Hoodies banned for being "gangwear"

[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?

[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."

[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

[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]

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

I don't blame the teachers one bit.

[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.

[huedell]

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

[txteach]

I for one am all for structure and discipline. The problem is when many kids only get those things at school it's tough. I had a parent scream at me because their little angle couldn't of been bad in my class. It was my fault her kid was a turd. When we enforce the rules we get parents who undermind our every move. We tried uniforms only to here "your taking away my individuality". Rubbish, get your "individuality" at the mall not at school. Many people today expect the schools to teach their kids everything from manners to morals to math. Schools try getting rid of a problem, hoods, and the parents complain. A constant catch 22.

[huedell]

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

[Earth 2 Chris]

And I thought it was bad when I wasn't allowed to wear my "I'm Bart Simpson, who the Hell are you?" shirt to school.

Chris

[garagesale]

I think all schools should switch over to Starfleet uniforms.

JamesD

[thunderbolt]

In Polk county they've gone to uniforms for all but high school. They've been sued unsuccessfully a few times over kids not being able to express themselves. Back in the olden days of my school career, I couldn't wear a ball cap, and I remember somebody getting in trouble for the Huey Lewis I need a new Drug concert shirt. Seems like if the school's just showed a bit of backbone and didn't let the kids run the place, it wouldn't have gotten to the uniform stage.

[starsky]

times they are a changin!! and half the stuff that gets implemented doesnt even make any sense!

[Sideshow Spock]

Seems to me wearing hooded sweatshirts should be fine, but the kids just shouldn't be allowed to put the hood over their heads during class and school time. Or even on school grounds.

It peeves me that they started allowing kids in middle and high school to wear ball caps during the school day. (Codger voice) In my day, I couldn't so much as walk in the hallway after school with a ball cap on w/out someone telling me to take it off..

[ABMAC]

Ok Ant, lets hear your proposal?

Suspend or expel students who break the rules and leave the rest of them alone. It isn't illegal to be in a gang, is it? Schools are there to teach, not to be moral guardians.