Some schools have school uniforms, and some schools don’t. Divine Redeemer, a local Catholic school, requires a school uniform. This uniform consists of a red polo top with the school’s logo on it and a pair of navy or tan pants or a navy or tan skirt for girls.

Arrowhead High School is among the schools that do not currently require school uniforms. Some students find this to be a positive quality of Arrowhead, while others view it as a nuisance.

Cariah Ramsey, an Arrowhead senior, is against school uniforms. She says they force students to dress a certain way that they may not want to dress.

“I don’t like matching people,” Ramsey says.

She says she enjoys the individualism that Arrowhead currently allows her to express through her unique choice of dress.

Ramsey says the individuality of dressing differently than others is something she treasures.

Similarly, she believes instituting school uniforms does not destroy the harsh judgement that students receive everyday for what they are wearing.

“If I see a kid in a uniform, I know they’ll still get judged by appearance. They get judged either way,” she says.

Ramsey says school uniforms don’t necessarily bring about the best preconceptions of the students.

“When I see a kid in a uniform I think they’re preppy, uppity, and snooty,” Ramsey says.

She says she believes the connotation that comes along with a school uniform just causes more drama and difficulty for the kids to relate to kids from other schools who do not have to wear uniforms. She says the stereotypical rich kid from a private school is the message that school uniforms send, and she does not want that to be said of her.

Ramsey says when she sees kids in uniforms, she thinks of the stereotypical private school kids.

Therefore, she says there is more negativity that accompanies school uniforms than good.

On the other hand, Simone Nielsen, an Arrowhead senior, says she is in favor of school uniforms.

“I’d wake up and know what I’d have to wear,” she says.

Nielsen says the simplicity of a school uniform appeals to her in the sense that it would make getting ready easier.

“I like being able to wear what I want, but I feel like a lot of kids already wear similar things to follow the trends, so in a way they already have a uniform,” Nielsen says.

She says she thinks most of the Arrowhead students dress similarly, so she doesn’t think there is much individuality that is expressed through what students wear.

Nielsen says she is a strong believer that school uniforms wouldn’t do much harm to the students of Arrowhead.

She expresses the ease of school uniforms in two short sentences.

“Yes to school uniforms. Yes to simplicity,” says Nielsen.