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Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

nytimes.com

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Re: Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

#11

Post by m_eiman »

jstevens85 wrote: post #10
m_eiman wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If everyone wears the same clothes, they'll just use something else as markers of identity (and wealth). Maybe the kind of mobile phone they have, jewelry, or some other minor detail where they're allowed some options. If someone feels a need to bully someone, they'll find a way and a reason. The solution to the problem isn't to try to remove all the "reasons" for bullying, it's to do something about the bullies (sp?…

Most schools ban jewellery, and mobile phones are not allowed to be taken outside of a student's bag. You're arguing that every single student who wears less fashionable clothes and is bullied or singled out would've been bullied anyway, even if a uniform was made compulsory. My experience is that wouldn't be true in quite a few cases. There doesn't have to be a single golden bullet solution to bullying. Many small i…

I'm pretty sure that bullying in general isn't something you do to make someone behave properly, it's something you do to scratch an itch. Forcing everyone to dress the same won't scratch that itch for the bully, but it will definitely make a lot of students who are used to dress the way they like upset. I'm not sure that the benefits are bigger than the drawbacks.

(And the mobile phone and jewelry were just examples, I'm sure you can visit any school with a dress code and ask the students how to tell the rich from the poor by some physical property and get a quick answer)

Re: Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

#12

Post by dazzawazza »

roundsquare wrote: post #7
jacquesm wrote: post #4

Sure, why not. Mind you, it is going to set him up for ridicule and he shouldn't complain about that (especially not if it is a tutu), but I don't see why not. Girls can wear pants to school, can't they ?

Thats fine until safety becomes a concern, at which point officials need to step in. We don't let kids do things that can harm them (to some degree anyway) and we need to keep a careful eye on the balance there...

How does wearing a skirt raise safety issues?

Re: Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

#13

Post by roundsquare »

dazzawazza wrote: post #12
roundsquare wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats fine until safety becomes a concern, at which point officials need to step in. We don't let kids do things that can harm them (to some degree anyway) and we need to keep a careful eye on the balance there...

How does wearing a skirt raise safety issues?

Straight from the article...

And safety is a critical concern. In February 2008, Lawrence King, an eighth-grader from Oxnard, Calif., who occasionally wore high-heeled boots and makeup, was shot to death in class by another student.

Re: Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

#14

Post by wjy »

kevinh wrote: post #9

The reason that kids would bully male students that would wear dresses to school or female students that wear pants to school is precisely because the administration forbids it. The administration forbidding it is just confirming in their minds that the behavior of these students is not normal and worthy of derision. In cases where those in authority do not treat it as out of order, the students are far less likely t…

Don't kid yourself. It's much more primitive than that. There have always been, and likely always will be, those who torment anyone who deviates from the norm. Children can be especially cruel to each other. Kids in my school didn't yell "Fag!" to certain individuals as a way to buck authority. They did it because they were mean-spirited and wanted to bully someone.

Re: Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

#15

Post by billswift »

>School, they say, is a rigorous academic and social training ground for the world of adults and employment.

School is a slave-labor camp whose purposes are 1) to keep the kids off the streets and out of the labor force and 2) to provide jobs for union teachers. Academics are an afterthought at best, usually not even that.

Re: Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

#16

Post by ebrenes »

jstevens85 wrote: post #10
m_eiman wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If everyone wears the same clothes, they'll just use something else as markers of identity (and wealth). Maybe the kind of mobile phone they have, jewelry, or some other minor detail where they're allowed some options. If someone feels a need to bully someone, they'll find a way and a reason. The solution to the problem isn't to try to remove all the "reasons" for bullying, it's to do something about the bullies (sp?…

Most schools ban jewellery, and mobile phones are not allowed to be taken outside of a student's bag. You're arguing that every single student who wears less fashionable clothes and is bullied or singled out would've been bullied anyway, even if a uniform was made compulsory. My experience is that wouldn't be true in quite a few cases. There doesn't have to be a single golden bullet solution to bullying. Many small i…

Instituting a uniform is quite effective in cutting down on this, but it's not foolproof. Having attended a school where uniforms were mandatory there was still discrimination based on the brand name of the uniform.

The uniform code basically consisted of stating the style, color and form of the items of clothing to wear. Leaving it up to parents to buy clothing that suited their budget (within the uniform guidelines). So kids would be mocked if they used a lesser known brand name instead of say, dockers.

I think current rules have been made stricter so now the school shirts are sold by the school itself.

Granted, it does solve all the problems of kids just coming to school dressed in attire that would be the cause of derision, either because the kid is eccentric or because the parents are neglectful.

Re: Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

#18

Post by moron4hire »

roundsquare wrote: post #13
dazzawazza wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does wearing a skirt raise safety issues?

Straight from the article... And safety is a critical concern. In February 2008, Lawrence King, an eighth-grader from Oxnard, Calif., who occasionally wore high-heeled boots and makeup, was shot to death in class by another student.

So it's the victim's fault for dressing like a woman? I'm sure rape victims are at fault for dressing so provocatively, too?

Re: Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

#19

Post by moron4hire »

I also believe that the failings of the group are always the failings of the leadership. If bullying is rampant in a school, it's because the school administration doesn't do enough to punish bullying. By banning cross-dressing, they only reinforce the bully's belief system.

Re: Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?

#20

Post by derobert »

roundsquare wrote: post #7
jacquesm wrote: post #4

Sure, why not. Mind you, it is going to set him up for ridicule and he shouldn't complain about that (especially not if it is a tutu), but I don't see why not. Girls can wear pants to school, can't they ?

Thats fine until safety becomes a concern, at which point officials need to step in. We don't let kids do things that can harm them (to some degree anyway) and we need to keep a careful eye on the balance there...

Requiring students (male or female) to tie up long hair or not wear loose-fitting clothing when working with power tools in shop class is a safety concern. Requiring long jeans in sheet metal working (to protect from sharp edges) is a safety concern. Removing jewelry before doing electrical work is a safety concern.

Prohibiting peaceful self expression because a jerk may bully about it is blaming the victim, not a (legitimate) safety concern. Safety concerns don't practice sexism.

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