Student Suspended for wearing a dress.

[Strazdas]

Fire the person responsible for suspension and ban him from taking similar post in the future. he clearly does know anything about human rights and freedom.

 

[Flailing Escapist]

I don't know about anyone else but in the school I grew up in girls HAD to wear dresses (err-longer skirts not quite dresses) and boys HAD to wear (dress<- lol get it?) pants.

Tho I'm glad to say my high school isn't that stingy. One of my friends wore a dress to all the the school dances and to a couple games. His girlfriend wore a dress too.

And if I thought I looked good in a dress, I wouldn't see any shame in wearing it. /end

 

[Instinct Blues]

there's a fairly simple explanation, and you've already given it: it's weird. it's unusual. it's unexpected. and that's fine; you have a right to feel that way. But people also have a right to dress how they wish to.

Not if its against the school dress code and I know that in this situation its not, but there are some rules that are unwritten that everyone just adheres to because they make sense. It like no one tells you its against the rules to flip a desk upside down or start shouting in the class room because they never thought anyone would be that stupid to actually do it. It'd be a completely different situation if this kid was cross-dresser or a homosexual, but hes not he just made a stupid bet with his mom and it bit him in the ass.

this rule doesn't make sense though. how would they know the reason he did it? why does it matter if he's homosexual or not? does that make it any less 'disruptive', assuming it's even disruptive at all?

It matters because then that would be his way of expressing his homosexuality to the school and to have to the school crush that and give him a suspension would be grossly offensive. As it stands though this kid is a repeat offender and has broken many school rules regarding dress code in the past. This is just the last straw for the school because this kid seems like a little entitled asshole who thinks he can do what he wants and not get in trouble. But thats not the case so now hes making a big deal about what amounts to nothing because he doesn't want to get in trouble. I have no problem with people being weird, zany, unorthodox, and genuinely out of the ordinary, however it seems to me like this kid is trying his best to push the school rules just for the sake of doing it not because he is genuinely a weird person.

It reminds me of all the time in high school when me and my friends would discuss wacky things we could do because they aren't in the handbook, but in the end we never did them because they were fucking stupid and not worth the hassle. Also I'd like to point out the ridiculousness of this even being a news story it seems to me that they're trying to make it another Tinker V. Des Moines, which it most certainly is not.

 

[Shoqiyqa]

Meh. If some girl wants to get covered in acid, hacked with machetes and set on fire, who are we to stop her?

So I take it you think suicide should be illegal?

No, but I do think that a person shouldn't be able to cover his own daughter in acid, hack her up with a machete or set her on fire just because she "shamed" the family by wanting to choose her own husband or get away from an arranged marriage to a 60-yr-old she'd never met who used her as a domestic slave and sex toy ...

... but there are, clearly, people who disagree with me on that matter, and in some areas they are prevalent enough for that attitude to count as normal, at least among the heterosexual males who have all the power because they're normal.

It may be a more extreme example of the "normal" people mistreating the different ones becasue they're different, but it's the same behaviour.

You asked "who are we to stop" the school bullies pushing him down stairs, stealing his lunch money, throwing his homework in the river, beating him to a pulp et cetera.

Well, who we are to stop that is who we are to stop any other behaviour like that.

 

[cobra_ky]

there's a fairly simple explanation, and you've already given it: it's weird. it's unusual. it's unexpected. and that's fine; you have a right to feel that way. But people also have a right to dress how they wish to.

Not if its against the school dress code and I know that in this situation its not, but there are some rules that are unwritten that everyone just adheres to because they make sense. It like no one tells you its against the rules to flip a desk upside down or start shouting in the class room because they never thought anyone would be that stupid to actually do it. It'd be a completely different situation if this kid was cross-dresser or a homosexual, but hes not he just made a stupid bet with his mom and it bit him in the ass.

this rule doesn't make sense though. how would they know the reason he did it? why does it matter if he's homosexual or not? does that make it any less 'disruptive', assuming it's even disruptive at all?

It matters because then that would be his way of expressing his homosexuality to the school and to have to the school crush that and give him a suspension would be grossly offensive. As it stands though this kid is a repeat offender and has broken many school rules regarding dress code in the past. This is just the last straw for the school because this kid seems like a little entitled asshole who thinks he can do what he wants and not get in trouble. But thats not the case so now hes making a big deal about what amounts to nothing because he doesn't want to get in trouble. I have no problem with people being weird, zany, unorthodox, and genuinely out of the ordinary, however it seems to me like this kid is trying his best to push the school rules just for the sake of doing it not because he is genuinely a weird person.

