Bum Rap

Yes, there does need to be some leeway and common sense in the rules. A photo of Dr. MLK is a long way from "Tim's Ass" printed on a pair of shorts. Approproiateness ("Whoever's Ass printed on a pair of shorts is inappropriate in a school or office setting, but many workplaces permit t's shirts celebrating certain holidays or festivals. The problem is, who decides which celebrations are appropriate? some people might want to celebrate an event/person that the majority deplores.Administrators/teachers are in school to teach, not decide on a case by case basis what is permitted, thus the blanket ban.

Wow. I recently graduated from high school, and have always believed that modesty of dress matters. What you wear tells the world who you are and how much you respect yourself. However, a dress code that bans certain colors? That's just crazy. Or banning all pictures? A number of students at my old high school wore T-shirts with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on them for MLK Day. Should they be sent home? In my opinion, schools need dress codes that have room for interpretation. Then, the school could institute a panel of teachers, administrators, and students, who could judge allegd violations on a case-by-case basis. Then, all parties concerned would have some input about what is or isn't "acceptable".

I'm a high school teen too. I, however, am going to side with the parents and teachers on this. I dress very conservatively and find it offensive when I have to see other girls my age wearing short shorts with logos on the butt or showing off their underwear. Our school does not restrict the short shorts. They actually sell sweatpants that have our school's monogram on the butt. A portion of the girls at my school are tasteful in their clothing choices but it's the other girls who give all teens a bad name. When I look at the grls who wear those clothes I feel bad for them because their parents must not be active in their life. I find it sad that schools are having to act as parents now by monitoring clothing and other such things.
As for the argument about freedom of expression there are plenty of ways to express yourself with your school supplies and backpacks (folders, notebooks, etc.) Truthfully no one is limiting their freedom of expression and I find it disgusting that some people are comparing a simple issue of a school dress code to Nazi Germany.

Dear Run Run...

...and now from a teacher's perspective.

First a school is not a democracy, just as the work place that you will enter as an adult. will not be a democracy. Others WILL determine how you behave and dress. There will be consequences for not following company policy on dress, behavior, and work output. School is designed for you to be successful in the working world...and good news, there will be no five hour detention, instead, you will be fired for non-compliance.

Two. School is NOT for your social amusement. School is your work place.

Much money and effort goes into educating our youth so we, as a nation, are all on the same page. We are a united country, with knowledgeable citizens, and our strength relies on that. Public schools are set up to educate everyone. This means best practices for the most students. This means rules, and grading criteria, and, yes, a loss in personal freedoms. A free education does not mean free to do what you want.

You live very well because you are not living in a third world country...or in countries that girls are not even in school, much less have an issue of what to wear in the morning.

And three, society can change on a dime, but our biology can't. You are not just enticing that cute guy in your chem lab, but, yes, your male teachers....and any other heterosexual male...young, old, cute, not so cute. Be grossed out, but if you are advertising, you can not pick and choose who wants to buy. You may think that that totally gross boy in homeroom is a pig for drooling every time you come into class with the short/short and tank top, he is responding as a male of the species should. Society tells him one thing...biology tells him another. You should not make his life difficult because your freedom to wear what you want is denied.

Adolescent males DO NOT think like adolescent females...get over yourself.

Wear what you want on your own time, when it is appropriate to look as cute as you can.

Good luck in your studies. I hope that cute boy in chem class is knocked out by your smarts in class and your style at the local coffee shop.

PS. No, student, male or female, is allowed, in the school where I teach, to wear any shirt that does not have sleeves. On this point, you have a valid complaint and you need to take that up with the Student Council.

Well this is fairly stupid. My school rules has just gotten much harsher, we get Saturday detention on our first offense of the policy. On the second we get suspended.

I can't even wear shorts anymore. The rule is that when we put our arms at our side, we should not be able to touch our skin; our shorts must be longer then the bottom of our fingertips.

That's all fine and dandy for girls who have short arms, but what about the girls, like my sister and me, who have abnormally long arms and legs? My shorts must reach almost to the tops of my knees. I can't even find shorts that are that are dress code "appropriate" when I go shopping! My soccer shorts (which are fairly long to normal shorts in comparison) are not even "appropriate."

Also, I am not allowed to wear tank tops any more. It's not fair that boys are allowed to wear these, and girls can't. I understand it's apples and oranges, but it's not like I'm walking around flaunting everything! There are perfectly acceptable tank tops that do not expose skin in a way that should be considered a five hour detention for. Likewise, during the beginning and the end of our school year, it can get up to over ninety degrees. Yes, our school, supposedly, has air conditioning, but they never turn it on! We end up dying in our jeans that we must wear so we don't get in trouble and our too-much-fabric-for-it-being-this-hot shirts.

