programs requiring mandatory uniforms in public schools are detrimental to the students. Mandatory uniform rules enforce conformity, which hinders creative abilities and limits personal expression. The argument that uniforms are linked to academic success lacks scientific backing.

Our schools desperately need financial assistance, but the money should not be wasted on clothing. Motivation, commitment and parental involvement are the most important factors in scholastic achievement.

• According to USA Today, parents spent an average of $185 per child purchasing non-uniform clothing in 1998, compared to an average of $104 spent per child to purchase school uniforms.

• In the 1996-97 school year, three percent of the nation's public schools had mandatory school uniform policies.

• Since the Long Beach Unified School District in California implemented a system-wide mandatory uniform policy in 1994, assaults have decreased by 85 percent, according to Education Week.

• In 1999, the New York City public school system began enforcing a mandatory uniform policy in its more than 670 elementary schools.

• According to the National Center for Education Statistics, schools with 50 percent or more minority enrollment were more likely to require student uniforms than those with lower minority enrollment.

USA Today, Education Week, National Center for Education Statistics