Schools ban on 'hoodies' draws ire

[The Straight Story]

Schools ban on 'hoodies' draws ire
11/03/2007, 8:20 pm
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Students, parents fighting fashion ban

By Jon Krenek

[e-mail]
815-937-3370

The day after Grant Park High School student Jordan Hamann put in a $29.95 order for her senior "hoodie" two weeks ago, school officials announced a rule banning the hooded sweatshirts.

The ban lasted only half a day, but sparked angry phone calls from parents, several student council meetings and even plans for a student protest rally.

"That's our school spirit," said Hamann, 17, of the trendy sweatshirts, which bear the logo of just about every extracurricular activity.

Grant Park High School is not the first to consider such a ban. Kankakee Junior High School enacted a ban on hoodies this year, and there is talk of extending it to Kankakee High School.

http://daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=406941

The hoods at my school used to beat people up, now we are wearing them...

[WindRavenX]

1. what the fuck ever

That's fucking stupid.

[MiniMandaRuth]

2. Yeah, and we can't sneak in food or cellphones in our pants

or backpacks.


Jeeze. People are stupid.

[mzteris]

3. at my sons's school

you can't wear any jacket or coat in the classroom, including hoodies that zip up. Hoodies that go over the head are okay, though.

No one seems to know WHY this is, including the teachers. It's really stupid.

[Solon]

6. From what I remember in school...

during the winter, the classrooms were cold. The schools were less than 20 years old at the time, built in the late 1970s, and still they used old water heaters along the wall on one side of the classroom. Wearing at least a jacket was damned near required.

[mzteris]

7. yeah - I had to go out and buy

a couple of more "over-the-head" hoodies, a couple of sweatshirts and some sweaters. I was NOT happy about having to buy extra, I'll tell ya. (We'd already bought the zip-up kind in the back-to-school sales. . . )

[Solon]

12. Yeah, I used to wear a hoodie sometimes, with a sweatshirt underneath...

with at least a t-shirt underneath that.

[SoCalDem]

10. Which is why schools must address the whole dress code issue..from an intelligent angle

Either decide on uniforms, or be prepared to compile a very detailed list, and appoint some fashion-nazis to check each kid, every day..

Our dress code, back in the olden days, was very strict..and yet we all managed to get an education..a very good one in fact.. Did we try to get "around it"..?? ALL THE TIME.. but those old-school , school teachers were vigilant, and not above sending us home when we stepped out of line..

girls:

no slacks
no "tee shirts"
no sleeveless blouses/tops
no dangle earrings
no "excessive make up" (THEY got to decide)
no "straight" skirts (straight=tight)
skirts has length requirements
flat shoes with socks or hose (no patterned hose)


boys:

no tee shirts
no jeans
no tennis shoes (only polish-able shoes)
MUST WEAR A BELT..(at the waist)
shirts must be BUTTONED all the way to the collar (so many "missing" top buttons at my school :)..)


The thing that always gets me , is this.. Most parents would do anythign they could to get their kids into ritzy private schools if they could only afford them, and MOST of these schools have very strict uniform-rules..yet these same parents go batshit-insane when their kids are in public schools and are told they cannot wear tubetops ,hooker skirts & high heels (girls) or baggy , below-the ass pants & gangster clothes (boys)

:rofl:

[populistdriven]

4. Have you seen Eminem's Mosh? (VIDEO) I bet the school officials are a bunch of Repukes!

http://www.gnn.tv/videos/viewer.php?id=28&spd=hi

[Cha]

16. Yeah, I got my Hoodie on right

now..it's too cold without it. After I saw Eminem's Hoodie Mosh in 2004 I made sure I had one. It's the Democratic thing to do.

[SoCalDem]

5. Aaaah..hooded sweatshirts used to be to keep your head warm

and protected from a cold, piercing wind of winter..and not as a "fashion statement"..

Who knew that this guy would set a fashion trend :)

[sam sarrha]

9. they are also used to intimidate and prevent identification in the commission of a crime

in school hats should be worn if cold... many times they are gang related.

if that isn't a problem where you are, don't diss people where it is, shows you don't know shit about the real world.. and live in a golden ghetto

[SoCalDem]

11. yer barkin' up the wrong tree, sam.. I favor uniforms

:rofl:

[NewHampster]

17. I really really hate your new sig

very annoying. Mine is so much more refreshing.

[SoCalDem]

19. You are in luck.. Today's the day I change it..

So "watch that space"..:rofl:

[NewHampster]

21. I won't take my eyes away except to watch the Pats game and eat dinner

[la la]

8. When I taught--

seems like a million years ago--I wouldn't 'allow' the kids to wear the hoodies up on their heads---they tried to sneak in headphones that way. I imagine it's the same thing with ipods now. It's tough enough to keep their attention in class.

There are lots of reasons why different items are not allowed in some places--it's too bad the authorities don't state the real reasons, instead of putting shit out there and letting it simmer.

on edit---did anyone watch the rerun ( for about the 20th time!) of CSI-LV last night? the fannysmackers in hoodies? Kevin Federline?

[Catshrink]

13. That's exactly right -- kids use hoods to hide their earphones

We have a ban on electronics in the classroom but kids still try to use them. How much attention are they paying when they're texting their friends? or listening to their nanopods? or playing tetris?

And, as long as we're on the dress code thing...

I am so tired of the boys' pants worn below their butts. I tell them to pull up their pants and two minutes later, I'm looking at their boxers again (not intentionally). And the girls somehow think it's a fashion statement to show their bra straps. Somehow they have the idea that sports bras are okay. I'm mean -- I dress code them all. There are like two of us who do it so it has no effect.

I feel so old.

[TimeChaser]

14. Maybe if every room in the school was a nice, uniform temperature?

Back in highschool, you had to have a hoodie with you because some rooms were freezing cold, while others were toasty warm. It was especially bad if you had an art class. It got cold enough to see your breath in there on some days.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. I just gotta ask this question:

These same parents who go ballistic over dress codes and other rules they don't like - are they also doing all they can to eliminate No Child Left Behind? Cause if they are, their passion is surely appreciated by those of us who see that damn law as the REAL problem in education in this country.

[AuntPatsy]

20. Good input putting a bit of realism into this thread. In my opinion these newer games

being used to enrage children and or parents of those in school are nothing more than smokescreeens for the real problems continuing to be ignored.

[noamnety]

18. hmmm.

I wore a hoodie to high school twice last week, one a zip up, one a pullover. And I'm one of the teachers. :)

I don't understand the boys pants outrage. It's not like I've ever seen their butts, just the underwear fabric, and I have a really hard time getting upset about that, because 20 years ago it was a goofy fashion thing for women to wear men's boxers as outer garments (with the fly stitched closed). I was on an army running team, and we all wore crazy patterned men's boxers as our "uniform" when we ran together in community road races. Now people are freaking out if they see a few inches of plaid above the jeans ... so funny. I guess their heads would have about exploded seeing a bunch of enlistee women running by with surfin-santa boxers. :D

[knitter4democracy]

22. It's really odd to ban anything that promotes school spirit.

If school teams and such have hoodies, at least those should be allowed.

I'd bet that something happened to make the principal freak out. Someone got caught hiding something in the front pocket or someone got in trouble for having the hood up or something odd. This kind of rule never gets made in a vacuum.