Posted on 04/30/2004 11:00:07 AM PDT by presidio9
Malena Schroeder is fed up.
She's fed up with high school students wearing visible thong underwear, blue jeans that droop low on the hips or skimpy blouses that show - in her opinion - too much skin.
A Mundelein High School District 120 board member who also regularly volunteers at the school, Schroeder doesn't consider herself prudish. But she's tired of walking through the school hallways and seeing provocatively dressed kids who look like they popped out of a racy music video.
"If I'm an adult and I'm distracted, I can only imagine what effect it might have on teenagers in that environment," she said.
During a board meeting earlier this week, Schroeder called for administrators to more stringently enforce the facility's dress code or adopt stricter rules that could include uniforms. She received support from other trustees and from audience members who applauded her request.
The proposal also was backed by Superintendent Stan Fields, who promised a committee will study the issue.
"There's something to be said for preparing students for life after high school and (teaching) appropriate grooming habits and dress habits," Fields said. "It's pretty difficult to get a job when your rear end is hanging out."
Mundelein isn't the only suburban high school wrestling with dress-code concerns. Wauconda High School and the other schools in Wauconda Unit District 118 tightened clothing policies for the 2003-04 term, banning belly-baring tops, low-rise pants and other revealing garments.
Similar rules have been adopted in recent years at high schools in Buffalo Grove, Naperville, St. Charles and other towns.
Public-school dress codes, including those requiring students wear uniforms, are legal under Illinois and federal laws. Although courts have ruled garments with political slogans are protected by the First Amendment, educators can restrict the size or style of student clothing.
"You have the right to free expression. You probably don't have the right to show off your belly ring," said Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) of Illinois.
Mundelein High updated its dress code in 2002. Among the restrictions is a rule requiring clothes cover all skin and underwear between the armpit and mid-thigh.
Violators can be asked to change into more appropriate clothes or wear a baggy Mundelein High T-shirt over offending garments, school spokeswoman Kelley Happ said. On "rare occasions," she said, some are sent home.
Schroeder, who has two teenagers enrolled at Mundelein, believes those rules aren't properly enforced. Too many times she's seen students with pants that don't cover their underwear or whose shirts reveal skin at the midriff.
"It's become the norm," she said. "There's a time and a place for that kind of dress. It shouldn't be school attire."
If parents can't control what their kids wear, Schroeder said, school administrators or the board must step in and make sure teens are dressed appropriately. If that means stronger enforcement of the existing dress code or the adoption of uniforms, she said, so be it.
"It's our responsibility to make sure that our kids can focus and have some decorum," Schroeder said.
Mundelein High junior Stephanie Urban thinks officials who want to crack down on dress-code abuses are overreacting. Students dress better than they used to, she said.
Jessy Wisniewski, another junior, likes to wear shorts or skirts to school and said she has been sent home for sporting clothes considered too risque.
"I'm 16. I can legally drive. But people are going to tell me (what's) appropriate for school?" she said. "I mean, I'm not coming to school dressed in a bikini."
Students who oppose uniforms may have a surprising ally: board President Thomas M.P. Hannigan, who thinks better enforcement of the existing code is the answer.
"My high school had a uniform. My grammar school had a uniform. And I don't think I learned any better because of that," Hannigan said. "I think we have a reasonable dress code. Before the school board jumps in and makes changes, let's see how an enforced dress code works."
Dress: Board president doesn't back uniforms
This thong stuff is idiocy at it's finest...I've spent 45 years trying to keep my undies OUT of my ass!
AAAAARRRGGHH AAHHHHHGGGG!! DisconnectION DISCONNECTION!!!! Disconnect is a VERB!!! This is an ACTION you TAKE! You DISCONNECT someone or something!!! The noun is DISCONNECTION!! DISCONNECTION!!!
God how our language is taking a beating!!! You might as well be speaking Swahili or Spanish!!!
And the word "data" is a plural noun. The proper usage is "the data say" not "the data says."
Take your pills, man.
ahem.
Perhaps my reaction was little over the top.
But this was not like "loose" or "series." Too many people beleve that "disconnnect" is acceptable as a noun. This is another skirmish in the overall assault on the English language. "Disconnect" as a noun is up there with "defensed" as a word or "out of pocket" in place of "unavailable."
Silly jargon is frequently used to make under-educated people appear to be "sophisticated." When I interview people and I hear them use "disconnect" as a noun, I immediately "disconnect" them from the job opportunity. There have been three prospects which I have disconnected from potential employment in the last year as a result of their cavalier attitude.
Either proper English matters or it doesn't. I am in a profession which abuses our language on a regular basis. But I will not be a willing participant in this degeneration. I suggest you do the same.
Main Entry: 2disconnect
Function: noun
: a lack of or break in connection, consistency, or agreement
Get over it already1. This isn't France.
I was in Wal Mart yesterday. A likely pretty young teen girl and her friend sauntered down one isle dressed in clothing that smacked of trolling for sex to raise the cash to make their next crack cocaine buy. It is difficult to see them as wholesome when they advertise degeneracy, but their clothing is being designed and marketed by degenerates, so it is to be expected.
It's one thing if they have the right shape for the low cut pants --- but many of the highschool girls here are working on baby-number-two --- stretch mark-city and maternity bellies hanging out of the low-cut pants --- with thongs. It's gross. Then their 30 years plus mothers who look more like 50 also have the same clothes and even more stretch marks. You get the apple shaped women thinking they look sexy in these clothes.
The ole kick his ass for Jesus thing. :-D
WE ARE NOT {punch} WARMONGERING {kick} IDIOTS {elbow drop} YOU CANADIAN {body slam] MF'en {gut kick} liberal {nother gut kick} BASTARD!!
When I was in school we had a Frenchie that needed the same thing. He was a major flake with his cute little scarf.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.