It reminds me of all the time in high school when me and my friends would discuss wacky things we could do because they aren't in the handbook, but in the end we never did them because they were fucking stupid and not worth the hassle. Also I'd like to point out the ridiculousness of this even being a news story it seems to me that they're trying to make it another Tinker V. Des Moines, which it most certainly is not.

He IS entitled to do what he wants and not get in trouble, because there ISN'T a rule against what he did. There's a rule against hats? Fine. Suspend him if he wears a hat again. Don't arbitrarily punish him for rules you just made up.

I'd say any 15-year-old boy who wears a dress and heels to school is genuinely pretty fuckin' weird. Not that it matters, because it's completely irrelevant WHY he wore the dress. It's either an allowable form of expression, or it's not. Restrict a form of expression on the basis of the viewpoint being expressed is about as unconstitutional as it gets.

 

[Nihilism_Is_Bliss]

heh, heh. That school would have expelled my ass!

 

[Instinct Blues]

there's a fairly simple explanation, and you've already given it: it's weird. it's unusual. it's unexpected. and that's fine; you have a right to feel that way. But people also have a right to dress how they wish to.

Not if its against the school dress code and I know that in this situation its not, but there are some rules that are unwritten that everyone just adheres to because they make sense. It like no one tells you its against the rules to flip a desk upside down or start shouting in the class room because they never thought anyone would be that stupid to actually do it. It'd be a completely different situation if this kid was cross-dresser or a homosexual, but hes not he just made a stupid bet with his mom and it bit him in the ass.

this rule doesn't make sense though. how would they know the reason he did it? why does it matter if he's homosexual or not? does that make it any less 'disruptive', assuming it's even disruptive at all?

It matters because then that would be his way of expressing his homosexuality to the school and to have to the school crush that and give him a suspension would be grossly offensive. As it stands though this kid is a repeat offender and has broken many school rules regarding dress code in the past. This is just the last straw for the school because this kid seems like a little entitled asshole who thinks he can do what he wants and not get in trouble. But thats not the case so now hes making a big deal about what amounts to nothing because he doesn't want to get in trouble. I have no problem with people being weird, zany, unorthodox, and genuinely out of the ordinary, however it seems to me like this kid is trying his best to push the school rules just for the sake of doing it not because he is genuinely a weird person.

It reminds me of all the time in high school when me and my friends would discuss wacky things we could do because they aren't in the handbook, but in the end we never did them because they were fucking stupid and not worth the hassle. Also I'd like to point out the ridiculousness of this even being a news story it seems to me that they're trying to make it another Tinker V. Des Moines, which it most certainly is not.

He IS entitled to do what he wants and not get in trouble, because there ISN'T a rule against what he did. There's a rule against hats? Fine. Suspend him if he wears a hat again. Don't arbitrarily punish him for rules you just made up.

I'd say any 15-year-old boy who wears a dress and heels to school is genuinely pretty fuckin' weird. Not that it matters, because it's completely irrelevant WHY he wore the dress. It's either an allowable form of expression, or it's not. Restrict a form of expression on the basis of the viewpoint being expressed is about as unconstitutional as it gets.

I'd like to point out that just because there isn't a rule about doesn't mean there shouldn't be a rule about it. Its like I said before there are unwritten rules that people follow just because they make sense they usually don't have to be spelled out for everyone because they just get it right from the beginning. Also, you can use the Constitution as a shield in situations regarding school because most of you're constitutional rights are left at the door because the school must be allowed to set up rules that will be conducive to a learning environment and lower the amount of distractions kids already have to deal with.

Yes you still have the freedom of expression in school, but does that mean you can walk around making obscene displays or speeches? No it doesn't.

As Chief Justice Warren Burger put it
?The undoubted freedom to advocate unpopular and controversial views in schools and classrooms must be balanced against the society's countervailing interest in teaching students the boundaries of socially appropriate behavior.?

And as most people see it a boy wearing a dress is not socially appropriate behavior and therefore it shouldn't be allowed in a public school. End of story.

