Political Correctness In School

superconor

(if this is unsuitable here move it)

i was wondering, because of the whole political correctness age in the U.K, are certain aspects of school uniforms Politically uncorrect?

i understand the point of having a uniform but take the issue of hair.

my school is a catholic grammer and very strict. the girls can dye theyre hair, or cut their hair short but boys cant dye their hair or grow their hair?

do you think i have a point? or am i just going to have to live with it? or Atari Jaguar?

Winters

I dont like the whole Political correctness, i dont stick by it.

What you mention is more discrimination then political correctness. It would be a case for the equak rights commisioner if you really wanted to go far.

I hate that kind of stuff though. I know what you mean.

l3rian

Why would they want to dye their hair or grow their hair?

gogo

Unfortunatley, your going to have to get used to it superconnor, i disagree with it also, but you will find that once you leave school, that many establishments will not hire you with long hair or dyed hair, i feel that most schools are preparing you for life outside school (no really!). And this sort of thing is still frowned upon in most professional jobs.

i think. (happily have no intention of getting a job, professional or otherwise)


gogo

BoB_BoT

Originally posted by l3rian
Why would they want to dye their hair or grow their hair?

because it's cool

getting mine cut and dyed and spiked for my grad, then i'm going to go repeating and try my hand with the new principal having blue hair and all. nope don't agree with the whole "must have your hair a certain way rule" if was kinda inforced in my school but only the muppets seemed to be called on it, so that was nice

AngelofFire

My wee sister goes to a multiracial primary school.Because of the amount of coloured children there they arent allowed to use the word blackboard. they have to say chalk board. what a strange rule

Victor

There is a sort of related thread here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&postid=1066938#post1066938

Originally posted by superconor
my school is a catholic grammer and very strict. the girls can dye theyre hair, or cut their hair short but boys cant dye their hair or grow their hair?

I think the army struck an uncomfortable, but probably necessary, balance when it came to this.

While male soldiers must keep their hair within the old regulation length (i.e. a really tight cut), women (in particular since they were allowed join reserve units) have to make sure their hair is tied-up (when not wearing a hat) or not visible when wearing one. The new uniforms also tend to disguise body shape and tend to turn the reservists into soldiers, not men and women. I think skirts are also being done away with in the dress uniform.

That long hair and skirts have up to recently been part of a military uniform seems incredible. The short hair helps create a bond, emphasizes "you are now a number" that must obey orders and in the traditional sense of soldiering was important. It also provides the enemy with a "uniform" soldier - something that is intimidating as there are no differences to latch onto and exploit. This is of course aside from the fact that long hair is a fire hazard / first aid nuisance in combat.

That only the girls in the school are allowed tailor their hair (what of jewelry, piercings, make-up) is pure discrimination and unacceptable. The idea behind school uniforms is to provide identity, improve morale / discipline and prevent children from being exploited by fashion. Being able to tailor your hair goes against all of this.

I'm not asking for the kids to be uniform(ed) clones (you do need to keep the guys out of the girls changing room ), but a rule for one should be a rule for all.

But maybe "they" **want** the girls to be "pretty little things" á la "hit me baby one more time".

simu

That only the girls in the school are allowed tailor their hair (what of jewelry, piercings, make-up) is pure discrimination and unacceptable.

Yup, I agree. Plus, they shouldn't force girls to wear skirts if they don't want to. The problem is that most Irish schools don't take the views of the students seriously at all. While I agree with rules about homework etc, I think it's silly that they go to such extremes with uniforms - I remember a girl in secondary school being forced to go into the toilets to scrape nail varnish off her nails (not an easy thing to do) before she was let into class. How insane is that!

sunbeam

Our school originally had trousers for all in the seventies (or skirts if the girls wanted them). In the eighties they decided to make the uniform a bit more 'upmarket', introduced ties for all and obligatory skirts for girls. The female teachers couldn't wear trousers either.

The big concession was that we could wear trousers while travelling before and after school which was sadly quite progressive in its day. It wasn't too bad up to the late eighties as you could wear any skirt you liked in the uniform colour, so there were quite a few fishtails and bows floating around (well it *was* the eighties ). Alas they then introduced an A-lined inverted pleat monstrosity which I had to wear for a year before I left. The lads could wear any uniform coloured trousers they wanted.

