Dress codes or uniforms… man, don’t even get me started.
Dress Code
This entry was written by Verdi, posted on March 10, 2006 at 2:44 pm, filed under Family, Video. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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34 Comments
They didn’t look after her. Sounds like they just wanted to flout their authority.
The school missed their opportunity to demonstrate resourcefulness, shut everyone out, and pulled your child out.
Say it loud, say it proud! I’m jealous of your daughter because her dad fucking rocks.
Man, I remember that at my old school, we had an ‘optional’ dress code. Barely anyone followed it. I hate dress codes, too.
You got that right. I’m with you on dress codes. I went to a school in the 1980’s and we had one dress code no tribal uniform, the interesting word being uniform. We had to be ourselves; we had to try out being ourselves by wearing clothes and experimenting. I loved it. Now the same school is phasing in a uniform, gah! For the same reasons as you described. This kind of dogma has to stop, for the sake of education.
AMEN! I call the first meeting of the p.ink u.ndershirts n.ow k.ill s.ociety. See you at the lunch table.
I share your fury on this one…that’s insane. And I’m reeling from the fact that the regulation extends to undergarments! Dude: NO ONE regulates my scanties!
And don’t they know that red is a gang color?
I am so glad that I attend a school that isn’t crazy like that. The whole “gang-related” thing only applies to hats here and that’s even stupid. You are completely right about the fact that kids are always going to find a way to express themselves or their affiliation though. I’ve thought that for a long time.
Evan (http://e-vlog.blogspot.com)
School uniforms were/are the dumbest thing they (and by “they” I mean whoever the morons in charge are) came up with…you think they would be more concerned with drug, guns and TEACHING!! Oh, well my 2 cents worth anyway
i got kicked out of my high school once for wearing a head scarf. at the time i didn’t actually attend the high school because i was quite sick, and I was wearing the head scarf because i was completely bald from chemotherapy. arbitrary rules don’t help anyone. this is a major topic discussed “behind the scenes at headsoff” time and time again. who makes up these rules and why? they heard it once on TV and said “this must be how its done in the real world” and didn’t even think about the reasons or implications for committing to such a thing. White, black or red UNDERSHIRTS? what this country (and especially those in charge of it) needs is some good philosophical discourse…….
That doesn’t even make sense. Missing class for a coloured undershirt? What?
Your videos serve so many purposes.
:flagged:
well said- hails
Michael, I found myself laughing at this as if to say, “What kind of fucking idiot cares about such a thing?” This is incredible. I could see sending her home with a note reminding everyone about the dress code, but even that is stupid.
I just did away with about 90% of my school’s dress code. Kids are going to be kids, and telling my “at-risk” young gang member students they couldn’t wear their colors would be pretty silly. They are going wear whatever they are going to wear. I kept in the part of the dress code that says they can’t be bare-ass nekkid and that the teachers have the right to determine what is appropriate for class. I think I am more liberal than all the other teachers, so when someone comes to me, I will likely say something like, “Damn straight that tube top is dope enough to wear here.” (Or halter top, thong, short shorts, tank top, etc.)
All I care about is the kids getting their education and getting themselves some sort of sustainable income.
Having a dress code doesn’t help the visual economic situation at all. You know who has ratty clothes and who has nice clothes by looking at what they are wearing. It causes parents or kids to buy extra sets of clothes, thus lowering their economic power.
I think I would have yelled at the administrators and told them that they don’t have a fucking clue. I hope they see this video.
HOLY CRAP -it’s like watching my father!
when will the censorship of expression cease!?!
-taxiplasm
How stupid is that?
Very stupid…. no no, sorry:
EXTREMELLY STUPID!
Two things:
1. I totally channeled my Dad when I was there talking (and shouting) with the assistant principal. He did the same thing about 22 years ago.
2. Here’s the kind of crap that goes on in schools with dress codes and uniforms – in between classes, teachers are required to be out in the hall looking for violations. The in effect become police instead of mentors. You can’t have that relationship in the hallway and then turn it around and try to help in class. It completely undermines everything you’re there to do.
hear hear
for an undershirt?
jesus what a waste of time.
oooo freaking hell.
it all runs back to the psychology of the human mind I guess. I know a lot of stupid smart people unfortunately. lol.. ok, not a lot of them.. but there are some.
What did you teach in Highschool? I’m still debating on whether teaching is going to kill me or not. ;-/
this was the best rant I had ever listened too. I wish my parents had been THAT concerned about my education.
p.s. your daughter is super cute!
