Hoodies banned for being "gangwear"

[Marvelmania]

At first thought, the idea of abandoning rules regarding school
attire seems cool and liberal and all---but kids will ultimately take
advantage of that---and things can quickly get outta hand

I picture Picard and his famous line from ST: FC
"The line must be drawn here" (or something close to that)

If rules are put in place, and they are enforced, then the kids can
be better controlled and schools can be a less chaotic place to be

Nothing wrong with a little structure and discipline or whatever

Keep a kid from wearing a hooded sweatshirt will instill discipline and structure? Oh yeah! That'll do it. Plus keep all that chaos down? Right. Controlled? Maybe kids should be sent to obedience school before starting public school. Maybe shock collars would control them better?

I can see banning shirts advertising drugs or alcohol, skull caps, pants hanging off the butt, bandanas even toboggans. Don't gang members wear sneakers, flannel shirts, jeans and down and fiber filled coats? Well, we can't have that. Better get rid of all those too. Funny that the store I bought this hoodie from also sold hoodies with the High School's name on it. Yes, there should be a line set somewhere but it should also be a line that is within reason. It just seemed a little far fetched to me. Again just my view.

[Mikey]

This generation of teachers are now reaping the harvest our generation of parents have sewn.

I don't blame the teachers one bit.

[toys2cool]

That's crazy man,
well looks like most public schools in Miami are starting to with uniforms

I got sent home once for wearing a tang top,i remember the principal telling me i could'nt wear wife beaters to school

[Mikey]

Back in the 70's we were aloud to bring pocket knives to school (in my school).
Just about everyone was a hunter so knives were an essential accessory that the school tolerated

But back then things were totally different than today.

I still remember the teach used to bring out pure Mercury from a bottle for us to play with.
I kid you not.
She made us wash our hands when we were through with it.
No BS

Things have changed

[Hornet of Doom]

At first thought, the idea of abandoning rules regarding school
attire seems cool and liberal and all---but kids will ultimately take
advantage of that---and things can quickly get outta hand

I picture Picard and his famous line from ST: FC
"The line must be drawn here" (or something close to that)

If rules are put in place, and they are enforced, then the kids can
be better controlled and schools can be a less chaotic place to be

Nothing wrong with a little structure and discipline or whatever

As a former kid, I take offense to this.

Hoodies are real good at keeping you warm during the winter, and if someone wanted to keep their head warm, there's a ready made hat sewn into the thing. Problem solved.

Not allowing kids to wear hoodies because they're "gangwear" is stupid. That's like banning baseball uniforms because the Baseball Furies wore them, and they were a violent gang. It does nothing but stifle creativity and expression.

And while it's true, school is about education, it's also about encouraging individuality and creativity. When you take away the individuality, you take away the individual.

Middle/High school shouldn't be treated like a day care. Kids should be taught, not taken care of. If there's a gang problem, deal with the gangs, not the entire student body. The "one bad apple" argument is stupid, because kids are not fruit. Tell kids what's wrong and give them an alternative, rather than just taking away all choice whatsoever.

If we're quoting things, here's one: "Oh oh. Two independent thought alarms in one day. The students are overstimulated. Willie! Remove all the colored chalk from the classrooms."

[Vortigern99]

Identifying a particular article of clothing as 'gangwear' and preventing non-criminal individuals from wearing it is not only illogical, it's repression.

As someone else noted, gang members also wear jeans and sneakers. Following the school's line of reasoning, shouldn't those items be banned as well? What about socks and underwear? What about hairstyles? Where does it end?

[EMCE Hammer]

txteach --- I hear what you're saying, but I can't really be all that sympathetic
---as what you're describing is part what being a teacher is all about----
i.e. dealing with parents who run the gamut from well-adjusted to mentally unhinged
so that you can get thru the school year achieving your goal which is: to educate their
kids----bottom line: there's no guarantee that adults will be any less "unruly" than their
children----to educate your students the most efficiently, you have to deal with both
to survive and thrive ---its a package deal

Being a teacher shouldn't have anything to do with dealing with mentally unhinged parents. Just because it often does shouldn't be a reason to accept that it should be part of some "package deal." There isn't anymore of a place in the education system for unruly parents than there is unruly children. Don't confuse life as it is with life as it should be.

[Adam West]

Seems pretty silly to me. Banning certain types of clothing will not result in less gang activity...the argument is illogical.

I could understand if school administrators do not want kids wearing the hoods on their heads inside the school but to ban them altogether seems ridiculous.

I guess all Oakland Raider apparel should also be banned since it has affiliations with certain gangs?