Lately they've switched back to a choice of trousers or a skirt (of their choice) for the girls and it seems like most schools near me have this option. One thing I find quite bizarre though is certain convent schools who have introduced the choice of trousers-but checked ones to match the alternative kilts...

NeMiSiS

This hit me like a brick in the face in school.

When I started third year bout 5 - 6 years ago god knows and im quite hammered. Was my first day back and I knew we had a new headmaster - I had long hair ,earings,rings,and basically covered in silver.

This ****er meets me on the coridoor and says 'Where do you think you are looking like that ?!?' I say 'What the **** are you the new janitor ?!' (he honestly looked like a glorified knacker). Turns out he was the new head..and my head so to speak was wrecked.

This is I know a tad off the point. But I think there should be a certain leway within schools. I was the innocent party so to speak the guys that looked 'clean cut' were actully neo nazi's and the school did **** all to defend me from them. They finally copped on after a guy was stabbed in the neck by a guy who had a 'skinned head' they finally noticed that there might actully be some kind of nazi gang going on. I aint saying every dewd with a skinned head is a nazi,but the school I was in let these ****ers away with way too much.

Man I hated school.

Tom

Spacedog

When I was in school there was one lad in the class with sholder lenght hair, after refusing to have it cut by request of the vice principle every day for 6 months, he (the VP) snook up on him in the corridor and cut half it off with a shears! he had shave off all his hair after that, twas bad form.

Sarky

Nasty.

I used to have a really long fringe, I think it may have been to covertly rebel against the rules. I had very short hair, but let my fringe grow to nearly 2 feet in length. Tucked it behind my ear. 2 years in secondary and not a word said to me. Well, I thought it was cool at the time...

Friend of mine was threatened with suspension if he didn't go home and take the purple dye out of his beard. Pathetic really.

gom

Didn't cut my hair for 2 years and have had Dread locks for the last month.
I'm 21 and an IT consultant to 2 Charities and a highly respected member of my community :rolleyes:

its nothing to do with hair. Just attitude...
Most people(40 year olds) say my hair reminds them of when they were young and it was the 'in thing'. Coupled with my velvet suits, cords and much much hippyness. I have a highly advantagous method of connecting with those of the older prosation....



Here is what u do Superconnor. It is similar to what i did when i was 15 in secondary. I arranged a meeting with my vice-principal off my own bat(not really done as much as it should). I told him I planned on bleeching my hair and pointed out that the rules prohibited dying of ones hair and not bleeching(erasing all pigment) of ones hair.
He was furious but praised the fact I approached the school first. He refused to allow me to bleech my hair but i fought on.
I got in alot of trouble but i learned alot about how to fight your corner which one usually doesn't learn about it till much later.

Anyway. I got in alot of trouble and almost got kicked out of school but would do it again iin a second...
BACKGROUND: very strick CBS school and I was a good boy till then

claire h

Re: uniforms... I think it's actually illegal (discrimination laws) to tell girls in a co-ed school that they have to wear skirts, because legally they should have the option of wearing trousers (and legally the boys should have the option of wearing skirts, but most schools are less thrilled about that side of it).

As regards hairstyles/makeup/jewellery... it's a tricky one, because there is a double standard in the world at large when it comes to that stuff. Boys with any of those things look untidy, girls look neat and presentable. And you can't really blame schools for that. They want the kids to look 'respectable', whatever that may be.

My school (all girls, Catholic, fun fun fun!) has all these picky rules about hairstyles etc, 'tis quite amusing. One pair of stud earrings, no hoops. Crucifixes or small symbols may be worn around the neck on tasteful gold chains. Only one plain ring allowed. No hair dye or 'extremes of hairstyle' allowed. And they keep nail varnish remover in the staffroom. :rollseyes:

Victor

Originally posted by claire h
Crucifixes or small symbols may be worn around the neck on tasteful gold chains.

lol, gold only?

Originally posted by claire h
No hair dye or 'extremes of hairstyle' allowed.

Mcdonalds actually have sense in their rules in this - you can have any hair style you want once it is covered by the uniform.

sceptre

Originally posted by AngelofFire
My wee sister goes to a multiracial primary school.Because of the amount of coloured children there they arent allowed to use the word blackboard. they have to say chalk board. what a strange rule

What word do they use when the have to mention that colour that's a very dark grey? I suppose the only pens allowed are blue or red? Is the word "white" banned as well?

