A boy was removed from his Riverside High School classroom in Florida for his choice of clothing. The boy came to school in high heel shoes and the teacher asked him to leave and go to the principle's office. The administration asked him to take them off and he did so willingly. Some students believe it is his way of expressing himself, while others feel that it is just to be a class clown. The principle told reporters that he was afraid that the kid would be bullied. There was nothing in the dress code about the types of shoes that boys and girls could wear. This relates to all the sexuality and AIDS talk that was going around last week. Any thoughts to add? Will bullying ever cease to be such a huge problem?
15 comments:
Although some of the students may have have believed that the student has the right to wear whatever he wants to school, I think the context of the situation is what really matters. The teacher, if anything, was only getting rid of a potential distraction for the rest of the class, and, by doing something so out of the ordinary, the student was probably calling more attention to himself then needed. Although there was nothing explicitly stated about shoes in the school dress code, the fact that it probably was a huge distraction for other students was why he was sent to the principle.
Aside from that, I doubt there is anything we could ever do to get rid of bullying. By this I mean that we will never completely eliminate it. The best we can do is to realize that everyone is a human being and deserves to be respected and treated like one. There are always going to be haters and bullies, but as we learned in psychology this past week, all it takes is for a person outside the situation to step in to stop it.
I can understand that the principal wanted to protect the student from being bullied, but just judging by his choice of clothes, that's really unfair and unjust. A student, regardless of gender, should be able to wear any type of clothing at school free of judgment and it's the principal's job to ensure that students are in a safe and secure environment. I guess the only exception as to when the boy should take off the high heels is when it becomes a distraction for other students.
Joe I have to disagree with you on this one. I think that the student should be able to wear whatever he/she wants. If other students are not mature enough to handle the situation and become distracted then that is on them. If the student isn't doing anything distracting then the principle has no right to tell to the student what to wear. As far as bullying goes, I believe that there will no be and end to bullying, cause there will always be people who dislike other people for whatever reason, and choose to handle it immaturely.
I don't think bullying will ever stop because there is always people out there that enjoy making fun of other people by their appearance or the way they act and to be honest everyone judges other people all the time. In this situation I think the student should have been allowed to wear what he wanted to and not be told to take them off. If he were to wear the high heels to school often, the students will eventually get used to it and move on which won't be causing such a big distraction.
After reading this post, I am even more outraged. For the school to take significant measures for the boy's safety all because of choosing to wear a pair heels, I mean come on. When I hear instances about this, I always bring my reasoning back to the first amendment and the freedom of expression. People should have the right to choose what they want to wear. This instant also got me thinking about a recent news story about a J Crew add that featured a little boy wearing pink nail polish. Would the authorities in these situation have reacted the same way if a girl decided to wear mens dress shoes or loafers, and furthermore would people have been so concerned if the boy in the J Crew add were a little girl who was dressed like a little boy... probably not. I just don't understand why people feel the need to take significant measures when all people want to do is express themselves.
Emily Zelter
After reading this article, I still have many unanswered question? For example, does the child already have a reputation as a "class clown"? Has the child been frequently bullied in the past? I feel like we're lacking a lot of background information, and it would be best to find out the context of the whole situation before we judge.
That being said, however, I do agree with Max in that students should, for the most part, be able to wear whatever they want. I do feel that there should be some regulations, such as banning clothes with swear words or other obscenities printed on them- basically banning clothes that may offend others. High heels, on the other hand, are normal, accepted fashion items. If girls are allowed to wear them, why shouldn't a boy be able to?
And as for the last question, I completely agree with everyone else's thought that, sadly, there will be no end to bullying. Bullying has become such an accepted part of school-life that no one, not even adults, really make an effort to stop it. In this article, the principal says that the administration forced the boy to get rid of his heels because "he was afraid that the kid would be bullied." Instead of targeting the actual bullies, the principal, the "top dog" of the school, is just trying to make sure that bullies have no reason to bully. To me, its absurd that the school is basically trying to suppress their students and try to make them "normal" just so they won't get bullied. If this type of "bully management" continues in schools, there will definitely be no end to the taunting.
I agree with Joe that the context is what matters. With just the information presented, we don't know enough to judge whether or not the teachers did the right thing in removing the boy from the class. This is most likely not a case of discrimination or repression of freedom of expression, but a reasonable precaution to prevent disruption. I believe that people have rights, but they can exercise them in ways that are not proper. The kid probably does have a right to wear high heels to school, but is there really a reason for him to do that, other than to attract attention? But again, we don't know the details of the circumstances, so passing judgment may be difficult. However, I really don't think this incidence warrants being in the news. It's the school's call, and whether it was the right choice or not, nothing serious happened, and I think this incident should have been left alone.
Regarding the problem of bullying, I really don't see any way for it to end. It's not just the social conditions that cause it, but there is something in human nature, especially in the nature of kids, that leads us to abuse power over our fellows. Educating on respect is important, as is more strongly encouraging kids to take a stand against bullying, but the problem will unfortunately never cease as long as human nature remains.
What if it was Halloween? No one gets pulled out of class for wearing even more extreme clothes than stilettos. I understand that Aragon is a very accepting and diverse community compared to a lot of other schools, but if all the teachers tried to pull students out of a class because they appear to be at the risk of being bullied, then there probably will be no class going on. People are targets of bullying for many reasons each and everyday, so the school is being overprotective in this case.
