Monday, 26 October 2009
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Too Much of a Good Thing Can Hurt You, Especially Rules
THIS WAS WRITTEN BY MY 15 YEAR OLD FOR HIS SOPHORMORE ENGLISH CLASS (He cracks me up) Good Job Brian!!!. Mom gives you an A+
Okay, let’s face it. A persisting issue in some schools is modesty, and in others, it’s a restrictive dress code. Sure, sometimes people have a lack of common sense to dress appropriately, either being offensive, provocative, “sagging” like there’s no tomorrow, etcetera. For this reason, schools end up having a hard time moderating this issue, so they institute “Approved Clothing”. It’s okay of course, as long as the one offending perpetrator doesn’t bite the majority.
What I mean by that is, if a rebellious person dresses out-of-whack, then the rest of us “good” people shouldn’t suffer. Take CUSSD for example. Our school had a simple dress code consisting of one line: “Modest”. That was about nine to ten years ago. Then people started to mess up, and then we got more limited with “…anything considered polo, oxford, pants, shorts, slacks, and skirts”. That was relatively easy to deal with. Then in 2007, people didn’t get the message. Now we’re communists hooked on navy blue or white shirts with khaki pants. This is an eccentric person’s hell.
I once witnessed the administration in action. In 2007, the last year before the logo society struck, I saw Bernard R. called out for wearing a red Oxford shirt. Apparently, #1: Red is “Inappropriate for an Oxford shirt”. And #2: Colorblindness wasn’t an excuse. The same teacher asked me if I thought it was appropriate. I said “Yeah, what’s the problem? I’d wear it.” Didn’t make a difference, but I don’t think they sent Bernard to the gallows a.k.a. the principal’s office for it. Oh, and in case you go looking for that teacher, they’re not here anymore.
It seems like cracking down on dress code doesn’t really encourage those of us who are inclined to follow the rules any more so. For those who are rebellious already, the stricter dress code doesn’t help; it just makes everyone angry. Anyway, the consensus is that people place rules because they’re either too lazy or occupied to deal with the offending individuals. This isn’t a fact, per se, but it’s pretty darn accurate. Just keep in mind that dress code is only one rule. There are many more that could be arguable, but we’ll leave those for other writers. (Example: Why it’s not legal to park your giraffe next to a telephone pole on Wednesdays in Seattle.)
Brian is a current Sophomore at CHS.
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About the Author
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- From: P1AutismMom@autisable
- Name: Nancy
- About Me: I am busy raising my 2 boys, Brian 15 and Daniel 13 who has autism. My hope in life is to make at least 2 people smile every day and if I'm feeling really ambitious I'll try to make them laugh :) You can read more of my story by going to www.AutismMom.net and follow on twitter http://twitter.com/P1AutismMom
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Comments (11)
Very awesome.
nice paper. I do think dress codes or uniforms are nice rules (it would keep some girls and guys from exposing themselves too much).
@feelslikejuly@xanga - Oh yes, As a Mom of teenage boys I'm glad the girls are covered up. Makes it easier for the boys to concentrate. ha ha The shirt color choices became very limited to only 2 last year with one style and color of pants. Let the boys wear a little red or green once in a while. :)
@makeshiftsteff@xanga - We are So Proud!! :) Thanks for the rec!! Can't wait to show him he is on the front page. Yes!!!
@P1AutismMom@autisable - I thought is was so well written I even recommended it!
@makeshiftsteff@xanga - I saw that!! Thanks Much!! I e-mailed his english teacher with the link. Looks LIke Extra Credit is warranted. ha ha
TWO colored shirts and ONE type/color of pants?! Wow...we had uniforms at the middle school that I went to, but they weren't that bad. We had a handful of shirt colors and at least two different pant colors, plus skirts and shorts. In highschool, they were just starting to hem and haw over the dresscode. The concern seemed to "gang" related clothing... Really? We were in middle-to-upper-class, prodominately white suburbia then... I don't think we have to worry about gang wars in the quad...
That is the reasoning behind much of the public school dress code here in So Cal and I'm all for that. I even love that kids who can't afford designer digs will feel less out of the loop because the peer issue of K-mart vs Nordstrom but the extreme limitations on color is unnecessary. The uniform company the school uses has multiple colored polo options so what gives?
I went to a school that had a uniform. Not only was the color and style of shirts and pants or skirts spelled out, but you also had to buy it from a their approved supplier so they wouldn't have the problem of kids buying designer uniforms. It was something we would gripe about when we bought them and then forget about and go about learning after the first week or so of school.
@lightnindan@xanga - Same here and there are school logos on the clothing as well. Only part I (his mom) is not happy with is the $40.00 jacket you have to buy if you want your kid to stay warm in the winter. $10.00 sweatshirt should be fine but Nope!!
I went to a school called CHS! But, I don't know where you're from. However, it does sound a good bit like my school. :p
I'm 23, but I actually only graduated at semester in 2006 (although technically I was a part of the 2007 class) because I quit school for two years and went back when I was 17, and they put me as a Freshman. In my state, if you are 21 and still in high school you have to pay tuition just to attend high school. I couldn't afford it. So, I made sure I had all my credits and the board let me graduate one semester early. I did not get to walk graduation with my friends, but I got to attend as a viewer and watch my friends graduate! :)
But, yeah, my school had similar dress code issues, and it seemed like if one person messed up they'd change it in the hand book the next year so that it was more and more specific. I think red is supposedly a gang color or something. Pretty soon, that school is going to switch to uniforms. Its the only way they can keep a real reign on what the students are wearing. There's no talk about it now, but there has been in the past. They just never implemented it. Even though for a while it seemed like they had made the decision to use uniforms, it never happened.
But, yeah, I'm just waiting. I don't live in that town anymore, and like I said I graduated, but I feel sorry for the students who are going to have to go through silly things like getting into trouble just for the simple color of their shirt or something, until finally the school district decides to go to uniforms. I'm not an advocate for uniforms, but at least then it wouldn't be confusing to the students.
Who in their right mind would think that going to school wearing a red Oxford shirt would be against the rules? You can read a handbook, but most kids don't study them. Most kids don't read them, to be honest. But, even if they did...a banned color? Its getting to the point where it is starting to get ridiculous.
Pretty soon either kids will HAVE to have some kind of uniform or they will have to go to school without anything on at all. Maybe that's the point, though, maybe that's where it is headed. There won't be an official uniform, but the dress code will only allow them to wear a blue polo shirt and khaki slacks. :p
@tracezilla@lovelyish - Brian's KIndergarten year was the only one there was some leeway with color and style. A striped T-shirt was ok which was nice on the extremely hot days, after all some of the female staff were wearing spaghetti strapped sundresses. Just sayin. The shorts and pants were guided with style preference but no specific branding was necessary. It's a good idea to set limits especially for Jr. High and High School yet there are ways of going about it without being too militant. A little too prep school, shall we say :)