 

[cobra_ky]

I'd like to point out that just because there isn't a rule about doesn't mean there shouldn't be a rule about it. Its like I said before there are unwritten rules that people follow just because they make sense they usually don't have to be spelled out for everyone because they just get it right from the beginning. Also, you can use the Constitution as a shield in situations regarding school because most of you're constitutional rights are left at the door because the school must be allowed to set up rules that will be conducive to a learning environment and lower the amount of distractions kids already have to deal with.

Yes you still have the freedom of expression in school, but does that mean you can walk around making obscene displays or speeches? No it doesn't.

As Chief Justice Warren Burger put it
?The undoubted freedom to advocate unpopular and controversial views in schools and classrooms must be balanced against the society's countervailing interest in teaching students the boundaries of socially appropriate behavior.?

And as most people see it a boy wearing a dress is not socially appropriate behavior and therefore it shouldn't be allowed in a public school. End of story.

Spoiler: We've been over this already.

this rule doesn't make sense though. how would they know the reason he did it? why does it matter if he's homosexual or not? does that make it any less 'disruptive', assuming it's even disruptive at all?

Earlier you said it would be a "completely different situation" if the boy was homosexual, because suspending him for expressing his homosexuality[footnote]It's more an expression of transgenderism than homosexuality, actually. but i know what you mean.[/footnote] would be "grossly offensive". Now you're saying it's not socially appropriate and shouldn't be allowed. Which is it? Wearing a dress is either socially appropriate or it isn't. You can't make up new dress codes that only apply to certain students just because you don't like the reason they're dressing that way.

 

[WhiteandNeardy99]

Sorry - but am I the only one here that thinks a guy wearing a dress (not a kilt) is just well...

Wrong?

I am sorry but that would just be a distraction and just wierd imo.

When girls wear guys clothes - it's fine since many guys clothes for the most part are mono-gender. Meaning they can really fit either or. Except for some few ones.

For people who say: But theres no specific rule saying that he can't.

Well my school rules say nothing against bringing a katana to school. But I know I shouldn't.

Pretty sure it would have been down somewhere about students bringing offensive weapons to school, or at least down in the laws governing your region.

 

[Shoqiyqa]

Spoiler

Ohhhh yay, masculinity. Women are congratulated for wearing pants while men are vilified for wearing dresses. I think it's screwed up and fundamentally flawed.

Spoiler: Fun picture

Note: the "you" is directed at people who display that attitude.

So what if he did it as a dare, or as a statement, or for attention? One could argue that it's a valid protest if he's doing it aware of the background of transphobia and gender roles. In fact, I think we should be encouraging men to wear clothes gendered female. More skirts for men!

Agreed with the picture, 120%.

http://www.misfile.com/?page=129
http://www.misfile.com/?page=598

OT: If I'm allowed to buy my clothes from the mens' department[footnote]They have better cargo pants and Star Wars tee shirts.[/footnote] then what exactly is the difference?

Further to that footnote, menswear Levis are always an inch smaller than the label says, so elfin, long-legged 15-yr-olds who can't get jeans to fit in Topshop may do well to go next door to Topman and try those. You'll still need a belt, but it works.

 

[En Row]

I wish I had that kind of mother

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

...seriously?

I mean, I can see it being potentially disruptive in a classroom, so they're absolutely justified in taking him out and asking him to change (First Amendment rights are legally curtailed in instances of disruptive behaviour interfering with teaching). While it would be nice to be able to say that nonconformity shouldn't be a problem, it often is disruptive especially among a group of high school freshmen.

It would be another matter entirely if this were at a school dance or during lunch or something similar, but they're absolutely justified in asking that he stop the behaviour, both legally and, at least so far as I myself can see, ethically.

I'm not intending to sell conformity to gender roles, but among most high schoolers (certainly those I went to school with), something like this would be incredibly disruptive. The justification is only about gender roles indirectly - the main issue is that the behaviour is disruptive.

This was the line that got me though: "The school suspended him for the remainder of the year. That suspension was later reduced to three days."

What the hell kind of school suspends students for an ENTIRE YEAR for wearing inappropriate clothing? And then they say "lol just kidding, three days"? It sounds like a bad movie where a ten-year-old gets to run the school for a day. The thing about the dance and class trip are just ludicrous. There is absolutely no justification for punishment for something this minor, even if there is justification for intervening in the classroom.

And what is this about him getting in trouble for makeup? I can't imagine that being quite as disruptive unless he's walking around with full drag makeup on. The hat thing is stupid, but sort of immune since most schools adopted that ban as a (hopelessly outdated) gang-related thing.