If a shirt really is "offensive" or "vulgar" then punish the person wearing it, or make them change. It's not fair to punish the rest of us for something only certain people at school do. Plus, what ever happened to freedom of speech? It's similar to the freedom of expression, which I think all people should have. If some girls want to dress like whores, let them. Don't act like they don't realize what kind of messages they are sending when they put those kinds of clothes on in the morning. We're not as stupid as you think when it comes to social relations. We don't need the schools to "protect us." Do you really think that we don't know what shirts that say things like that imply?

Sometimes, adults are so ignorant.

Sometimes, I think these dress codes are put in place so that an adult teacher/school official isn't turned on by the way some girls are dressing. It's ridiculous, sometimes, the perverted people the schools hire to help discipline and teach the minors.

It would seem that parents would want their children to project a decent, upright, self appreciating demeanor in not only their appearance, but also in their attitudes and actions. Some girls have put ???tramp stamps??? on their skin, and for maybe either fear of a needle or a little ???sense??? others are choosing to put the ???tramp stamps??? on their clothes. I think the jumpsuits are going to become ???a badge??? and it will no longer be a punishment.

wow. my mom e-mailed this to me, and as a highschoool student, i agree that sometimes we teenagers take clothes a bit far. i myself dont see the need to roll up my gym shorts as far up as they can go, or wear tiny t-shirts with flirty language or whatever (not that my parents wouldn't absolutely FREAK OUT if i did).... but the way these schools are handling it is just stupid. the more you restrict the students from something, the more they'll want to break the rules, especially if you take it as far as jumpsuits, and banning our favorite brand name clothes just becuase it has the company's name printed on it. I agree with most everyone else, parents need to take action, not schools. It's because the parents allow it that kids are exposed to these things in the first place. And it's the parent's fault they have a bad enough relationship with their kids that they cant put restrictions on what their kids are allowed to wear themselves, and have to depend on the schools to do it. And when you leave something up to schools, it usually goes too far, in an attempt to get rid of any loopholes. i admit , though, some people will stop at nothing, with all the double meanings that adults aren't quite caught up on, who knows when something that sounds so inncocent will end up hurting someone.

..."I don't think these girls realize what effect they're having when they wear these things. We're just trying to protect them."

I don't think these administrators and parents realize that the 'effect' that they perceive is nothing like reality. These kids are desensitized by this stuff and find it more humourous than anything. Further, simply because it is somewhat offensive to the older generation makes it even more attractive to them. Besides, it's nothing new -- when I was in HS in the late 70's, we had shorts and sweatpants with various things printed on the butt made at the local t-shirt shop -- without a major meltdown of parents or teachers.


..."The district also mandates that boys may not wear earrings or grow their hair below their earlobes."

Didn't we, as students, fight this fight back in the 60's/70's?

So, whatever happened to the "freedom" of this country? What has happened to "tolerance" and "acceptance" in this so-called free land? How about teaching these concepts instead of forcing "compliance," a-la Hitler's Germany?

Personally, I think the jumpsuits are a fabulous idea! I, for one, am just sick of seeing junior-high school girls and high-school girls for that matter, showing us their midriffs and what kind of undies they're wearing. My folks would never have allowed us girls to leave the house looking like a hoochie-mama. The problem, as I see it, is that the fashion designers are doing these clothes to make our daughters look like a slutty fashion model and the parents don't see anything wrong with dressing the girls (NOT WOMEN, GIRLS!!!) like a piece of meat. The parents are just too dang lazy to stand up to these girls (and the boys who still try to sag their pants) and refuse to allow them out and about looking like tramps. If they'd wash off the war paint and the boys would remove their giant cubic zirconia earrings and learn some manners and self-respect, the schools wouldn't have to take on the job of parenting that should have been done at home. Modesty becomes a young lady and a young man. Our young people grow up way too fast as it is. We don't need them showing off their goods at school. It's distracting to both students and faculty. If we parents don't stand up for our kids and lead by example, what does that say? It says that our self-esteem is lacking, too. I would make something decent for my kids to wear before I would purchase these horrid street-walker-esque styled items. I don't think it's cool or attractive to wear clothes with bra straps showing. All that tells me is that you can afford a bra or that your shoulders are narrow and the straps can't stay up. Pin them to the shirt. I'm sorry for the ramble, but this topic is close to home. I have 16 and 17 year-old nieces who believe in showing the tops of their boobs and wearing pants cut so low, that when they are seated in the classroom their thong tops are showing and so is the crack of their heinies. Oh, and their makeup is so thick and all, that it rivals Elvira, mistress of the dark. The girls look so much older and it's such a terrible thing to do to themselves. Parents, get up off the sofa, away from the cell phones, mp3 players, TV, or whatever is keeping you away from your children. Fight for them; let the clothing companies know that we don't want our kids to look this way. They need our help...NOW!

