128 students suspended at Ind. school

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060827/ap_on_fe_st/dress_code;_ylt=AkoQNss6RqwCxO_TKePxP8ms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-
128 students suspended at Ind. school

Sun Aug 27, 6:46 AM ET

HAMMOND, Ind. - Classrooms were a little less crowded at Morton High School on the first day of classes: 128 students were sent home for wearing the wrong clothes.
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Fed up with inappropriate outfits, the principal suspended the students for one day Wednesday, minutes after doors opened at the school. Those suspended represent more than 10 percent of the 1,200 total students.

The offending attire — including baggy pants, low-cut shirts, tank tops and graphic T-shirts — are banned from classrooms. Students were also cited for cell phone use.

"This was the worst year I've seen in a long time," said Principal Theresa Mayerik. "It's gotten out of control, and we needed to send a message that we're not messing around."

The Hammond school usually has 20 dress code violations a day.

[bluestateguy]

1. How would you spend a day on suspension?

Hit the beach? Bowling? The arcade? Or maybe just the mall.

[Warpy]

4. I would have spent it on my knees scrubbing kitchen and

bathroom floors with a scrub brush.

They used to call parents and if the parent didn't have a job outside the house, the kid (me) would get put to hard labor for the duration.

Dress code violations were easier for us, though. Just unroll that skirt at the waist and make it granny length again outside the principal's office.

They're having more violations this year because of what the stores are selling. Have you seen that garbage? It's ALL the Britney/ho look and it's for all ages and it's everywhere and there is NO alternative except jeans and t-shirts.

[rocktivity]

2. If you don't have enough common sense to keep your cell phones off

or on vibrate during class, and to return your calls between class, you deserve to be cited. Urgent phone messages from parents should be made directly to the school.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Buzz Clik]

3. Our local high school will confiscate all ringing cell phones....

So, on the first day of high school, my son (now a frosh in college) spent the morning dialing the numbers of his friends still in high school. Not sure how effective his campaign was ....

[Eric J in MN]

5. How is it the business of a public school if a student wants to

...wear a tank top?

The Supreme Court has ruled that public schools can't ban Vietnam War protestors from wearing black armbands at a public school.

[femmocrat]

11. It isn't just the tank top...

it's the cleavage and bra straps showing that are inappropriate. Students should be dressed appropriately and in a manner that doesn't disrupt the education of others.

[thepurpose]

18. I agree. I support uniforms for children as well as teachers. We

have a responsibility to teach our kids that there is a time a place for every thing and school is not the place for a fashion show, inappropriate dress or tech gadgets. Any thing that is a distraction from teaching and learning should be eliminated.

[bicentennial_baby]

41. If someone's education is 'disrupted' by a bra strap....

They need therapy, seriously...that's nuts.

[msongs]

19. or flash genitals, sort of a tank-bottom, I mean the nerve of schools

wanting kids to do something while there besides look for their next cheap meaningless sexual conquest.

nothing new about this of course, teens have been this way since...the 1940's when teenism actually began. before that adolescents were considered to be adults in younger bodies and high schoolers got no special status such as teenhood. they were expected to be a part of society and contribute, not be perpetual adolescent slackers and cry babies sucking off their parents until they were 34.

my neighbor's teens are always whining how their friends have the latest useless gang infested crap, and his response is always, "if you want it, get a job and pay for it." imagine that, self-responsibility.

BTW, do you think public schools should allow thongs instead of pants? :-)

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[Bucky]

51. Funny. At the school I taught at 2yrs ago, the girls' soccer team got...

The girls' soccer team got to design their own uniforms. It was a small charter school, so the kids had a lot of freedom. They ended up ordering these gray gym shorts with personalized messages on the back. Some picked cute names like "sexy", "princess", "l'il Mama" (with the apostrophe on the wrong side of the i), "yes no", and "cha cha" (one cha on each cheek). It was very... um... distracting. Not just for the guys using the field next to them after school, but for the male teachers as well.

Since none of the women teachers went to the games or coached the team, it sort of fell to us guys to broach the subject with the young ladies that they needed to get different shorts. No one wanted to bell that cat, but somehow I got talked into discussing this with the team captain. This led to me having one of those sorts of conversations that teachers should NEVER have with their students. The highlight being when the team captain told me, "Well, Mr Rea, you shouldn't be reading my ass" and me replying, "If you don't want guys reading your caboose, don't put words on it."

Amazing I didn't get reported and fired for that. :o)

[Peregrine]

20. The supreme court has also said that fashion is not protected

You can actually limit speech as long as the limitation is not content based. Its all or nothing. I can't ban a t-shirt that is anti-Bush if I permit a t-shirt with a patriotic theme. I can't punish a student from wearing a pentagram if I permit the wearing of crosses. But I can ban all t-shirts with any writing on them, and ban all necklaces.