Seriously though, that's one of the dumbest things I ever heard (I'm referring to the rule obviously, not AoF's post:D). And I've heard some pretty dumb things in my time.

weemcd

i think you have to look respectable, to a certain degree in shcool. ps you think your schools are strict, im in a nice catholic grammar school, with crap uniform and no girls!

schools dont want their pupils runnin round lookin like scumbags, all dirty with no hair, and they dont want crack smokin hippies either.

political correctness doesnt exist in my school, one geog teacher used to tell us racist jokes!

ps whats with the crazily long posts noone has got anything that interesting to say.

Agent Smith

Originally posted by sunbeam


Lately they've switched back to a choice of trousers or a skirt (of their choice) for the girls and it seems like most schools near me have this option. One thing I find quite bizarre though is certain convent schools who have introduced the choice of trousers-but checked ones to match the alternative kilts...

new to boards! horra

i think this is because schools are so backward (some not all).
for example my school, john scottus school, had a get together for the leaving cert class 2 years ago. one of the girls was wearing pants and the wonderfull assistanted like th picture so much that he framed it and put it in his office.
by the way, did i say that he edited it so that the girl was wearing a skirt instead of pants....


another case is that girls play hockey, boys play soccer.....

one of the girls in my year plays for the irish womans under 18's (i think, could be under 17's) and when she requested to play soccer to help her train, she was told by the female princapal that playing soccer is very "unlady like"


also the girls have to help at school events such as graduations and the like by doing "female job's while the boys play soccer. stuff like that makes me sick.
my mother brought me up to put women on a pedastile.(spelling?)

i make a point of helping.



john scottus school makes me sick and i HATE that place.



only one more year......

Victor

Originally posted by agent smith
one of the girls in my year plays for the irish womans under 18's (i think, could be under 17's) and when she requested to play soccer to help her train, she was told by the female princapal that playing soccer is very "unlady like"

Being battered with a hockey stick by one of your pupils isn't great either.

Agent Smith

you should see her! she could put david beckem to shame,

bloggs

Originally posted by AngelofFire
My wee sister goes to a multiracial primary school.Because of the amount of coloured children there they arent allowed to use the word blackboard. they have to say chalk board. what a strange rule

Oh God, this sort of crap makes me sick. To those people i would say, what colour is the board???

Also heard that the police in the uk can't say expressions like 'Nitty Gritty' as it first appeared during african slavery times, when they referred to the filty area in the hold of the ship, where the slaves stayed.

Had to laugh at the expression: Ombudsman (Scandanivan word), being changed to Ombuswoman and Ombudsperson. The part MAN doesn't mean male, it's just part of the word, dumb asses!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

To those people i would say, what colour is the board???

dark green normally..

Imposter

Originally posted by bloggs
To those people i would say, what colour is the board???

It's coloured!

Victor

Originally posted by bloggs
Had to laugh at the expression: Ombudsman (Scandanivan word), being changed to Ombuswoman and Ombudsperson. The part MAN doesn't mean male, it's just part of the word, dumb asses!

Whatever about the first reference:

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Ombudsman

om buds man·ship n.
Word History: The word ombudsman has one familiar element, man, but it is difficult to think of what ombuds could mean. Ombudsman is from Swedish, a Germanic language in the same family as English, and man in Swedish corresponds to our word man. Ombud means “commissioner, agent,” coming from Old Norse umbodh, “charge, commission, administration by a delegacy,” umbodh being made up of um, “regarding,” and bodh, “command.” In Old Norse an umbodhsmadhr was a “trusty manager, commissary.” In Swedish an ombudsman was a deputy who looked after the interests and legal affairs of a group such as a trade union or business. In 1809 the office of riksdagens justitieombudsman was created to act as an agent of justice, that is, to see after the interests of justice in affairs between the government and its citizens. This office of ombudsman and the word ombudsman have been adopted elsewhere, as in individual states in the United States. The term has also been expanded in sense to include people who perform the same function for business corporations or newspapers.

Ryo Hazuki

Just on the topic of school uniforms.

They have so many advantages, I know that most vandalism happens on non-uniforum days in my school, Ive seen it.

The uniform must be designed so it drags down spirits in someway and makes students easier to manage.

