School uniforms have only been associated with Catholic school, but now appear in public schools across the country. According to the National Center for Education Statistics: Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2011, twenty-one states require students to wear uniforms in the public school system. The reason for this is that schools think that uniforms improve students' attitudes towards school and each other. In education, school uniforms help support student success, academically, socially and personally. Many people believe that uniforms increase learning and academic performance. (Bensma) This is why so many schools now make their students wear uniforms; in 1996 only 3% of public schools in the country wore them. Uniforms also reduce victimization, decreasing gang activity and fighting, and also help differentiate outsiders in the school from students in the school building. Uniforms lower suspension rates and also decrease drug abuse in schools. (Brunsma) Beth Asaff found that the US Department of Education states that mandatory use of uniforms or dress codes reduces violence in schools. This is an important point because violence in schools has increased tremendously, and President Clinton noticed this when he took office. He said uniforms would “make public schools tidier learning centers and safer sanctuaries for children.” Many at school followed his advice and formed dress codes to reduce gangs and criminal activity. Some schools banned certain colors or even styles that they believed were gang related, they thought that banning these types of clothing would solve the gang activity that occurs at school. These codes have shown incredible results. Administrators in Long Beach, California, say school crime has been reduced by 76 percent since uniforms were adopted. (Kizis) When President Clinton pointed to Long Beach, California, where the uniforms were already in use, the school said their fights, gun crimes had been reduced by half and sex crimes had dropped by three-quarters. Since his speech in 1995, the use of uniform in the school district has shown amazing results, for example, crime in the district has decreased by 91%. Suspensions decreased by 90%, sexual crimes decreased by a staggering 96%, and vandalism decreased by 69% after the uniforms were worn. (Chatterjee) With these astonishing results it is no wonder that many other schools in the country have followed in their footsteps. A study conducted in 2010, based on the School Crime and Safety Survey, found that schools with a mandatory uniform had fewer drug and drug incidents.