[Eric J in MN]

23. I never heard of that case. NT

NT

[rucky]

6. What I would give to have dress code violations as the worst offense

at my school.

[HereSince1628]

7. I can remember when not having a belt was a dress-code violation

that could send a guy home. Shirts had to be tucked into pants and shirts had to be buttoned up leaving at most only the collar button undone. I also remember when greased back "duck-tail" hair cuts (think Fonz) would get you detentions.

[TAPat]

8. Shopping for my 6 year old's school clothes the other day

I was once again disappointed in the choices. And so were many of the other parents if I can judge by the number of "You're NOT wearing THAT to school!" I heard.
The stores are full of completely inappropriate clothing for kids - Bratz, shirts with the *Spoiled Rotten* type messages, super-low waisted pants, super-high cut shirts... We're talking about clothes for 5-8 year olds here!
It took me forever to find just a handful of things that I felt comfortable about - a Dora skirt was the only *branded* item I bought.

By my standards, my kid's school would be at least half empty every single day if they had the same policy as the Hammond School.


edited for puctuation

[Earth_First]

12. Tell me about it...

We have an 8 year-old who is growing by leaps and bounds, so we are always shopping for new clothing. My companion and I are absolutely disgusted by the amount of low-cut, revealing, inappropriate messages for 8 year olds!?

[Horse with no Name]

16. My 3-year old granddaughter is very tall

She wears a size 6 because of this.
These little mini-teenage clothes for these kids is totally out of hand.
There is absolutely NO WAY IN HELL I would put a shirt on this child that said "Shake my peaches" or "Cherry Sweet".
That is totally disgusting and provocative for this age of child. It's like they have a pedophile in the design department.

[thepurpose]

22. Pedophiles you mean because there a lot of people attempting to put

that sort of crap on kids. What the hell kind of message are they and the parents who buy this crap for their kids tying to send.

[booksenkatz]

30. Saw a little girl at the store this week with a shirt that said

"I know what boys like."

Sweet Jesus. What are her parents thinking? She could not have been more than 11.

I have a 7-year-old son, and I have other things to worry about, but I don't have this particular problem. Boys' clothes are sooooooo boring, but I guess I should be thankful for that.

[Mz Pip]

37. THe sexualization of children

by the fashion industry is disgusting. Years ago my niece came home with a T-shirt that was tight, black and had PORN STAR in sequins across the front. She was 12. Her mother made her take it back. That was nearly 10 years ago. It's worse now.

I worked in a high school for years and the clothing got more and more revealing year after year. Kids would get sent out of class for bare midrifts and have to put on a sweatshirt or a jacket before they could return to class.

I never did get the point of the whole baggy pants thing. Some of the guys at my school would have pants so baggy that the crotch was around the knees and they had to walk all bowlegged with their hands hoilding them up. Seemed more silly than offensive.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Bucky]

47. Baggy pants are part of the "sloth" look, supposedly gangsta.

But you'd think a real gangster would want to keep his legs freed up in case he's got to ditch the po-pos

[beam me up scottie]

49. I saw a kid's pants actually fall down around his knees in the supermarket

So glad he had his fotl's on. I thought his mother was going to slap him. :D

[Ilsa]

25. I've seen it also. I shop for a 7 and 9 year old. There is tons of

stuff for after school, but they sell out of all the school stuff because there isn't enough of it. And parents usually want more than three or four outfits for school in case they cannot get the laundry done twice a week.

Retailers ply too much crap and not enough modest but attractive clothing for the school crowd.

Maybe they should divide their departments into school clothing and social clothing.

[femmocrat]

9. Good for that principal!

In our district, the parents have to come in and bring a change of clothing, or one will be provided by the phys. ed. teacher. That usually ends the dress code violation. If it continues, there are other consequences. As to cell phones, they not allowed. Period. Only those students who stay for sports, activities, etc. may have one, and it must be kept in the locker. If there is an emergency, the parents must call the school and the student will be paged to the office.

Kids need strong guidelines and consistent enforcement or they will take advantage.

[LostinVA]

33. That's why I am totally for school uniforms

My sister's kids had to wear them at one school they were at for three years. The kids wound up ;loving it, as did my sister: she saved loads of money and the eternal fights about what to wear to school ended. My niece and nephew could wear khaki or grey pants or shorts, and the girls could wear skirts. White shirts, grey or navy cardigans or sweater vests. Shoes were either loafers, brown lace ups, or all-white (and that's ALL WHITE -- not even colored logos) low-top athletic shoes.

