The new school uniform - prison jumpsuits
Categories: Teens & tweens, Education, Kid decor & style
As an alternative to sending kids home or having them sit in a room by themselves for the remainder of the day, one Texas high school is planning on having dress code violators cover up the problem by putting on prison-style jumpsuits. In fact, it's not just the styling that's big house -- the jumpsuits are actually made by prison labor.Not surprisingly, the plan doesn't sit well with everyone. Parents are concerned about the message the jumpsuits convey and the ACLU is worrying about infringing the students' right to express themselves. "Public school dress codes should be limited to what's necessary to guard against actual disruption to the educational process and threats to safety," said Fleming Terrell, a lawyer with the ACLU of Texas. "The jumpsuits may be just as distracting as the clothing they're replacing."
Terrell may very well be right. The one group that seems to be unconcerned -- and perhaps even looking forward to the new threads -- is the students themselves. "I don't think that jumpsuits are going to work, because my friends actually, instead of it being a punishment, they'll see it as an opportunity to be like, rebels," said Jordan Meredith, the senior class president. "I don't think there's going to be enough jumpsuits for everyone in the school." He's already heard from kids who plan to violate the dress code on purpose just to be able to wear one and is thinking of buying his own to wear.
I'm not sure I approve of dress codes (I've killed a few off during my professional career and never would have paid attention to one in school) but I also think that no matter what teachers and administrators do, kids will find a way to express themselves. As long as they do it in a positive, non-disruptive way, I don't have a problem with that.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jenni 8-11-2008 @ 11:52AM
If parents are so upset by the possibility of their child having to wear something like this, maybe they should make sure their child is dressed appropriatly for school. I don't have a problem with dress codes in school (or work for that matter). There is a line between expressing yourself and dressing appropriatly for the occasion.
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sweetchuckd 8-12-2008 @ 8:16PM
This story is starting to heat up across the internet. Check out http://detentionslip.org for some good commentary about it , as well as a follow-up story about police having to settle down a school-parent meeting about the issue!
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Anderson 8-12-2008 @ 10:47PM
This Will not passed
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Ginny 8-17-2008 @ 12:20AM
I don't know if I like the idea of prison jump suits. The comment on the parents, yeah that is true, but a lot of kids don't have good parents. Let's face it, not all kids have parents that help them out. Plus some of the dress code rules can be iffy.
My daughter middle school has bright green t-shirts that say something, can't remember what for when they wear something inappropriate. They say they give the chance to change because usually they already have another shirt in their locker or gym bag. If not, they have to wear the embarrassing shirt. I kind of like the idea because then they aren't bothering the parent at work, etc & the kid has to learn some responsibility.
Plus they said a lot of times, the girls especially already have another shirt. I bet most times the kid is sneaking the revealing shirt behind the parent backs. That happens to even the best of parents.
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