Edit: Just clicked through to the link and man, dude really did pull off the dress and heels pretty impressively.

 

[Wyatt118]

Our school principal forced a kid out of his lochness monster costume even though it was for a school report.Blasphemy!

 

[EternalFacepalm]

So I can't go to school in my wizard robe? What? :<

 

[YesIPlayTheBagpipes]

ehh-i dinnae see the problem.

 

[Korten12]

having an ugly face inst a choice so its ok?

Yes! What do you not understand? If a person has down-syndrome and has a deformed face - I would never hold them against that since IT ISN'T THEIR FAULT NOR CHOICE.

you dont understand how selfish you sound do you? your saying if someone makes a choice to be visually displeasing to you its wrong. you would essentially assert your standard onto other people simply so you would not be momentary disturbed

No it isn't selfish it's just MY FUCKING OPNINION. My opninion is that guy's shouldn't wear dresses or any girls clothes because they aren't Unisex! (Thanks Lythiaren for the appropriate word) Dresses and things like that WEREN'T MADE FOR GUYS. That's it - final. Never did the creators of the clothes the kid worse think: I think a lot of guys will want to wear these. They didn't because they had girls in mind.

image with me a scenario where the song you hate the most is being played while your riding in your friends car. now imagine your friend really likes this song, so you are in a bit of a predicament. your choice is simple you ask your friend to please change this song stating how you really don't like it, but if he says no do you have any right to to be frustrated with him? would you tell him listing to this song is wrong because it bothers you?

Songs and clothes are two DIFFERENT things, if they play a song I don't like in their car. Well it's their car and plus I wouldn't be disturbed. That was just irrelevant. Plus the current topic is about gender and last time I checked - songs don't have a specific gender.

just think about that. just think about whether it is really ok to call what other people enjoy wrong because it bothers you.

It doesn't matter because the situation you told is IRRELEVANT.

 

[JET1971]

The suspension only came about after he decided to say that the dean was being sexist.

He was not being suspended for wearing a dress to school. He was suspended for insulting the dean. I suspect the reversal of the suspension came around when the administration realized that the punishment was excessive. I'd say the dean probably pushed for his exclusion from the dance and trip because of the personal insult.

Telling the truth no matter how insulting is not grounds for suspension. Hell people insult the president all the time in much worse ways and he wont be sending the secret service to take revenge for it. http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bl-obama-cartoons.htm?PS=578%3A9

If the principal suspended him for that then the principal abused his power ontop of discrimination. I worked for a highschool and the principle had to be carefull when dealing with issues such as a boy wearing a dress.. and we had one who would dress in girls clothes everyday and the policy was to not say or do anything about it because it would be discrimination.

The school wanted to enact a no hat policy, every student started wearing a hat in protest. In the end the policy was deemed to be overreaching and the only clothes that could be in the dress code were clothes that show too much cleavage, skirts and shorts that are too short. shirts with swear words, ciggarette or alcohol advertisements, or sexual themed. They did not ban hats because there are students from India who wear turbans, jewish students with skull caps. every student in the FFA program with cowboy hats or baseball caps including the teacher. the Jrotc students had hats, baseball team had hats. they couldnt ban hats because that was considered discrimination.

 

[LarenzoAOG]

I don't really think that this is such a big problem, sure if a guy wants to wear a dress whatever, thats fine, but this is school, school's have rules, if you break them you get in trouble, and their isn't a single public school that I know of that doesn't have a "No distracting clothes rule," I'd say a boy in a dress and high heels with blue hair would seem distracting to most 9th graders.

He seems like the guy who'd do something stupid for shits and giggles and it's clear he's gotten in touble for similar things before, it seems he should have quit while he was ahead.

Maybe if he actually was a transvestite and he actually wanted to be a girl this would be a huge problem, but it seems like he and his mom had a silly bet, so its not like there should be some silly moral crusade, but his mom doesn't agree:

"I found that very offensive. They told him he couldn't be him," shut up ***** you made a bet with him, he's not being opressed and forced to be something he's not.

Any way maybe if the story was more that 3 or 4 paragraphs long we could come to a conclusion as to who is in the wrong but it seems this kid knew what he was getting into and he has to pay the consequences, if he really wanted to go the the dance and the trip he should have waited until after they happened to do the stunt.