America's new CRACK problem
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
My 13-year-old son mentioned this morning that there's a Canadian boy in his class who says Americans are just a bunch of war-mongering idiots.
I said someone ought to kick the mouthy little sh*t's sorry #ss all the way back to Canada.
Then again, I'm willing to bet the kid's opinion originated with his parents.
Same here. When they were young you were the most intelligent being on earth, but when they hit double digits it's amazing you can even breath correctly. I'm told in a couple decades it'll get better for a few weeks before they put you in a nursing home.
Their rights are somewhat limited in school, true.
LOL. I've never heard that before, but it's about right.
I'm sure in some, but not all, cases, the kids' dress when they left home was fine. Somewhere between home and the classroom, overshirts can be removed, or skimpy shirts can be put on instead of one that provided more coverage.
Unfortunately, in some cases, Mama just wants her little darlin to be 'cool', so she buys whatever the chick asks for. Explains the huge sales of places like Abercrombie and Fitch.
America's new CRACK problem. ;o)
America's new CRACK problem
The Catholic Schoolgirl look is one of my favorites. I'm like Pavlov's dog, I see the plaid and I salivate :-)
Check out Lands End and Eddie Bauer. These clothes may seem expensive at first, but they wear like IRON!
Lands End has overstocks and Eddie Bauer has an Outlet store online and they have good prices. They are nice basic clothes for women, and teenage girls can certainly wear those sizes. They are just about the only places I get clothes for our 16 yr. old daughter because SHE can't stand the slut-puppy look marketed for teens these days!
Sure, if you want her to look like a mountain lesbian.
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