What is Digg?Sponsored by newegg
Missed out on the best electronic deals last Black Friday? view!
newegg.com - Newegg.com's Cyber Monday Promotion has you covered. No Lines, No Crowds; Just Click and Save.
202 Comments
- Karai, on 11/08/2009, -10/+79Good article. I believe that the school systems should all adopt non-discriminatory policies. Though I also have to say that the conservative dress code is a bit much. Teenagers are at an age where their hormones are raging harder than a level 20 Blood Elf Mage in Hillsbrad, and their need to express themselves is just as important to their development as an individual, as their education.
If a boy wants to experiment with dress, that should not be an issue. If a girl (or boy, heh) wants to express themselves as an easy slut, that should not be an issue. It's really not hard to tell the easy girls from the reserved girls, even with dress codes in place. The people who will be staring at her ***** in math instead of doing their work are the people who will be texting her for pics of her ***** instead of doing their work, anyway. If people want to learn, they will learn. If they don't, locking them in a strict dress and behaviour code is not going to change that.
If you want to keep the kids safe, allow it to become mainstream. Social change does not happen over night. When people feel like it's natural for some boys to wear skirts, then there will be no more issue. It's the suppression that keeps the danger in tact. - Ouze, on 11/09/2009, -2/+70Attn: US School System:
You have bigger things to worry about. - rocknog, on 11/08/2009, -5/+58Quite frankly, I've never really understood school dress codes. As a kid, even though I never personally had an issue with the dress code, I always wondered why the school was so concerned about it in the first place - like what, wearing clothes that violate the dress code will suddenly make me unable to learn? I
n particular, I remember hats being a big issue. Not that I even owned a hat, but I couldn't understand why, if I did, I wasn't allowed to wear it in school. And no one could ever give me a straight answer about it, either. I'd always ask the teacher at the beginning of the year when we were going over school rules, and not once did I ever get an answer that made sense. Usually it was something about it being impolite to wear hats inside. Why is it impolite? I have no clue, and neither did the people who gave that answer. It's just a societal norm, and we have to follow it because everyone else follows it.
As a result of getting ***** non-answers like that whenever I questioned the rules, to this day, I'm still convinced school dress codes exist for the sole purpose of beating the individuality out of students - it seems it's just another way to enforce conformity. - Kennui, on 11/08/2009, -9/+50Wtf is with this have-to-register *****?
- L0NER, on 11/08/2009, -11/+51The sheeple factory disapproves of your attire.
- xwatermelon, on 11/08/2009, -16/+46AHHH GAY PEOPLE!
THEY WILL KILL US ALL!
EVERYBODY PANIC! - Nakket, on 11/09/2009, -1/+31My school's dress code was so picky. Any type of fringe or hole in jeans was a visit to the office to get a change of clothes, usually PE shorts.
Needless to say one of my math teachers, fed up with the obsessive rules, lined everyone in class up. She went down one by one and found even the tiniest thing wrong with the way a student was dressed. Then, 25 students all marched down to the office. The policy had changed by the next month. - alanocu, on 11/08/2009, -7/+36I never wore a skirt to school, just for the record ;-)
- RahlsSoldier, on 11/09/2009, -5/+31"But the other student replied off-handedly, “That wasn’t a girl. That’s just Jack.”"
This is an example that proves that kids are accepting as long as they are raised in an environment where tolerance and individuality are important.
Why can't we get others to act the same way? - rocknog, on 11/08/2009, -5/+28My God, I can't believe I actually dugg someone up for using the word "sheeple." Generally speaking, I hate that word, but when it comes to education, I can't deny that enforcing conformity seems to be a major function of schools (public and private).
- LordStryker, on 11/09/2009, -2/+24I picked up on the sarcasm.
- burgerkinghorn, on 11/09/2009, -2/+19Concerning school uniforms, it's not even a new idea. I first saw it in old newsreels fro the 1930's, but it was hard to understand, because the narration was in German! But the uniforms looked beautiful. And the children did everything they were told and never questioned authority.
--George Carlin - alanocu, on 11/08/2009, -1/+17Damn, sorry about that. I'm already registered Forgot about that.
- Syric, on 11/09/2009, -3/+18Societal norms, much like nations, words, and religions, are quite imagined and have no tangible physical basis. But that doesn't mean they aren't "real".
