People Be Trippin' Vol. 1

In my absence from blogging I have had a lot of these 'musings' floating around in my head, basically my lack of understanding of how and why people decide to make certain decisions, say certain things and most importantly share it on the interwebs for us all to see.

 So I introduce you to: people be trippin' 


The other day someone shared a link to this article on facebook: My Daughter Was Dress Coded For Wearing Shorts which left me saying WTF...people be trippin'.

I will save you the time and just give you the short and sweet synopsis: the mom shared a picture of her 6th grade daughter wearing teeny shorts to school. Shockingly there is the finger tip rule at the school...which I think has been around for the last 20 years...the girl as a consequence had to borrow ill fitting clothes to wear the rest of the day. And the mom is outraged. I will say it again, people be trippin'.

dress_code2

This is how she ends her article:

"My daughter was punished for showing too much of her (gasp!) legs. Her school is normalizing the notion that girls’ bodies are distractions. That girls bear responsibility for boys’ reactions to their bodies. That boys have thoughts that are inherently impure and will lead to misconduct. The school’s chosen mode of punishment is disrupting girls’ educational experiences and quite possibly hindering their legal right to an education. The message and actions perpetuated by gender-biased implementation of school dress codes—the blaming and shaming of our girls—has got to stop."

I have a few minor problems with the whole point of the article from a teacher standpoint.

one. There are dress code rules for both girls and boys. Shockingly most boys are also not allowed to show their shoulders or undergarmets. Turning this topic into a gender issue makes zero sense because boys and girls do dress differently so there must different rules for each gender.

two. The chosen mode of punishment of changing into clothes the school currently has is the least disruptive option possible. If school's sent kids home for being out of dress code: they miss class. If kids had to call home for a change of clothes and wait in the office: they miss class. If student's aren't provided a consequence for breaking a rule: learning will always be disrupted. Please tell me a method you prefer.

three. Let's talk about this word distraction. 

I would imagine I would be hard pressed to find a single school dress code that says the distraction is from the opposite sex. It's for everybody in the learning environment. Let's also remind ourselves we have a classroom full of hormonal teenagers going through puberty here. So no other student regardless of sex or teacher should have to see: a boys ass crack, a girls boobs, a girls butt when she bends over or a girls private parts when she is sitting. 

Middle school students aren't statues, they move around, work in groups, sit on floors, run outside, etc. Children should be dressing to fit their environment.

But here is my biggest issue with this whole rant:
rules are rules, consequences are consequences. 

What exactly are you teaching your daughter when instead of supporting the administration for enforcing a rule that has been pre-established with consequences that were probably reviewed many times with students, you are claiming they are in the wrong. 

I can tell you: that if she doesn't like a rule, it stifles her individuality or interrupts what she wants, she doesn't have to follow it.

I deal with parents like this all the time: they tell there children to walk out if a teacher is annoying them, they have to pee, they call them during school and expect them to answer and if another kid hits you you better hit them back.

These parents aren't doing their children any favor by teaching them how to break rules they find inconvenient because NEWSFLASH in a few years these kids are going out into the real world with this attitude and jobs have rules. And jobs fire you for breaking rules. Most jobs don't care about your individuality or self expression. 

One of the biggest complaints regarding this new group of young adults entering the workforce is the feeling of entitlement that they bring into the workplace and I can certainly see where it comes from...parents teaching children to disregard rules.

So parents: stop tying teachers and administrators hands and allow us to prepare your children for the real world. Because jobs have dress codes, jobs expect you to be timely, act professional and follow rules. And unless you want to have them live in your basement forever, your child needs to learn this as well.

#endrant


Obviously I am not a parent, am I way off base?
Teachers in agreement or disagreement?

- The Babbling Box!

7 comments

  1. I don't have kids, but as a teacher I agree 100%. We are not helping kids if we teach them to break the rules or that rules don't have to apply to them if they don't want them to. Rules are there for a reason and, obviously, the school thought it was important. I happen to agree and would have sent the girl to the office if her shorts did not meet the fingertip requirement. (I had to do that many times this past year because my girls couldn't seem to get the shorts and skirts to the right length.)
    ~Amanda

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  2. I agree completely. I've seen so many articles like this recently and find it all ridiculous. My kids wear uniforms and I still struggle with skirts that are too short and inappropriate clothing when they earn the privilege to dress down.

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  3. Parents are such pains in the asses. Seriously.. your kid was wrong, shut the eff up and get over it.

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  4. I'm total agreement. Unfortunately, it's my generation that is this way. You hit the nail on the head when you used the one word I use all the time...ENTITLEMENT. It's very sad....worse than sad, actually. It has changed so much just in the 17 years that I have been teaching. I hate to see what it will be like 10 years from now. It's not even so much the kids...it's the parents!!!!
    Alison

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  5. YES!!! I'm so glad you wrote this!! I get so annoyed by ppl's entitlement, especially Parent's thinking their child is above the rules that have been around for decades!! I just wanna say, Preach it girl!

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  6. I loved this rant. Made me smile. Why can't parents be parents!?
    Laurie
    Chickadee Jubilee

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  7. I whole-heartedly agree. The fingertips rule was definitely in place when I was a kid. And we would complain that it was impossible to find shorts that long then just as kids do today. BTW, it's totally possible.

    There's another story flying around about a girl who had to change her dress, and her mom wore the same dress to her graduation as an F you to the school. I have to be honest, I didn't see anything wrong with the dress, but I still can't help thinking that this isn't newsworthy. There have been dress codes forever. And there dress codes in every place of employment. This is about teaching kids to follow the rules!

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