From Bong Hits 4 Jesus To Winne-the-Pooh: Where Will It End?

[DeSwiss]

I'm sorry. They may make great wines out there, but this is just stupid:

School Sued Over Girl's Cartoon Socks

March 20, 2007

NAPA, CA (AP) - A seventh-grader might end up in court for wearing Winnie the Pooh socks to school.

Toni Kay Scott, 14, was sent to an in-school suspension program called Students With Attitude Problems last year for violating a dress code, according to a lawsuit against the Napa Valley Unified School District and Redwood Middle School.

She had donned socks with the Tigger character from the Winnie the Pooh cartoons on them, along with a denim skirt and a brown shirt with a pink border.

But the school's policy requires students to wear clothes with solid colors in blue, white, green, yellow, khaki, gray, brown and black. Permitted fabrics are cotton twill, corduroy and chino. No denim is allowed.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Napa County Superior Court by The American Civil Liberties Union and a law firm on the girl's behalf, alleges that the dress code is unconstitutionally vague and too restrictive.

"We should be able to show everyone who we are and have a way to express ourselves, as long as we aren't showing off things that shouldn't be shown off at school," the teenager said in a statement.

The lawsuit said the policy goes too far and forces aesthetic conformity in the name of safety. The rules violate the California Education Code, said plaintiffs' attorney Sharon O'Grady.

A telephone message left Tuesday at Redwood Middle School was not immediately returned.

http://news.aol.com/strange/story/_a/school-sued-over-girls-cartoon-socks/n20070320225709990010?cid=936

[ThomCat]

1. "Students With Attitude Problems" (SWAP)

That's sick.

Go ahead, define every problem as the kid's fault. Tell them that they have bad attitudes. Then somehow try to convince them that you really care about them and that you are trying to do what's best for them.
x(

The sick fuck who came up with that program should be fires and should never ever work in education again.

[rurallib]

2. Rule of law and all that

burka's would put an end to this rebellious attitude.

[ThomCat]

4. I sometimes wonder how close we are to that.

:(

Just look at how often debates about school uniforms come up, and how often "immodesty" is brought up as a reason for school uniforms.

[DeSwiss]

8. SWAP, indeed.....

I wonder what would have happened if she'd been wearing these:


They would have probably given her an award or something.....

[valerief]

3. Don't these morons know there are wars going on? nt

[eppur_se_muova]

5. A 14-YEAR OLD wearing TIGGER socks! Someone taser that delinquent!

I mean, seriously, how out-of-control kids get at that age! Next they'll be playing bridge and square dancing -- gotta nip that kind of thing in the bud.

[1monster]

6. Oops! I guess I (teacher) had better not wear my gray and pink

kitty kat socks with the little ears sticking up over the top to school......

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Serious hard time for Hello Kitty wear. nt

[Solo_in_MD]

9. There is a lot missing in the stories on this

- Did the parents agree to support the dress code originally
- Is it the local school or a magnet school
- Why is the dress code in place
- Were prior warnings issues.

Its clear in context the issue was not the socks but the skirt

The dress code discussion is an unending one in public education. Uniforms, color restrictions etc. Having taught and being a parent, I see its merits. Having fought for this nation, I also see it as BS. My duality mirrors that of the courts etc. Without more details, this is little more than a puff piece, which is almost worse than nothing at all.

[DeSwiss]

10. Solo_in_MD, I have looked for information on their website....

... about the dress code, but I've not found anything in the online student handbook. The closest thing I found to a dress code is the prohibition against "Gang Behavior & Attire."

http://www2.nvusd.k12.ca.us/apps/pub.asp?Q=4&T=Student%20Handbooks&B=2

As for the other points you make, I'm not sure that any parent agrees to support the dress code, or any other school rule for that matter. When my kids were in school, no one asked me if I agreed with school rules. But it appears as though this is a regular middle school.

And the inference I draw from the ACLU suit is that the dress code is being enforced and applied under the color of "safety." And if their student handbook is an example of prior warning, I'd say they're in for a lot of trouble because at least the online version isn't clear at all. I live in Nashville and the school board here have posted the entire student handbook online. Book, chapter and verse. The Napa School district's version of a student handbook appears to be more like an outline of do's and don'ts ... and the consequences.

As for the skirt issue, I only have one question, why does denim hate America's freedoms????
:shrug:

[Solo_in_MD]

11. During the family's stay here in MD, IIRC we had to sign some sort of acknowledgment of school

rules. We ignored it and got a note from the school over it, threatening to not allow participation in any extra curricular activities. My wife wrote an icy reply that was the equivalent of signed under protest. Something to the effect of "We acknowledge receipt but do not consider ourselves or our students bound by your publication. We are not concurring or agreeing to abide or be subject to what it contains. Should we have a difference we reject the requirement to through the local school or mediation and reserve all right to take any action we feel is appropriate. She sent it back USPS with a signed receipt required. Some of the rules were blatently illegal constraint of off campus activity. My wife describes southern MD as a sweaty armpit of public education, and she is a life long public school teacher.

I can see all sides of the dress code issue. There is some indication that they help certain problems but the success varies with locale, which means it is not the determining factor. As a parent, having a uniform makes like good. No arguments about what to wear, and its a significant cost reduction. School needs to be a place where students can study and learn. Bling and clothing styles clearly impinge on that and reinforce stereotype and roles best left elsewhere. However, this is a nation based upon individual freedom and creativity. We should not restricit thing uneceesairly and that includes at school. As long as the students are decent and not their attire not active/physicllay disruptive, it should be OK. Like I said, lot of dissonance for me on this one.

[DeSwiss]

12. "Like I said, lot of dissonance for me on this one...."

Same here. Of course the problem is that schools are the institution charged with the responsibility of instilling societal conformance. Its where the pecking order for the future is determined and from the looks of things in the news these days, it appears that we're all still in high school. We just didn't realize it.

That said, I agree that there is inappropriate dress that could be so disturbing as to impede the educational process. And within the context of "public" schools that there should be some limits that address this aspect of the issue. But Napa's school dress code rules don't stop at just the cut of the cloth, but even the kind of cloth. And the color of cloth. And the clothing's accessories -- like fringes and borders. Sheesh! Now that's going way too far in my book.

It appears to me that this is an issue of institutional authority gone amuck. And now they're cast into the position of trying to defend their dislike of Winnie and Tigger. For shame!

;) LOL

[Solo_in_MD]

13. MD has similar problems, different manifestations, but the same disease