Wearing your hat indoors doesn't inherently mean you're disrespectful, and you probably don't mean it like that, but it still carries that meaning nonetheless. Compare it to this: Not shaking hands is considered rude. Why? Who knows? It's a totally arbitrary thing--why should we wrap our fingers around another person's hand in a particular shape, and then bend our elbows back and forth to make our hands go up and down? It's a societal norm. But it's not "just" a societal norm; these are very powerful things with real meanings attached to them over centuries or millennia of use. - chriscanada, on 11/09/2009, -3/+17Having a school dress code is appropriate, however it should be the same for both male and female students.
- Akairenn, on 11/09/2009, -2/+16Yeah, like those chicks who wear pants. They're totally asking for it, amirite?
Pah. - rotundo, on 11/09/2009, -3/+17I'm 100% for people doing what they want in their lives, but...
"their need to express themselves is just as important to their development as an individual, as their education"
I don't even know if you're right about that -- but in any case school is not the place to do it. They're there to learn, and to what degree that statement sounds ridiculous is the degree to which our schools are a mess. The idea that if they don't want to learn you should ignore it seems nonsensical if you believe in the benefits of public education at all.
I think that one of the most important developmental lessons is that you don't have to make a point about your individuality 24/7. Be whatever you want, be up front and honest about it, stand up against discrimination... but know how to fit in as needed. You can over-interpret that if you want, call it ***** or whatever, but it's just pragmatism.
I'm an atheist, I'm pro-gay-marriage, pro-drug-legalization, pro-prostitution-legalizaion, and I love porn, but I don't make a point of throwing this in the face of everyone I meet either.
Cheers. - fms45, on 11/08/2009, -2/+15Well, tastes differ
- Blinker1315, on 11/08/2009, -0/+13Nor did I, although I did run afoul of the school's authorities (high school in the early 70s) for wearing a cap indoors, and smoking cigarettes outside the designated smoking area.
- kward711, on 11/09/2009, -3/+16I knew it was sarcasm. I just didn't think it was that funny.
- christoast, on 11/09/2009, -3/+15Kilts
William Wallace
Badassary - tgc1, on 11/09/2009, -1/+13It doesn't prepare you at all. I should know. I had to wear a uniform for 4 years in school. Didn't do *****. We sought every which way to bend the rules.
- thehuntofdear, on 11/09/2009, -0/+12My math teacher once put on a trench coat and yelled at everyone to march behind her outside. Turned out she just wanted us to enjoy the first nice day of spring...but she was scary. No one was able to.
- jrm125, on 11/09/2009, -2/+14People really didn't catch the sarcasm here? Who buried this?
- BeShirtHappy, on 11/08/2009, -1/+12That's your story, and you're sticking to it...
- candre23, on 11/09/2009, -3/+14And if black people wanted better jobs, they'd have lighter skin.
Gender identity is not a cut-and-dry, one-label-fits-all thing. It's not a "choice" thing either. People with "non-standard" gender identity aren't doing it because they want attention, they do it because that's who they are. Someone who identifies male (whatever their sex) would feel very uncomfortable being forced to dress as a female. Would you like it if you were told you had to wear a dress to school from now on? Of course not. Neither do women who identify male. A boy wearing girl's clothes or vise-versa doesn't bother anybody except the ignorant and bigoted. - Velnich, on 11/09/2009, -2/+13"That wasn't a girl. That's just Jack."
I wish everyone had that "chill the ***** out" attitude when it came to ***** like this. - CapeKid, on 11/09/2009, -5/+16You can't wear hats so that your face won't be obscured if you are caught doing something you shouldn't. School officials want to be able to find those students and punish them later.
Also, hats and do-rags of certain colors can signify gang affiliation and the school board wants to keep that stuff out of school grounds, understandably. - MtheoryX, on 11/09/2009, -3/+14Booooooo
- ancientdinko, on 11/09/2009, -1/+11That's exactly why I just wore the silk panties and quietly went about my business.
- dvsbastard, on 11/09/2009, -7/+16Dress codes exist for a reason, and their purpose is to enforce a sort of discipline which will need to be carried into the workforce...
I don't necessarily agree with it, but nor do I agree with some unnecessary employer "suit and tie" dress codes either. - blindmelon1, on 11/09/2009, -2/+10It's a school. A place to learn, not a place to express yourself through your clothes. I completely agree with school uniform codes.
You can digg me down if you like, just thought I'd state my opinion.
P.S - I'm 27, and I don't give a ***** about my lawn. - sageerrant, on 11/09/2009, -0/+8You know how I know you're gay?
- jman583, on 11/09/2009, -1/+9Best solution I can come up with:
http://www.bugmenot.com/view/nytimes.com - kcpepper111, on 11/09/2009, -4/+12One word: religion.