[megocrazy]

The problem with the hoodies is they hide things in the hoods. Drugs, guns, knives, etc. It's unfortunate but it is reality. Most parents today have no sense of responsibility to their children. Many don't have a clue as to where their kids go, what people they hang out with, as long as their not giving them a problem they're fine. These are the parents who can't believe their little angel gets caught selling drugs and they're amazed. Next time any of the parents here attend a school open house check the lines for the class rooms for the level 1 students vs the level 3 students. I guarantee you'll find the lines at the level 3 classrooms a lot shorter. Coincidence, No, if you can't be bothered to take an interest in how your kid is doing in school, why should they. The same applies for the school attire. From the content of most of the posts here, nobody influenced by this regulation ever contacted the schools and said "can you please explain why this decision was made so I understand?" It happened in our system and when I learned why, I felt it was a minimal compromise to help the school personel attempt to control what could end up being a tragic happening if something occured. If a child's creativity and individuality is defined by a hooded sweatshirt, school attire is the last thing on the stuff to worry about list. Just a thought. Would anyone that voiced opposition be bothered by a boy wearing a dress and make-up to school? If he was just expressing himself. Girls do it every day. Does your argument change based on the situation? Just wondering. CG

[Adam West]

The problem with the hoodies is they hide things in the hoods. Drugs, guns, knives, etc. It's unfortunate but it is reality. Most parents today have no sense of responsibility to their children. Many don't have a clue as to where their kids go, what people they hang out with, as long as their not giving them a problem they're fine. These are the parents who can't believe their little angel gets caught selling drugs and they're amazed. Next time any of the parents here attend a school open house check the lines for the class rooms for the level 1 students vs the level 3 students. I guarantee you'll find the lines at the level 3 classrooms a lot shorter. Coincidence, No, if you can't be bothered to take an interest in how your kid is doing in school, why should they. The same applies for the school attire. From the content of most of the posts here, nobody influenced by this regulation ever contacted the schools and said "can you please explain why this decision was made so I understand?" It happened in our system and when I learned why, I felt it was a minimal compromise to help the school personel attempt to control what could end up being a tragic happening if something occured. If a child's creativity and individuality is defined by a hooded sweatshirt, school attire is the last thing on the stuff to worry about list. Just a thought. Would anyone that voiced opposition be bothered by a boy wearing a dress and make-up to school? If he was just expressing himself. Girls do it every day. Does your argument change based on the situation? Just wondering. CG

I really am trying to follow the logic but am having trouble. Drugs, Knives, and guns can be hidden in much more than a hood on a sweatshirt. Call me crazy but if people are hiding these types of things in hoodies, don't you think they would find something else to hide them in if hoodies are banned?

Just for the record, I wouldn't be bothered by a boy wearing a dress and make-up at school.

[Hornet of Doom]

If a child's creativity and individuality is defined by a hooded sweatshirt, school attire is the last thing on the stuff to worry about list. Just a thought. Would anyone that voiced opposition be bothered by a boy wearing a dress and make-up to school? If he was just expressing himself. Girls do it every day. Does your argument change based on the situation? Just wondering. CG

That's a little different, since it's distracting. However, I knew at least one guy in high school who *did* put on make-up every morning before coming to school. He never shot anyone, he hasn't killed himself yet, he was just expressing himself. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Uniforms are designed to repress individuality. And while it is possible to be an individual even when they look like everyone else, it shouldn't be forced upon them. When they look like everyone else, they have to do something to make yourself stand out, for better or for worse.

And, like AW pointed out, if a kid wants something he's not supposed to have, he's going to find a way to get it to school.

[txteach]

Everybody always gripes until something happens. Then we at the school get blamed. "Why didn't the teacher see the signs,It's the school's fault because they should have seen that little Billy was a Crypt. He was wearing all the Crypt gear". We in schools are damned if we do and damned if we don't. We try to impliment rules for safety and get blamed for styfling individualism. Something bad happens and we are blamed for not taking action. A lose/lose situation.

[Marvelmania]

If a kid wanted to hide something they could hide things in their pockets, shoes, inside their pants, purses, wallets, books, book bags and so on.
I can see your point Teach. I'm not putting blame on anyone for something bad that has happened. It's just that hoodies being banned doesn't makes any sense to me.

[Adam West]

If a kid wanted to hide something they could hide things in their pockets, shoes, inside their pants, purses, wallets, books, book bags and so on.
I can see your point Teach. I'm not putting blame on anyone for something bad that has happened. It's just that hoodies being banned doesn't makes any sense to me.

That's exactly my sentiment.

[ABMAC]

Everybody always gripes until something happens. Then we at the school get blamed. "Why didn't the teacher see the signs,It's the school's fault because they should have seen that little Billy was a Crypt. He was wearing all the Crypt gear". We in schools are damned if we do and damned if we don't. We try to impliment rules for safety and get blamed for styfling individualism. Something bad happens and we are blamed for not taking action. A lose/lose situation.

Like I said before, being in a gang isn't illegal, and it isn't the school's responsibility to watch for signs of gang activity outside the school. Hoodies aren't inherently unsafe, so that argument doesn't fly. Kids will continue to sneak drugs and weapons into school as long as they can come up with a way to get away with it. The only sure way to keep them from bringing stuff in is to stop them from going out.

There's an idea; let's just give the state control of our kids from the time they're old enough for kindergarten until they're old enough to vote. Shave their heads every week and make them wear grey jumpsuits without pockets. We can even brainwash them to be "patriotic" so they'll be willing to die to perpetuate the system.

Fonzie was in a gang. They weren't the Crips, but they were a gang.