Having said that, I always think I get a lot more work done on non-uniforum days.

In any case theres a complete fifferent atmosphere on non-uniforum days, that Im sure of.



<edit> "He said the B word!!!!!, No hes not Black, he's 'African American" <edit>

Victor

Originally posted by Ryo Hazuki
<edit> "He said the B word!!!!!, No hes not Black, he's 'African American" <edit>

Would this be like the American sports commentator referring to a black guy from London as an African American British Jamaican?

sceptre

"Such a pleasure to meet a prominent African-American like yourself, Mr Mandela"

bloggs

Originally posted by Victor
Whatever about the first reference:

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Ombudsman

I stand corrected. Damn you business studies teacher

bloggs

Originally posted by sceptre
"Such a pleasure to meet a prominent African-American like yourself, Mr Mandela"

Was it Bush who said this?

Vader

My school has a very strict dress code. One day a lad came in wearing runners, which was a big thing in my school, and the principal (a Patrician Brother) went crazy.
The guy had an ingrown toe nail and had to wear runners for comforts sake. He even showed the principal a note to this effect from his parents. He was sent home.
As a kind of protest I asked everyone in my year to wear in runners the next day and to their credit most of the lads did. One of the girls said I organised it. Only I was sent home!

I made another stab at a protest the following week. I wore the correct uniform as outlined in the rules only the rules didn’t say how it was to be worn.
I wore 2 black polished shoes, grey trousers and heres where it gets interesting. I wore my shirt outside my jumper which was on back to front, I used my tie (in a Windsor knot) as a belt and wore 2 black socks on my ears. He sent me home, but the joke was on him, I had 2 tests that day!!

TacT

someone needs to gather the kids of this politically correct school and get all the kids to start calling the blackboard other names such as have been mentioned above

"teacher, could you write it on the african american board please?"

bloggs

Originally posted by Vader
My school has a very strict dress code. One day a lad came in wearing runners, which was a big thing in my school, and the principal (a Patrician Brother) went crazy.
The guy had an ingrown toe nail and had to wear runners for comforts sake. He even showed the principal a note to this effect from his parents. He was sent home.
As a kind of protest I asked everyone in my year to wear in runners the next day and to their credit most of the lads did. One of the girls said I organised it. Only I was sent home!

I made another stab at a protest the following week. I wore the correct uniform as outlined in the rules only the rules didn’t say how it was to be worn.
I wore 2 black polished shoes, grey trousers and heres where it gets interesting. I wore my shirt outside my jumper which was on back to front, I used my tie (in a Windsor knot) as a belt and wore 2 black socks on my ears. He sent me home, but the joke was on him, I had 2 tests that day!!

Wow you were a bit of a trouble maker in school

Vader

Wow you were a bit of a trouble maker in school

It was a strict catholic school run by patrician brothers and I refused to participate in religion class becaus I was a jedi knight

swiss

I always hated uniforms in school. I felt that they were ultimately used to foster a disparity that the school liked to keep between teachers and students, and to create a sense of, well, uniformity. Dress code extended to long hair on boys, earrings and tatoos. Girls skirts had to be no shorter than knee length (something about which some boys complained bitterly ). In my last year, the principal got onto me because I neglected to shave for a few days and signs of beard stubble was showing.

On one side, I approve of a sense of discipline in schools. However that discipline should extend to learning and behaviour. I do not believe that it should encompass dress, because dressing differently is an expression of individuality, which in my opinion greatly needs to be encouraged in schools.

As regards calling something 'black' such as a blackboard, I turn to South Park and satire to highlight my feelings regarding this point. A spade is a spade. What on earth are they going to call a white board? A caucasian board? Give me a break!

Wulf

Ahhh, non-uniform schools are teh sex

When I was in primary school, some posh brits were after enrolling their kids in the school and decided to pressure the teachers to make a school uniform.

None of the parents bought it as the chosen one was a really expensive green piece o' crap, so there was only a few kids who actually wore it, and the teachers couldn't do anything about it, hehe.

Anyway, school uniforms are a waste of money, we already gotta pay a loads for books. They should just ban certain clothes/hair styles and leave it at that...

weemcd

true, blazers can cost about £100! and they say its a cheap way to clothe your child. then thers shoes school jumper loadsa white shirts tie, then all the other school shiote and my school has £65 fees each year.

