You opened the door counselor
-the judge on every episode of Law and Order ever.
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To summarize: @mistersmith0121 does not feel that good judgement, reason, or context should be applied to rules governing children as it will result in chaos. He has raised 2 daughters therefore he is an expert on the subject. He also appears to be pre-occupied with āclassā.
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The debate does seem to have become a little skewed.
It seems like some people are aghast that a thinking adult would still prosecute this particular rule in this situation and that some people are not.
The āaghastā probably stems from the impression that those of the latter opinion evince; that they donāt feel that the horrendous circumstances of the shaven head should have any bearing on a thinking adultās decision to prosecute this as an infraction of the rule.
Remember. Rules donāt really exist. They are a kind of agreement between people to behave within certain boundaries.
Stepping outside of the boundary of normal human feeling in order to enforce a rule which has, in turn, a counter acting effect on the perceived value of that authority seems like a misuse of those powers.
Behaving as if you can throw these kinds of considerations to the wind because of an established rule undermines the very principle upon which you are relying as a basis for your authority.
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Thatās quite the dedicated student body.
Thatās quite the realistic student body.
Not directly related to high schools, but on protests and the thoughts of some of the thinkers within them:
Dude: Whoa, Accordion Dude! You were talking with the cops! You got
your picture taken with them!Me: Yeah. They donāt seem to mind this thing and are going to let us
stay until we get bored. Nice guys.Dude: Whoa, dude! You made peace with them!
Me: No, theyād already decided that this thing was okayā¦
Dude: Youāre likeā¦likeā¦that guy, Hakuna Matata!
Me: Like who?
Dude: Hakuna Matata! You know, the Indian peace dude! And his massive
resistance!Me: Uhā¦.you mean Mahatma Gandhiā¦and I think itās passive resistance.
Dude: Yeah! Thatās it!
( source )
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LOL. I like that kid. I went to a middle school which had rules against fighting, just as all schools do. Problem was, gangs of kids were jumping other kids. I had never seen such stuff before. Saw them give a friend a nasty concussion one day. About a week later, they tried to jump me, but I fought back. Not out of any philosophical stance, but just because I wasnāt having it. The gang was apparently so shocked that they backed of after I clocked the leader just once.
I got suspended. My parents were fully supportive and stated their approval and understanding.
Result: I learned more in that one day than in the rest of the school year combined. Absolutely worth it, too. It stuck with me.
Moral: Sometimes, a total dickweed admin accidentally teaches more than they ever could have done on purpose.
āTranscend the impulse to automatic outrage.ā
I donāt know if outrage is quite the correct word. More āmild but unsustained interest in faraway local news storyā, I think. I originally gave your comment a ālikeā but after coming back to read your reply to me and your steadily increasing meltdown over the course of the thread, Iām mentally taking it back.
Iāve maintained that I donāt want my kids to fight. But if they fight back after an unprovoked attack or come to the aid of others Iāll take time off work and weāll just take a mini staycation together if the administration is going to be bound by their rulebook.
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His icon IS wearing a top-hat, what would you expect?
Just so you know, you can also physically take it back. Just click on āundo likeā.
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And good on ya, too! If all rules were right just because they were rules, this place wouldnāt even be here so we could argue about rules.
Undo like is only available for about 5 minutes after casting the initial like. It is not a forever thing. FYI.
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[quote=āmistersmith0121, post:69, topic:11315, full:trueā]
So make an actual argument that shaven heads is ok in school. [/quote]
This is silly. If you want to restrict the ability of individuals to modify their appearance to their own liking, itās up to you to demonstrate why this restriction is necessary. āKids with shaved heads did bad things in Wales once,ā is not a reasonable justification.
I used to work in a school for kids who were too defiant and violent for regular school. If someone had suggested that no one could wear a certain color because of the gang members at the school, weād instead teach the gang members to ignore colors before weād restrict the harmless behaviors of the other students.
Look at it this way. Gary Gang Member says, āIf Billy wears blue, Iām gonna kick his ass!ā
The administration has two choices. They can restrict every kidsā appearance and punish them for wearing blue, or they can restrict Garyās behavior and punish kids for threatening to beat up people.
You have been passionately arguing for the former. And that, in the opinion of someone who worked for years with kids who make your teenager(s) look like the Osmonds, is just silly.
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Godwinās Law, remember what that means?.. 
That people who think schools need rules governing their students appearance beyond what the law already requires agree with Hitler?
Canāt agree with that sorry. Take a look at the people in the photo in this article (from April this year) about the English Defence League for example:
Iām really really sorry about linking to the Daily Mail btw but it had the best pic.
This is a British school. Have a look at why the British have an issue with skin heads and then comment again.
We have good reason for these rules in Britain. The statement from the authorities make it clear the student knew this was a rule. I do not think it would have been appropriate for the school to refuse him permission but if he knew it was against the rules and did it anyway then discipline is acceptable and the cultural norm in Britain.
In the US there are laws to allow civil disobedience. In the UK we operate differently. You can oppose a law if you feel it is wrong, but if you break a law, even if the law is unjust, it is a criminal offence. This needs to be taught at a school level as it is a part of British culture. If he was denied permission he could protest and opose it, but breaking a rule he knew was a rule deserves discipline.
I call cultural bias. I support the
school having the rule because we have a cultural history of skin heads, it is no different than schools in the US banning Klan robes. I support the school punishing a student who knowingly broke a school rule, this is how the law operates in Britain; it does not matter if a law is fair or not, if you break it you are punished. If you oppose the law you fight it within legal options, we do not make allowances for criminal civil disobedience, a child should be taught this in school as it is our culture. However if the child requested permission and was rejected it then I would opose the school as it would be ridiculous to do so. We do not live in a fascist state and a child should be allowed to shave his head for charity.
Do you know why Britain bans kids from being skinheads? Is it acceptable for US schools to ban klan uniforms?
Being a skin head in Britain is a racist marking
