School violence is one of the foremost issues of concern to educators today. Violence among today's young people, especially at school, is labeled by many health professionals as a potential threat to the overall health and academic success of children (King, 1998). As a result, there exists a need to address and to reduce the incidents of disruptive student behaviors presently exhibited in the schools. Many strategies to deal with the issue of school violence have been advanced. Strategies that are proactive rather than reactive are considered by many to be both the most desirable and the most effective (Kowalski & Reitzug, 1993).
Assertive Discipline and comparable strategies advanced to deal with the problem of school violence and disruptive behavior by students tend to be reactive, as opposed to proactive. In essence, such reactive strategies are approaches to classroom management, as opposed to being strategies designed to preclude the occurrence of school violence or disruptive student behavior (Howard, Howell, & Brainerd, 1987). As a consequence, effective proactive strategies designed to deal with the issue of school violence and disruptive behavior are sought. One such strategy, requiring all students to wear uniforms at school, is highly controversial, and the research on the strategy thus far reported in the literature has not resulted in a consensus of the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of a school uniform policy for students (National Association of Elementary School Principals, 1999; King, 1988; Brunsma & Rockquemore, 1998; National Association of Elementary School Principals, 1998; Paliokas & Rist, 1996).
A research study is proposed to assess the potential effects of one proactive strategy to reduce the frequency and severity of school violence. This proactive strategy is a policy requiring students to wear uniforms while at school.
Communities across the United States are considering school uniforms f...