“...making students wear a different color isn’t going to magically make them a completely different person.”
This makes you wonder, do these school officials not know the difference between correlation and causation? Even if there is a connection, the wearing of black clothes isn't making them depressed, the depression is making them wear black clothes. You can force them into pastel coloured tracksuits, but they're still going to be depressed.
“As such, we are removing opportunities for students to hide, use, and distribute items that they should not have in school by eliminating sweatshirts with hoods and pockets.”
Why stop there? Demand the elimination of all pockets! Force students into scrubs! Assign them detention with needle and thread to sew their pockets shut! Why are you letting them use backpacks? Have them haul their supplies around in a milk crate!
Yikes. An educator or school counselor who finds emotional satisfaction by “proving” a student is on drugs, not for the benefit to the student or school, but for the “gotcha,” is unfit to work with kids. And your school had a heroin problem??? Wow. My school wasn’t nearly that progressive. I never even saw weed until I was 19. Even years later, when I developed a serious pain pill addiction, I never encountered heroin. Proof of that fact is obvious, because I’d be long dead had I ever crossed paths with heroin. I’m 8 years sober now, but I still “joke” with my wife that when I’m eligible for hospice, I’m demanding heroin. That’s my end of life plan. I joke about my addiction because it’s always with me, just below the surface. It’s like The Babadook. I don’t deny my addiction, for fear of letting it take control again. So I talk to it and acknowledge it and sit with it. And promise it heroin when my time is nearly up.
Ta, Robyn. This reminds me of an incident I hadn't thought of in years. During the 16 months in the mid-1970s that I lived in TX, I had a break-in while spending a couple of days with a friend in a distant neighborhood. All my white and colored clothing was stolen; every black item was left where it was. That was weird. Of course, I soon moved back to the east village of NYC where my all-black attire was de rigueur.
That said, my clairvoyant holistic health teacher/naturopathic physician told us wearing black is protective, and can be accomplished with black underwear under clothes of any color.
Yes, as I was reading this post I thought of one of my knitting teachers who lived in New York and worked in the fashion industry. She told us that, despite all the colorful clothes that people designed, everybody in the industry pretty much wore black. When I do laundry I am often struck by how many black T shirts my husband and I wear.
I went to high school in Huntsville, AL (Lee High School, named after the traitorous - yet eerily alluring -- Robert E. Lee.) I wore all black, inc. boots, with gothy eyeshadow. When? 1965-1967. And it was a nightmare. I mean, high school is a nightmare. Fortunately, I won a National Merit Scholarship to Tulane, so, you know, screw em.
JFC. There's still the young man in Texas expelled for Having Hair While Black, and the racist judge tossed out the lawsuits against the racist administrators... so their racism is protected. How can this even fucking be a thing?
I suppose if you're sending the kid to school in a black uniform, and the kid starts singing in Italian, I might be concerned, but otherwise... maybe the kid is just a fan of Johnny Cash or Juanes /"Tengo camisa negra")... or -- for that matter-- the cowboy look kinda indigenous to Texans and Tejanos.
If your objection to school shooters is that their sartorial choices conflicts with the dress codes you seem to have missed the whole fucking point. Get them walking around nude. At least they can't conceal weapons.
OK, I absolutely refuse to believe that they based this absurdity on feedback from any actual family. At least one that is not affiliated with a group with a name like Concerned Christian Moms for Freedom and Liberty.
Not wearing black you can still be lazy, but people will still bitch at you.
I once wore denim jeans and jacket and the longsleeve below it was almost the same colour so people bitched about it. I tricked them though, that longsleeve was linen, not cotton, so it cannot be considered denim! Hah!
I mean, the shirt being linnen was entirely accidental, but that's beside the point.
Every shade that an conceivably be called "black". Different dyes, different amounts of washing machine fade, different brands, everything. Very, very dark grey doesn't do it for me.
Sometimes I get great deals on cheap - but still fairly good quality - stuff. Last dozen t-shirts I bought at Wallyworld have lasted 8.5 years and still have lots of life in them.
