skirtcafe.org

Saw this article today on another forum and thought some people here may be interested in it.

http://www.king5.com/news/local/high-he ... 90989.html

Am I alone in being disappointed that the school suspended a pupil for wearing clothing that is allowed? How do they justify it?

I suppose we'll never know.

I'm a bit disappointed that the power-and-control mentality of the various public school systems hasn't relented a bit, but I doubt that it ever will. There's just too much room for "creative interpretation" of the "rules" on both sides.

Kids will be kids -- and will try to see how far they can bend the rules, and the administrators will be administrators and pretty much do what they want.

It's worth recalling that the school years are not just about trying to learn the "hard skills" that will make one a living as an adult, it's also about "soft skills" and those are brutally put upon kids during those years -- both by peers and by "The System" -- in much the same way as various militaries first break the spirit of recruits and then re-make it in the military's image. I can very honestly state that if I had to go through that time again I would commit suicide.

So, in this case the youngster was within the rules, technically, but the administration decided he wasn't and gave him a couple of days off. The hope here is that he remembers the incident, remembers how capricious it was, and does something about it when he's an independent adult and out on his own.

It doesn't matter what the school's rules are, the administration has clearly violated basic human rights, and is definitely not exercising an Equality & Diversity Policy. I'm not sure what the score is in the US regarding E&D, but in the UK we wouldn't be permitted to exclude a pupil for being 'different' / 'unusual' / 'creative' / 'curious' / 'challenging'

Tiberius

I also love the old canard of "disruptive behavior" being used to ban just about anything the admin doesn't like. When I see "disruptive" I tend to think more on the lines of getting up and running around the class, or shoving books off the desk and making the resultant noise, not what someone decides to wear being different.

Here's a young man who looked a lot better than 99 percent of the school body with his dress and heels. He was suspended. This idea that it is shameful for a male to dress in traditionally female attire is a misogynous attitude. With our society it's perfectly all right for females to dress in traditionally male attire, as if being feminine is inferior to being masculine.

I'm glad the community stood by the young man as far as I can tell.

These school administrators can be bullies. Remember Matthew Whalen of Lansingburgh, NY who had a 2 inch chain knife in a rescue kit inside his car? The clown [school superintendent] George Goodwin was instrumental in getting Whalen suspended.

And those school administrators are part of the Boomer generation, who in the 1960's embraced the hippie movement. Well, it's turned out that they are really much more intolerant than previous generations, where in high school [Late 1960's] I could have hair as long as I wanted, and I could have facial hair, and it was OK to carry a Scout knife with a blade less than 3 inches in length.

John

I have two views on this - the first is that the lad was quite within his rights to wear what he wanted. It was not outwith the school dress code - which I have copied below for information:-
John Sedgwick Junior High School does not have a strict code of dress. However, students are asked to wear clothes that are neat, clean, and suitable for school. Clothing which interferes with or distracts from the educational process or depicts something illegal is not acceptable. This includes the following:
1. Extremely tight or excessively offensive form-fitted clothing.
2. Excessively short or revealing clothing to include bare midriffs or low-cut tops, spaghetti straps, or strapless tops.
3. Pajama bottoms
4. Sagging or extremely baggy clothing which may allow the underwear to be exposed.
5. Clothing, backpacks, jewelry, or insignia with drug/alcohol/sexual/vulgar/weapons pictures or messages.
6. Any garment/footwear (including slippers and rubber flip-flops) which could be considered unsafe.
7. Students may not wear hats, hoods, or scarves in the building.
8. Chains (wallet type) of any kind or size.
9. Spike dog collar type neck wear and bracelets.

So what was wrong with a dress and heels? Was it distracting? Different yes, but not that distracting I would say. Was the footwear unsafe? Personally I don't know how anyone would wish to wear heels and not have comfortable footwear but that is just my opinion.

Was the dress suitable for school? hmmm... For an end of term dance almost certainly but for general everyday use? Here is where my other view kicks in. How many girls would actually wear this outfit to school anyway? Blouse and skirt yes but (in my opinion) a rather nice dress - perhaps not.

hmmm...

skirtingtoday wrote:
Was the dress suitable for school? hmmm... For an end of term dance almost certainly but for general everyday use? Here is where my other view kicks in. How many girls would actually wear this outfit to school anyway? Blouse and skirt yes but (in my opinion) a rather nice dress - perhaps not.

hmmm...

How many boys would wear a coat and tie to school everyday? The dress is no more disruptive than wearing a suit.

John