What a pile of bullshit. Keeping a kid out of class for something like that is criminal. Like how is black and red better or worse than pink? In fact…. umm, no, never mind….
As another parent in San Antonio I can only agree. I now have my daughter in a private school which is just one step up from prison. But we also have the same issues with dress code. Everyone has to wear a uniform but woe is the poor student whose skirt is deemed too short just because it’s above the knee.
I love your rant. We don’t have a dress code at schools here in Germany but people are starting to think about it.
Hey MIchael,
Enjoyed the video a lot (also loved your question to the MPAA lady at SXSW, but I digress).
I went to a school that had a uniform for a year, and —gasp— I kind of liked it. It was so easy to just roll out of bed and put on the uniform.
Off course, everyone accessorized the heck out of their look to express their own selves.
Anyway, that was the upside of uniforms for me.
I love the fact that indignant parents can take their beefs to the world. Yet another Verdi pioneering media moment.
I think the dress code policy is a “broken windows” thing. It gives the appearance of a school that won’t take any flak from its students. Because of this, the kids give them less flak.
Just like the graffiti and toll jumping had little to do with major crimes, when the New York Police cracked down on them, they were able to cut all crime in the subways.
Just a thought…
BTW, you did an excellent job at SXSW. I enjoyed your panel and now I’m a regular “watcher” at your site.
I think you’re mostly right about the dress code thing. I think dress codes only work when they are much more strict (uniform), or they are implemented in a small school environment. It really doesn’t work if its in a larger school or when the dress code rules are fairly flexible to begin with. That said, an “undershirt violation” is a really dumb component of a dress code. Even in schools with uniforms they don’t usually regulate undergarments, and I highly doubt that Dylan’s not-visible undershirt was causing any distraction in class before a teacher singled her out.
I got sent to the office in high school because I refused to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance. My parents wouldn’t get behind, told me to pick my battles (despite the fact that I obviously had), and I was forced to stand every day “or be punished accordingly.” It doesn’t have much to do with dress codes, but most of my teachers were not my pals in the same way Dylan’s are not: they’re somehow supposed to police “bad” behavior instead of working with (not against) us. Maybe I’ll do a vlog about this, too.
No child left behind.. (unless you have a colored undershirt)
Hey Jonny, Laura and Josh – I think you guys all have points. I think the craziness of this comes in when intelligent people can’t make a desicision for them seHey Jonny, Laura and Josh – I think you guys all have points. I think the craziness of this comes in when intelligent people can’t make a decision for themselves and instead rely on the crutch of some regulation. That was Dylan’s second trip to the office in two years. They should have given her a verbal warning and sent her back to class with a note stating that she’d be talked to about the pink shirt. That would have taken 10 minutes. I asked the assistant principal why they just didn’t do that and her response was typical BS, “If we did that for your child we’d have to do that for everyone and we don’t have time to write notes for all the kids that show up with dress code violations.” My argument is of course you don’t write a note for the kids who are in the office every day but that’s not who Dylan is. To me it’s a case of smart people being institutionally stupid.
Killer B – I can’t believe your parents did that. My response would be, “get ready , we’re going to the Supreme Court!”
Can I just say, if white and red undershirts are allowed, how can pink be forbidden?
Michael,
I just wanted to say that this rant of yours made me really proud that there are parents out there willing to stand up for their kids. You rock.
i think thats fucking stupied. i dosn’t matter what color your wearing you should be aloud to wear what u want when they buy your clothes they should tell you what to wear
That was ridiculous! I can’t begin to understand the mind of the person who decided that keeping a student out of an entire class period for wearing a “non-regulation” undershirt…and calling in a parent?!?
Personally, I don’t think that uniforms solve class or social issues (as you pointed out). However, as someone who wore school uniforms for 12 years, I didn’t personally mind it. It was easy, and you could spill anything on those plaid skirts and no stain would show (which is pretty creepy.) In my experience, no one was EVER pulled out of class for an infraction. They would get a reminder in the halls, maybe, but missing class? No way. The administration at the school needs to get their priorities straight. Poor Dylan.
Just a follow up – I took Carl’s advice and sent an email to the Principal and Vice-Principal over a week ago and haven’t heard back from them.
What I find stupid is you were told they did not have time to write a note ( note takes 2 whole minutes .. if that) but they had time to 1.pull her out of class. 2. call you in. 3. wait for you to get there.4. have a meeting with both of you. lol how are they saving time here?? These are the people who are teaching our children.. Lovely!
I’m a Freshmen at Crawford County Indiana and we have a dress code no any thing we like no chains belly shirts pants we walk on and all that gay stuff