Bought a 20 pack (actually 2 packs of 20, one still unopened) of black socks at Wallyword for $10!!! Crappy quality, but they have still lasted 2.5 years and are ready for recycling into polish rags.
Pants are my bugaboo - haven't found a good looking/good fitting pair I like since 5 years ago. When I do find those gems, I'll probably buy 7 pairs. Fruit of the Loom has a great set of black boxer briefs.
I never have to think about matching anything every morning that I do get dressed (only if I'm going out of my apartment).
Oh and I only buy things without visible labels (except for my Wonkette shirts which are white :( Are they available in black yet, especially Commie Girl?)
My son had a teacher in high school who called me multiple times because he knew my long haired, black leather trench coat wearing son with really bad allergies that made his eyes red and watery, who was also in marching band, was absolutely on drugs. My son (now 38) confessed as an adult he once had a party with alcohol, once, when he was home alone one weekend; as a senior in high school. He assured me everyone stayed the night. I never knew because the house was spotless and they all carried the empties to other peoples trash cans so we wouldn't see them. He never even tried pot until after he was 18. My son also made his own studded leather belts and to this day plays Magic the Gathering. But the black leather trench coat and his hair to the middle of his back was enough to convince other people my kid was drug addicted menace.
Being an old there was no goth when I was in school. I went to parochial schools from 3rd grade to 9th grade and then we moved to rural AZ. So the first year at the local high school I had a problem. I was used to always knowing what I HAD to wear as in a uniform. I was no fashion plate but I tried to wear something different everyday. Well a different top as the bottom was always jeans. It was exhausting. Finally I just wore blue jeans and a black t-shirt. So a uniform. If anyone noticed, either students or staff, no one said anything. It was just good to not have to think about it.
I'm kinda in favor of school uniforms... promoting solidarity and eliminating classism in at least one small area of life. In Mexico, uniforms are a given, but you can tell which group the kids are with by how they wear their uniforms... the shirt not tucked in gang, the ties askew gang, the skirts slightly hitched up gang... or their haircuts (also sometimes regulated, but there are varieties to chose from) , or accessories. Still, you don't have the kids at school picked on the poor kids who can't afford the clothes the richer kids can. They still will, but it tones it down a little.
As someone who wore a uniform k-12 I can assure you, there is no solidarity or elimination of classism in uniforms.
You get the ones who had "hand me downs" from relatives (and you better believe they got picked on for being poor), you get the ones who inch their skirts up or put their socks to their ankles or wore tights instead of socks, little tiny differences to make an "in" and an "out" crowd no less important than wearing trendy cloths in non uniform schools.
I did too, and back in the day, our uniforms were tan shirts with dark green ties. Didn't think of it til later, but with the school's name Saint Stephen's and the design on the tie -- a rather severe "SS" -- it did give a rather "groupthink and adherence to authority" vibe probably not intended. I think it had more to do with tan boy's shirts being a staple at JC Penny's. And easier to wash than white ones.
That said, what's called "groupthink" in some quarters might be seen as "solidarity" in others. As others have pointed out, there are plenty of ways to show allegiance to one or other sub-group.
Except for the fact that, in our small town, only one store carried the Catholic school's uniforms, and they were a lot more expensive than regular, everyday clothes.
The prep schools here do that to keep out the peasants. Public school uniforms are free (or subsidized) ... BTW, here in Mexico City, where the uniform includes slacks or a skirt, there's no gender discrimination on which one the kid chooses to wear.
I went to 3 different parochial schools because of moving. I remember that the second elementary school had used uniforms you could buy from the store so that helped. I already wore hand me downs from both my older brother and sister so I was used to that idea.
“...making students wear a different color isn’t going to magically make them a completely different person.”
This makes you wonder, do these school officials not know the difference between correlation and causation? Even if there is a connection, the wearing of black clothes isn't making them depressed, the depression is making them wear black clothes. You can force them into pastel coloured tracksuits, but they're still going to be depressed.
“As such, we are removing opportunities for students to hide, use, and distribute items that they should not have in school by eliminating sweatshirts with hoods and pockets.”