- Orbital101, on 11/09/2009, -0/+8"At school, I didn't tell kids I was a transvestite because I thought they might kill me with sticks."
- Eddie Izzard - dhaugen, on 11/09/2009, -2/+10just to clarify, i have a friend that goes to north cobb and while i don't care if you feel the need to express yourself, this kid was clearly going overboard. he tried using the girls bathroom multiple times, the faculty finally just gave him a key to the faculty bathroom, there were multiple fights over the kid. i rarely agree with schools but this was clearly a distraction
- inactive, on 11/09/2009, -1/+8I feel like inside I was born a dolphin, so I tried to go to school with dolphin fins and they sent me home, where were my rights?!
- mintedmeadow, on 11/08/2009, -4/+11"Not that I even owned a hat, but I couldn't understand why, if I did, I wasn't allowed to wear it in school."
Well, during testing you can cheat with it, but in class.. it's just one of those things that is considered ill-mannered, I guess. Kind of like not putting your elbows on the table. - tgc1, on 11/09/2009, -2/+9At this point in my life, I couldn't give a *****. But what I would do is wear a skirt in protest just to support that dudes freedom to wear whatever the ***** he pleases. What's the school going to do when ALL the boys are wearing skirts hmmm?
// Tired of this shiat.
/// School needs to concentrate on TEACHING kids. Not getting into their business and worrying about what the ***** they wear. - Iamien, on 11/09/2009, -0/+7When I was in school a few years ago. There was a student of scottish heritage. He had spoken with the administrators beforehand, and they allowed him to wear his kilt on a semi-regular basis. Not sure if if the school minded or not but every two or three weeks he would wear it.
- Klisk, on 11/09/2009, -1/+8What is normal? I think people who wear nike are trying too hard to fit a strange demographic.
- offrdbandit, on 11/09/2009, -2/+8You obviously didn't go to a school requiring uniforms.
Uniforms are cheap (much cheaper than "plainclothes") and enforcement is trivial: either the clothing item is part of the uniform or it isn't.
It's very easy. You never have to worry about what you are going to wear. You never have to worry about whether you are going to get in trouble for your clothes.
The important thing to remember is a uniform doesn't necessarily mean the stereotypical "prep school" style dress uniform. Uniforms as simple as khaki pants/shorts and a solid colored collared shirt are quite effective and very economical. - appleseed1234, on 11/09/2009, -0/+6If we called it a kilt, no effeminate boys would want to wear it.
- du4l1ty, on 11/09/2009, -1/+7Especially if it is made of wool.
- satsuke, on 11/09/2009, -2/+8My solution to the problem presented is this .. establish a single standard and stick to it.
Instead of "Girls must wear x,y,z and boys may not wear x,y,z" than there is ambiguity in the rules .. and a wedge that a teen can use to do something other than learning.
So if the rules are "No heels over 3" tall", apply it to everybody (for example). While GLBT expressions may never be in the majority, there is no reason to stigmatize students who make those choices or develop in ways that don't conform to shirt-tie/blouse-skirt-heels in their later life.
As far as the students not being "trained" to properly express themselves in the workplace .. guess what, these high schoolers will BE the workforce soon enough. Workplaces have changed for each successive generation, this one will be no different. - Atario, on 11/09/2009, -0/+6Are math teachers disproportionately awesome? Because it sure seems that way by my experience and stories like this.
- kaosethema, on 11/09/2009, -1/+7if you hate them, why wear them? who told you that you have to wear them?
- briarmoss, on 11/09/2009, -2/+8I don't see how uniforms would get rid of problems involving gender discrimination.
- Apex3, on 11/09/2009, -1/+7I always thought that dress codes were BS. There's more important things to worry about in school than what kids are wearing. The argument they always use is "it's distracting to other students," sorry but any student that's distracted by someone's clothes is gonna be distracted regardless, it's not the clothes. Actually you wanna talk distraction from the way people dress? What about spirit week? It's distracting for me to wear a sleeveless shirt, but not for people to wear bright green jumpsuits and face paint?
Then again I thought most of the rules were BS, public k-12 schools are about as close as you can get to a dictatorship in this country, they can violate any of your rights just because you're at school, actually you don't even have to be at school. I got in trouble a few times coming home from school, and plenty of kids got suspended for fighting off campus when class was out.
Judging by the comments above, I'll probably get dugg down for this, but whatever. -
Show 51 - 100 of 203 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is