The kids liked it because there was very little teasing, etc.

The teachers loved it because discipline matters over distractions, etc. dropped a huge amount.

This was a public elementary school.

[Odin2005]

35. School Uniforms = Fascistic conformism IMO.

I'm all for dress codes, but making all the students to wear the same thing reeks of an enforced conformism I really don't like...

[Bucky]

46. Harry Potter: known fascist

I think you might be playing a little loose with the "fascist" label there, friend. Are two-thirds of the parochial schools in the country fascist? Around the world school uniforms are the norm and casual dress is pretty exceptional.

[tekriter]

10. Really gonna show my age here...

when I was in grade school, we had to wear a tie, button shirts, real slacks, and leather shoes. No athletic shoes, no nuthin.

[Bucky]

50. Good God! You're really old!

I remember all those old Sydney Poitier movies where he'd go to teach in a school full of supposedly "tough" street kids. All those boys wore ties and all the kids sat neatly in rows and got to class on time. I've always wondered if Hollywood was simply sanitizing the schools of that day or if students have really gotten that much worse.

On the other hand, it's also worth reading that one scene in the Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House" books where bullies in the one room school house routinely heckled and pestered the other kids and the nebbishy teacher. They only got in line after that teacher showed up one day with a bullwhip and beat the stuffing out of them.

[Bill McBlueState]

13. I would say...

Start worrying about whether these kids can understand literature, write thoughtfully, and analyze the results of a chemistry experiment. Then, if there's time left over, they can fuss about what they happen to be wearing.

[Peregrine]

17. Because

students who think that they don't have to follow the rules, are also the ones who think they don't have to listen to teachers.

My school has a uniform, but it is a daily battle. On Sept. 5, there is 0 tollerance, my principal is going to start booting kids. We are a charter, and multiple offenders will have their parents called in and told to go elsewhere.

[MadHound]

21. And then watch as raging hormones pay more attention

To that revealed cleavage or the half exposed tight ass. Distractions are no good for a class, no matter what form they come in.

[LostinVA]

34. It works the other way around

Take away distractions, have the kids AND parents recognize school isn't the mall but "work," and many of what you stated will follow. From the poorest school district to the best. It's a learning environment, not playtime. We have dress guidelines for our work. Same thing.

[seabeyond]

14. good for the school. as a parent, i know what is appropriate

and i say no to the clothes that wont pass the test. simple enough. maybe parents will get the message it is their job to monitor the kids....

i have no problem with this

read another poster on finding clothes in stores. yes it is hard, especially for clothes. a couple times i have had to shop for mieces and i was firm, i ok all htings they buy. and i was tough on the message they wore on the tshirts.

same with my boys. no disrespectful messages. and there are many in the stores if a parent doesnt have a sense of appropriateness.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

29. I'm thinking you mean nieces.

"I hate those mieces to pieces!" (Jinx of Hanna Barbarra fame)

Thanks for the memory prod...I'd forgotten about old Jinxy!!! :pals:

[seabeyond]

44. yes. i meant nieces. funny you

"especially for clothes"

re reading, i also meant especially for girls, instead of especially for clothes, lol wink

[Bucky]

43. It's tough to find jeans for teen girls that are NOT low-cut.

My daughter and I spent several days last summer looking for jeans for her, went to eight different stores. It's like everyone in the garment industry just woke up one morning and decided buttcracks were the new "in" thing.

[seabeyond]

45. 550 levis. the only choice i have. not just for girls, but for all of us

that is real jean without the elastic shit in the fabric. and with out the dirty or faded look. i agree. it is bullshit. i know it is hard. my niece went to a private christian school and we had a tough tough time. she was `12, my size.

[NaturalHigh]

15. Good job!

I, for one, applaud the efforts of this principal. Maybe a few of the kids will take a hint and not come to school wearing the latest "pimp" or "ho" fad.

[LibDemAlways]

24. These days it's hard for the schools to decide where to

draw the line. I volunteer at my daughter's school and have seen kids sent home for wearing pajama bottoms to school - though there is no written rule prohibiting them. Apparently, for some kids, they're trendy. Some of the worst fashion choices turn up on Halloween. I've seen boys come as pimps and girls as French maids.....this in middle school. Also, when is a "graphic tee" literally too graphic?

When I was in school the big concern was that a girl's skirt couldn't be more than an inch or two above the knees. (Pants were prohibited for girls.) Now the skirts and shorts are so short they leave nothing to the imagination - and the manufacturer thinks nothing of advertising the brand - juicy - across the back.

The school fashion police do, indeed, have a tough job these days.