Personally, I think the jumpsuits are a fabulous idea! I, for one, am just sick of seeing junior-high school girls and high-school girls for that matter, showing us their midriffs and what kind of undies they're wearing. My folks would never have allowed us girls to leave the house looking like a hoochie-mama. The problem, as I see it, is that the fashion designers are doing these clothes to make our daughters look like a slutty fashion model and the parents don't see anything wrong with dressing the girls (NOT WOMEN, GIRLS!!!) like a piece of meat. The parents are just too dang lazy to stand up to these girls (and the boys who still try to sag their pants) and refuse to allow them out and about looking like tramps. If they'd wash off the war paint and the boys would remove their giant cubic zirconia earrings and learn some manners and self-respect, the schools wouldn't have to take on the job of parenting that should have been done at home. Modesty becomes a young lady and a young man. Our young people grow up way too fast as it is. We don't need them showing off their goods at school. It's distracting to both students and faculty. If we parents don't stand up for our kids and lead by example, what does that say? It says that our self-esteem is lacking, too. I would make something decent for my kids to wear before I would purchase these horrid street-walker-esque styled items. I don't think it's cool or attractive to wear clothes with bra straps showing. All that tells me is that you can afford a bra or that your shoulders are narrow and the straps can't stay up. Pin them to the shirt. I'm sorry for the ramble, but this topic is close to home. I have 16 and 17 year-old nieces who believe in showing the tops of their boobs and wearing pants cut so low, that when they are seated in the classroom their thong tops are showing and so is the crack of their heinies. Oh, and their makeup is so thick and all, that it rivals Elvira, mistress of the dark. The girls look so much older and it's such a terrible thing to do to themselves. Parents, get up off the sofa, away from the cell phones, mp3 players, TV, or whatever is keeping you away from your children. Fight for them; let the clothing companies know that we don't want our kids to look this way. They need our help...NOW!

Call me old fashion, but I recall the days when you "dressed for school", and then "dressed for after school". I grew-up in the era where girls were required to wear dresses or skirts, and boys were required to wear dress slacks . . . no tee shirts, no slacks for girls, absolutley no "print or logos" on any shirts. Jeans, shorts, tees, etc. were for after school only.

Classes were for learning, not for gawking at the thong on the girl seated next to you was showing. Did we like the rules while we were attending school? NO, but we weren't there to express our freedom of choice in fashion-sense . . . we were there to learn!

We laughed at the kids in Catholic school who had to wear uniforms, but looking back at least we had some choices in clothing. The only rules that our school board enforced were: no girl's skirts over an inch above the knee, and no boy's hair below their ears. You could express your sense of individuality on your own time, regulated by your own parents. Yeah, I recall a time when parents actually set rules for what you could wear during your "personal-times" too.

In all the time I attended Junior high and high school, I never remember any parent (or child) having a cow about the dress codes being too restrictive on any kids freedom of expression. You had the opportunity to exercise that privilege after school was over for the day.

HEIL HITLER !!!

HEIL HITLER

Speaking as a parent and as a college student, it is very troubling to me that in a country where we are to have individual rights and freedoms and the freedom of expression is on of them that we are constantly being baraged with dictatorial rules and such by people that unless it infringes on the educational benefits of others shouldn't have a right to say a darn word about what we wear or how we wear it. Parents ultimately have the right to tell their kids what they can and can not do, not the schools, we need to take back the parenting of our children and have the schools tackle the real need of better education not the moral or social aspects.

This is the craziest thing ever! Parents need to get more involved with their children and this will keep the school system from being the dictators that they have become! What ever happened to living in the 'land of the free'?

I think some are taking it a bit too far. We do live in what is called the 'free country'! Parents need to get more involved in their children's lives and quit letting the school systems dictate for us!

And of course, theres that "this is America" line, along with junk similar to "if you dont like it "move elsewhere"...plain old stupid/classless/trashy, inbred thinking, not unlike Jerry Springer types....
pride in America should come from knowing you do the right thing, and raise your kids to do the same, not live as if all that matters is whatever you think/feel is right, and thats what youre gonna do, because you said so, and this is a free country....
beside the fact that this is America, we say we are the smartest country in the world (maybe thats just book smarts and not common sense or street smarts or simply compared to primitives) we are also supposedly and supposed to be and example to the rest of the world - other parts of the world aside, just like its intelligent at times to think before you speak, it may also be a great idea to simply use judgement in good old-fashioned morals, and not be so quick to be part of the 'git-r-done' philosophy

Just to state my stance on the jumpsuit issue, these jumpsuits will draw attention away from learning as well. You don't think the kids are going to be distracted taunting the person or persons wearing these hideous jumpsuits.