Rapides Parish School Board to Review “Braids” Policy
I don’t have any objection to people wearing braids in their hair; the fact that this is even a point of contention seems funny to me. However, at the same time, if they’re going to enact this policy, then they should let the hippy kids and the goth kids wear their hair however they see fit as well. There shouldn’t be a double-standard when it comes to hairstyles.
CenLamar 
true, but isnt one of the ideas behind making them wear uniforms to reinforce a uniform cookie cutter type populace?
Right. But I’ve always been an opponent of the uniform policy in public schools. Empirical data suggests that uniforms do not have a noticeable effect on incidents of deliquency or violence. As I have said before, uniforms only serve to reinforce the feeling of being institutionalized. Perhaps this is what we want here in Cenla: Our schools enforcing rules as if they were prisons. Perhaps this creates the illusion of safety and order. But again, it’s just an illusion. School shootings are just as likely (or unlikely) to happen in a school with a uniform policy as they are in a school without one.
The problem the system has is that it is virtually impossible to create an objective standard of what is NOT acceptable attire in public schools. Kids will always find a way to circumvent it. The only fair objective way to regulate appearance is to dictate what shall be worn. This is not some power play. Before uniforms, school officials spent huge amounts of class time dealing with shirts that said “Fuck” and pictures of various disruptive things. Kids got sent home because some teacher didn’t like their appearance or message. Now it is easier to keep the focus on educating these kids instead of all the ancillary bullshit issues. I know, I was in the system then and now.
I really don’t think the purpose of school uniforms is to abate violence so much as it to promote education. This is not the same homogenious school population that your grandmother taught. These kids have all sorts of issues and influences and viewpoints that weren’t in the schoolhouse several decades ago. Another consideration is that, with all the cultural differences facing the school population (students, faculty & administration) you get rid of a lot of the subjectivity imposed by individual predjudice and give everyone an objective reference of what is acceptable. You cannot imagine the amount of time taken away from educational objectives by this kind of stuff. This removes a number of issues and the disruptions they promote.
When you allow students to run things you’re always going to have problems. By keeping a uniform policy, it reduces the need for the teachers to police what students are wearing. Teachers have enough to deal with without worrying about too short skirts or graphic language on shirts, etc. There would be FAR FEWER problems in schools if more parents actually KNEW what their children were doing in school! Far too many parents haven’t a CLUE as to what their kid is doing in school. Some don’t even know the teacher’s name! Been there, done that, so I’m not just rambling.
The uniform policy is ridiculous. Go to ASH when school starts and sit in the parking lot and watch the kids go in. That’s not a uniform. Now, Menard… that’s a uniform. Also, I agree. If you can wear braids, why can’t the hippie kid wear long hair?
You mean the local school system where they still read stories to 11th graders? The school system that encourages students to barely achieve? Please. Education is suppose to be challenging but all this school board and those who work for it care about it is the small, inconsequential things.
Having spent time teaching in higher ed. has taught me that Rapides Parish doesn’t give a shit about getting the best it can from the students. Braids? Hair length? Uniforms? Come the fuck on. Look around the country and you’ll find high achieving districts that do NOT concern themselves with such things. Let the students wear whatever. Seemed to work well when I graduated in 1999.
no