Heard this on the news this morning – after first 15 minutes of post-Isabella hysteria reporting of course – and it made me want to cheer for a number of different reasons. The story was that a high school principal from the Bronx had forced two high school girls to wear skirts made out of black trash bags for a day of school. Why? What happened to the principal? That’s the good part of the story!
Seems that this particular school is a public school but it is also one of the most elite schools in the borough. As such, one of their “special programs” is requiring their students to wear school uniforms – this is not uncommon in the New York City public school systems these days, so it’s no big deal. Well, two of the students of this school decided to “rebel” – or at least test their school system – and showed up to school in jeans which not only breaks the dress code but was a slap in the face of it: the code specifically outlaws jeans and calls them trashy.
Of course, they got caught. The principal opted to make an example of the two girls and forced them to wear a skirt made out of a trash bag the next school day. I’m assuming they were suspended until they complied, but the news report didn’t specify. The girls had little choice but to do it and they wore the trash bags. And thats when the press got a hold of the story.
Right away, human rights were mentioned. Civil liberties. Parents outraged. Yet, the reported continued with the story: the parents, when they heard the entire story, agreed with the principal and her decision to enforce this punishment. Not only that, but the report and the anchors of the channel went on to say that they too approved of it. No protests. No aggrieved parents. No outrage. No lawsuits and no [insert any loudmouth activist here] screaming for justice. In fact, everyone seemed to be of the opinion that the girls got what they deserved for breaking the dress code.
Shocking, no? Maybe there’s some hope for our society after all.
Incidentally, I spent four years breaking a high school dress code on a daily basis. They always threatened everyone with detention or some other silly punishment but they never followed through on them. What’s worse is that if they had just enforced it once or if they did something like this – one set example would turn into a year long reign of order. I’m actually impressed that this school had the balls to enforce their dress code – I would not have been so quick to break my own, if there were real consequences behind it.
Yes, there might be some hope for us yet.