Vader

a uniform really is the cheapest way to go cause you only need one set of cloths for the entire year as opposed to parents constantly having to buy kids new clothes to keep up with changing fashions. I support this. What I dont like is the strict way dresscodes are inforced.

People should be able to express their individuality in small ways such as hairstyle footware jewlry and the way they wear their cloths. If girls wana wear their skirts so short that they are hidden under their jumpers thats fine by me

Syth

My school rule was thatyou couldn't have "bizzare or unusual" hairstyles, so I figured if everyone (bar one) dyed their hair purple and gelled it into spikes, tecknically the one kid with the short back and sides would have unusual hair (for the school), and would have to change it... Twoulda been fun, never didi it though...

AL][EN

It was the same with my day back when i went to school:

boys werent allowed to have spiked/long hair or any kind of dye in there hair. It was compulsary for girls to wear skirts and both boys and girls were not allowed to were any kind of jewelary (rings, ear rings etc)

My brother has just finished school and from what i he tells me its all different now (which is for the best), girls can wear what ever they want now. Spiked hair is ok for the lads and so is long hair but there's still no dying allowed and as far as im aware they can all wear jewelary now.

times change and things move on its the way of things i guess

sod

Originally posted by Vader
It was a strict catholic school run by patrician brothers and I refused to participate in religion class becaus I was a jedi knight

*clap clap clap* wish i'd thought of that

Mossy Monk

Originally posted by Vader
People should be able to express their individuality in small ways such as hairstyle footware jewlry and the way they wear their cloths. If girls wana wear their skirts so short that they are hidden under their jumpers thats fine by me

i agree with that but sometimes it goes overboard. we had a guy at our school who wore roller blades one day because it was better than walking apparently. he was sent home

dudara

When you're in school, obey the rules. If you decide to go to a particular school, you're agreeing to obey their rules. It's just rude otherwise to flaunt the rules (by that I mean it's okay to stretch them, but don't p*ss people off).

What you do in your own time is up to you entirely?

Though did you read about the woman who was thrown out of a Tesco in England during the heatwave for wearing a bikini?

Vader

When you're in school, obey the rules. If you decide to go to a particular school, you're agreeing to obey their rules.

some of the most influential people of all time didnt get on in school, Newton, Einstein, the Beatles to name but a few

Tusky

in my school we are not allowd put gel in our hair - beat that:rolleyes:

Kalina

My secondary school was a convent school with about 700 girls. The rules were very strict on jewellry, if you wore a nose-ring or more than 1 finger ring it would be confiscated and you were never sure you'd get them returned. Hair styles were usually not a problem, unless somebody showed up with green curls or something! The school and the tech were next to each other and if any of the girls were caught TALKING to guys across the wall they were in trouble. And if you were caught "Fraternizing" with any guys over lunch time the teachers would put you in the car and drag you back to school. They actually used to take it in turns to drive around the town at lunch to keep an eye on what the students were doing!
As far as I'm concerned that's taking discipline one step too far. It's a school they're running not a dictatorship!

dudara

ah, sure they were just trying to protet your catholic purity

Barry Aldwell

Originally posted by Kalina
And if you were caught "Fraternizing" with any guys over lunch time the teachers would put you in the car and drag you back to school. They actually used to take it in turns to drive around the town at lunch to keep an eye on what the students were doing!
As far as I'm concerned that's taking discipline one step too far. It's a school they're running not a dictatorship!

Unless it is set out in a legal document (my school has one in the journal, which you must sign) they have no duristiction over you outside of school. A lot of guys in my school complain about a rule that says that they must be fully dressed in the school uniform from when they leave their house, but they signed the contract, so they have no right to complain.

Vader

Unless it is set out in a legal document (my school has one in the journal, which you must sign) they have no duristiction over you outside of school

A lot of people make that mistake, signing a copy of the school rules is not a legaly binding contract, even if they tell you it is.
Untill you are 18 you cant enter a contract and your parents cant enter you into any contract which effects your statutary rights.
For example I had a master key for all the lockers in my school. Someone told the principal who then told me to empty my pockets, I refused and he produced a copy of the school rules which I had signed. One was to do whatever the principal said.
I asked him did he have a warrent and he just walked away and said nothing!

I must remind you that this guy was noe of thise strict Patrician Brothers and a total physco when it came to dicipline!