Why stop there? Demand the elimination of all pockets! Force students into scrubs! Assign them detention with needle and thread to sew their pockets shut! Why are you letting them use backpacks? Have them haul their supplies around in a milk crate!
Down with PIBS!*
Up with PIWGOS!**
*People In Black
**People In White Gossamer Onesies
Yikes. An educator or school counselor who finds emotional satisfaction by “proving” a student is on drugs, not for the benefit to the student or school, but for the “gotcha,” is unfit to work with kids. And your school had a heroin problem??? Wow. My school wasn’t nearly that progressive. I never even saw weed until I was 19. Even years later, when I developed a serious pain pill addiction, I never encountered heroin. Proof of that fact is obvious, because I’d be long dead had I ever crossed paths with heroin. I’m 8 years sober now, but I still “joke” with my wife that when I’m eligible for hospice, I’m demanding heroin. That’s my end of life plan. I joke about my addiction because it’s always with me, just below the surface. It’s like The Babadook. I don’t deny my addiction, for fear of letting it take control again. So I talk to it and acknowledge it and sit with it. And promise it heroin when my time is nearly up.
Ta, Robyn. This reminds me of an incident I hadn't thought of in years. During the 16 months in the mid-1970s that I lived in TX, I had a break-in while spending a couple of days with a friend in a distant neighborhood. All my white and colored clothing was stolen; every black item was left where it was. That was weird. Of course, I soon moved back to the east village of NYC where my all-black attire was de rigueur.
That said, my clairvoyant holistic health teacher/naturopathic physician told us wearing black is protective, and can be accomplished with black underwear under clothes of any color.
Good to know!
Yes, as I was reading this post I thought of one of my knitting teachers who lived in New York and worked in the fashion industry. She told us that, despite all the colorful clothes that people designed, everybody in the industry pretty much wore black. When I do laundry I am often struck by how many black T shirts my husband and I wear.
This must be more of that "freedom" the MAGAs keep yammering about.
I went to high school in Huntsville, AL (Lee High School, named after the traitorous - yet eerily alluring -- Robert E. Lee.) I wore all black, inc. boots, with gothy eyeshadow. When? 1965-1967. And it was a nightmare. I mean, high school is a nightmare. Fortunately, I won a National Merit Scholarship to Tulane, so, you know, screw em.
JFC. There's still the young man in Texas expelled for Having Hair While Black, and the racist judge tossed out the lawsuits against the racist administrators... so their racism is protected. How can this even fucking be a thing?
His braids are great, which is how I know there isn’t a real reason to get upset about them.
Okay, did anyone else see that hed and wonder what clothes blacks wore that were so bad they had to be banned?
All the kids, boys and girls alike, should show up on the first day of school in black business suits with white shirt and black tie.
If they are engaging in criminal activity, it would just be white-collar.
I suppose if you're sending the kid to school in a black uniform, and the kid starts singing in Italian, I might be concerned, but otherwise... maybe the kid is just a fan of Johnny Cash or Juanes /"Tengo camisa negra")... or -- for that matter-- the cowboy look kinda indigenous to Texans and Tejanos.
BAN THE FUCKING AR-15s!!! BAN THE FUCKING GUNS!
If your objection to school shooters is that their sartorial choices conflicts with the dress codes you seem to have missed the whole fucking point. Get them walking around nude. At least they can't conceal weapons.
...𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴...
OK, I absolutely refuse to believe that they based this absurdity on feedback from any actual family. At least one that is not affiliated with a group with a name like Concerned Christian Moms for Freedom and Liberty.
I wear all black because I'm lazy. End of statement.
Not wearing black you can still be lazy, but people will still bitch at you.
I once wore denim jeans and jacket and the longsleeve below it was almost the same colour so people bitched about it. I tricked them though, that longsleeve was linen, not cotton, so it cannot be considered denim! Hah!
I mean, the shirt being linnen was entirely accidental, but that's beside the point.
Ah, but what SHADE of black?
Every shade that an conceivably be called "black". Different dyes, different amounts of washing machine fade, different brands, everything. Very, very dark grey doesn't do it for me.
