Hmmmm. It’s 6 in the morning, and I begin another day. Walking into my closet, I glance at my wardrobe. Should I wear the white short sleeve polo with the gray skort or the white, long-sleeve polo with the gray pleated skirt? Oh, the decisions!!

I’m not a fan of uniforms. It’s too conforming, not comfortable, and, quite honestly, white is not my color. On the other hand, when you wake up and realize that your ride leaves in five minutes, it’s nice not to stress about what to wear.

In sum, I’m ambivalent.

They (aka: parents, teachers, administrators) say that uniforms can prevent bullying, and create a blank economic background. But honestly, making kids wear uniforms is like putting a Band-Aid on bullying rather than addressing it.

On the other hand, research is hard to ignore. According to a Long Beach, Calif., study in 1995, after implementing uniforms in a California school, the crime rate dropped 91 percent, suspensions fell 90 percent and vandalism plummeted a shocking 96 percent.

Every single kid in my grade wears the exact same thing. Does that mean they’re all identical? Of course not! Two people can be wearing a white button-down shirt, a red vest and tan khakis, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t differences.

A Macbook, an iPhone, shoes with a price tag in the triple digits, a name-brand backpack and the car a student’s parent drives speak volumes about financial well being.

On the other hand, if a classmate has no phone or computer, generic shoes, the same backpack he used last year, and takes the bus home because both of his parents work, other conclusions can be made.

As nice as it would be to imagine a world without bullying, that’s not the world that we will ever live in. We live in a world where if we want to be accepted, we have to find others who will accept us for who we are, not how we dress. Putting uniforms on kids disguises what’s at the root of how and why students act the way they do.

Uniforms not only stifle creativity, but limit self-expression in one of the most critical times of our lives. No one wants to wear simple clothes that make them blend in, when all they want to do is stand out!!

On the other hand, students can distinguish themselves with the words they write, the music they compose and the art they create.

Although uniforms are loathed by most students, they have their undoubted benefits. And of course, the essential part they play in morning rush for us teens is hard to deny.

I will be wearing uniforms for a while. I will have to learn to express myself using words. It was not my choice to wear uniforms, but it is a choice I will have to endure.

Some public schools in our area require students to wear uniforms. While I’m ambivalent on the whole school uniform debate, I feel strongly that if students are required to follow a dress code, so too should teachers.

The “do as I say, not as I do” thing doesn’t fly with me.

Maria Proulx lives in Ledyard and attends St. Bernard School in Montville.