[madrchsod]

26. my daughter wore pj bottoms to school for two years

plus the fuzzy slippers when it was warm.there were a lot of girls in her high school doing the same thing, i`m not sure why it was a craze. but i guess it was comfortable and an anti-fashion statement.

[LibDemAlways]

31. I guess pajama bottoms are considered too casual at

my daughter's school, but bras prominently displayed under flimsy tank tops are ok. It's all pretty arbitrary.

[Imalittleteapot]

27. FWISD solved the problem.

Public school kids are now required to wear uniform colors and styles. The regulations are loose. Kids may wear jeans, for example.

[NaturalHigh]

39. I wish our kids' school would require uniforms.

[Kickoutthejams23]

28. Damn kids today.

I agree with dress codes. Hey they are gonna have to learn sometime. As for cell phones well I think they should be turned off during the school day but there are plenty of legitimate reasons for kids to have one on their person after school.

[Solo_in_MD]

32. I never thought I would see the day the DU supported dress codes and

school uniforms.

I used to teach an my wife still does. The school fashion scene was a never ending source of trouble. Uniforms (basic, not fancy prep) are the easy way out, and sometimes easy is the right answer. It is yet another example of schools taking over parenting, but they may be what is needed in many cases.

[bicentennial_baby]

42. I was just thinking that...

:crazy:

[tinfoil tiaras]

36. Private or Public? Just wondering...

but, that sounds like my former middle school. I wouldn't put it past them. I wore pajama pants on a day were were going on a FIELD trip and they made me change or whatever...:wtf: Freaking facist shithole..i hated that place.

The high school is so much better though. None of the teachers care about the dress code... :D

[lgn19087]

38. And just what right does the government have to say what my child can wear

What ever happened to civil liberties here on DU? If they made a kid take off a KerryEdwards tee-shirt, we would all be appalled. To me, this is just one more instance of the government trying to run our lives. We have civil liberties, we have freedoms, and those shouldn't be restricted. What's next, saying that we must wear a uniform in public?

[seabeyond]

48. if a parent would meet their obligation and responsiblity

then the school wouldnt have to enforce these codes. they are common sense, and not big deal restrictions. i am totally against uniform, but this is a learning environment that should be respected as such. unfortunately so many parents dont enforce this attitude. it creates such an atmosphere that makes it hard for a teacher to teach, and a child to take the environment seriously.

my kids private school went to uniform after 4 years of reasonable dress. i hated it. i talked to principle and he said too many kids dressing inappropriately. i told them, send those kids home. a couple times of that and the parent will do their job, but dont take responsibility from parents to be responsible with their child. the majority were. it was the few that brought school to uniform. a couple years later, after i left, i saw that is what they did. niece wore a shirt that rides up and shows her butt crack, she has to put on p.e. tshirt. you can bet she started thinking about what shirt she put on in the future.

there is appropriate church wear. appropriate business wear. it is life. and school wear is the most casual and comfortable and cheapest and reasonable of all.

[lgn19087]

52. I just don't know how you can justify one without justifying the other

as I said earlier, could you imagine the outcry on here if it was a liberal shirt they were wearing? What happens when some right wing principal decies that that "creates an atmosphere that makes it hard for a teacher to teach".

[NuttyFluffers]

40. i've always seen suspension as a reward for bad behavior...

if you really wanted to punish someone take away their saturday. nothing like picking up garbage or doing a book report in the library on saturdays to cure you.

that said, having gone through dress codes and not liking them, i really don't know whether i support this or not. probably not. oh, i understand the reasons behind uniforms, but i don't know if i'd go so far as "punishing" the kids for these dress code infractions. now if they dressed like Jon Beney Ramsey... throw the book at them, and their parents. :evilgrin:

[LibertyLover]

53. I dread the day my daughter starts public school

Right now she is 4 and I can buy her cute, age appropriate clothing from Carters that is just right for her pre-K school at the local Baptist church. But I've looked at some of the clothing available for just slightly older girls at the stores in the mall and I am disgusted. There is no way I would send my 6 or 7 year old to school wearing some of the crap being offered for sale as children's clothing. I hope that by the time she goes to public school they will be requiring a uniform, although I'm not holding my breathe. When I was in school we had dress codes - in elementary school all the way through my 2nd year in high school we females had to wear dresses or skirts - no pants were allowed. In sophmore and junior years the principal allowed us to wear nice slacks - no jeans - in January, February and March. In senior year we were allowed to wear pants all year, but again, no jeans. Each year the junior class, to make money for it's senior prom, was allowed to "sell" the right to wear shorts one day in June. But they could not be short-shorts nor jeans. And we could not wear sneakers either. Boy, am I dating myself. :7

[ComerPerro]

54. No high school student needs to be using a cell phone in school