Ehhhhh... more context is needed. It seems from the original post that the teacher asked the student to leave and go to the principal's office because the shoes were becoming too much of a distraction in class. Unless the student was trying to make a (very) profound statement about gender roles & sexuality, it seems to me that the teacher did the right thing in sending him to the principal's office. Especially if it was causing a big commotion and ruckus in class. However, the principal's reasoning, IMO, is complete crap. Again, more context is needed, but from where I'm sitting right now, it looks like bullying wasn't such a big aspect of the situation, if at all. Looks more like a teacher getting pissed off at a student (who was maybe trying to be funny, maybe trying to spread a message), and that teacher sending him to the administration because of the disruption.
Not all that unreasonable to me.
I agree with Joe that although there was nothing in the dress code that stated boys cannot wear high heels, the fact that he did would probably cause more disruption in class and throughout the school if students saw him walking around in high heels. However, I'm sure that the boy was well aware of the consequences of his decision to wear heels; there definitely would be students who would target him and make fun of him, regardless of whether he wanted to express himself or "just be a class clown." I think that the boy was very brave to wear high heels to school if he wanted to express himself and freedom of dress. Although bullying does not seem like a problem that would ever end, those who aren't afraid of the bullying and can be courageous enough to take it, shouldn't refrain from doing so because they always have supporters standing behind them applauding their bravery and originality.
I am unable to decide if the school is violating its own code of conduct for apparel because there wasn't a given reason for why the teacher had to send the student to the principle's office for what he chose to wear. I can understand that the school may have wanted to prevent the student from distracting the rest of his classmates; however, I think it was quite unnecessary of them to actually send the kid away just because of his potential to attract attention. Students in a high school classroom setting should be mature enough to cope with such a minor distraction, which in this case, was barely noticeable. I don't think most kids would spend a entire class period staring and gawking at footwear at a male wearing high heels. Even if the school had good intentions and truly wanted to protect this kid from being bullied, the request they asked him to abide with is slightly contradictory in a way. By deciding to not tolerate this young man's choice of clothing, they are actually giving bullies a reason to persecute and harass those that do something like that. If the administration actually wanted to end any bullying that occurs on their campus, they should foster a safer environment for students like this boy by allowing high heels and other forms of apparel. Remember, tolerance breeds acceptance.
Im a strong believer in freedom of expression, and this situation is a prime example of what im talking about. The boy should be able to wear what he wishes without having to be outcasted for it-or have to feel bad about being unique. However, i understand how the school administration would ask him to take the heels off. It would most likely lead to being a distraction in class, and also the boy would be the ideal target for bullying (as Aly explained).
But I feel that if a child is questioned for his individuality, even by adults, then how can they feel like they can ever express themselves? Kids should'nt have to be put in a situation where they can't be the person they want to be in fear that they will be ostracizd for it. It's wrong, and only paves the way for self insecurities.
I don't think this article has anything to do with bullying, but more with what constitutes as a class disturbance. Now, excessive back talk or clear breach of school rules are completely valid grounds upon which a teacher can send a student to the principle's office, however a boy wearing high heels is questionable.
As many other students have stated in the comments, there is a lack of context. Was a special event going on that day? Is he normally a nuisance? Does he have a personal viewpoint which he is trying to express? If it was any normal day and the boy just wanted to wear high heels than I don't think the teacher had any right to send him away. He did not break any school rules and if the class was getting sidetracked by it then it is the teacher's job to focus the other students.
The way I see it, if the boys wants to wear hels, then he better damn well be able to wear heels. If we want to talk gender-normative fashion, it wasn't until WWII where women could wear pants. So saying "oh well since it's out of the ordinary and might cause distraction" is basically invalid. If the other kids can't deal with it, oh well. And why does the boy need a reason to wear heels? Why did I need a "reason" to run for prom queen? We demand all these explanations from people who're just doing what they feel like. Now to comment on the original post, I think that the administration had good intentions, but I think it's a cop out. They send the wrong message by saying because who you are might have some negative consequences, you should change yourself to avoid confrontation and make out jobs easier.
Now look. This poor kid can do whatever he damn well please under CA law (Idk what state this was in). Gender on-conforming students are protected under CA law and he could, if he waned" refused legally to take them off.
We will see how this turns out, but this is an interesting story for sure :)
And as long as the heels were cute and he could walk in them well, that's all that matters :)
I think the Principal discouraging the student from wearing the high heels was wrong because the student should have been able to do whatever they wanted to do. I get that the principal did not want student to be teased but the student put them on so that means he wanted to do it. No second questioning.
And as to bullying it has gotten more intense. Especially with computers and phones. It has found different ways and forms to seep into society. It is horrible, I grew up being bullied from when I was really small to early high school and it is horrible no matter how old you are. It definitely has gotten worse but it feels like it may never be stopped because I look at it as a monster and it adapts and changes forms. People just need to know what is right and what is not and to step up and stand up against it. And for me it effects mentally more because I still have times when I think about when I was beat up or picked on and it stays with you forever and changes you. There are times when a symbol or person reminds me of a incident that happend with me being bullied in the past and it really makes me upset and makes me angry when I see other picked on.
There is no systematic way of stopping bullying because a lot of kids refuse to say they were bullied and some people enjoy the thrill or power of bullying and it is wrong.
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