Sometimes I get great deals on cheap - but still fairly good quality - stuff. Last dozen t-shirts I bought at Wallyworld have lasted 8.5 years and still have lots of life in them.
Bought a 20 pack (actually 2 packs of 20, one still unopened) of black socks at Wallyword for $10!!! Crappy quality, but they have still lasted 2.5 years and are ready for recycling into polish rags.
Have bought a lot of things at https://www.blankshirts.ca
Pants are my bugaboo - haven't found a good looking/good fitting pair I like since 5 years ago. When I do find those gems, I'll probably buy 7 pairs. Fruit of the Loom has a great set of black boxer briefs.
I never have to think about matching anything every morning that I do get dressed (only if I'm going out of my apartment).
Oh and I only buy things without visible labels (except for my Wonkette shirts which are white :( Are they available in black yet, especially Commie Girl?)
My son had a teacher in high school who called me multiple times because he knew my long haired, black leather trench coat wearing son with really bad allergies that made his eyes red and watery, who was also in marching band, was absolutely on drugs. My son (now 38) confessed as an adult he once had a party with alcohol, once, when he was home alone one weekend; as a senior in high school. He assured me everyone stayed the night. I never knew because the house was spotless and they all carried the empties to other peoples trash cans so we wouldn't see them. He never even tried pot until after he was 18. My son also made his own studded leather belts and to this day plays Magic the Gathering. But the black leather trench coat and his hair to the middle of his back was enough to convince other people my kid was drug addicted menace.
It's worse than you can imagine. Shady Vance is into Magic the Gathering.
Being an old there was no goth when I was in school. I went to parochial schools from 3rd grade to 9th grade and then we moved to rural AZ. So the first year at the local high school I had a problem. I was used to always knowing what I HAD to wear as in a uniform. I was no fashion plate but I tried to wear something different everyday. Well a different top as the bottom was always jeans. It was exhausting. Finally I just wore blue jeans and a black t-shirt. So a uniform. If anyone noticed, either students or staff, no one said anything. It was just good to not have to think about it.
I'm kinda in favor of school uniforms... promoting solidarity and eliminating classism in at least one small area of life. In Mexico, uniforms are a given, but you can tell which group the kids are with by how they wear their uniforms... the shirt not tucked in gang, the ties askew gang, the skirts slightly hitched up gang... or their haircuts (also sometimes regulated, but there are varieties to chose from) , or accessories. Still, you don't have the kids at school picked on the poor kids who can't afford the clothes the richer kids can. They still will, but it tones it down a little.
As someone who wore a uniform k-12 I can assure you, there is no solidarity or elimination of classism in uniforms.
You get the ones who had "hand me downs" from relatives (and you better believe they got picked on for being poor), you get the ones who inch their skirts up or put their socks to their ankles or wore tights instead of socks, little tiny differences to make an "in" and an "out" crowd no less important than wearing trendy cloths in non uniform schools.
I went to Catholic school from grades 1-8.
Uniforms are used to quash individuality and promote groupthink and adherence to authority.
I did too, and back in the day, our uniforms were tan shirts with dark green ties. Didn't think of it til later, but with the school's name Saint Stephen's and the design on the tie -- a rather severe "SS" -- it did give a rather "groupthink and adherence to authority" vibe probably not intended. I think it had more to do with tan boy's shirts being a staple at JC Penny's. And easier to wash than white ones.
That said, what's called "groupthink" in some quarters might be seen as "solidarity" in others. As others have pointed out, there are plenty of ways to show allegiance to one or other sub-group.
.... oh, and makes life easier for parents, too.
Except for the fact that, in our small town, only one store carried the Catholic school's uniforms, and they were a lot more expensive than regular, everyday clothes.
The prep schools here do that to keep out the peasants. Public school uniforms are free (or subsidized) ... BTW, here in Mexico City, where the uniform includes slacks or a skirt, there's no gender discrimination on which one the kid chooses to wear.
I went to 3 different parochial schools because of moving. I remember that the second elementary school had used uniforms you could buy from the store so that helped. I already wore hand me downs from both my older brother and sister so I was used to that idea.