Thanks Brie, your presentation and especially your analogy of the football field brought some concepts home for me. I also thought it was really cool that you researched an a capella group at Tufts! On the subject of saggin, I truly wonder what kids would say if you told them its origin. My personal opinion is that saggin is indecent exposure, it has no place in a school. No question. It is personal style, and so one could make the argument that outlawing it means outlawing a form of self expression, but it is an extreme form that has negative consequences in school and out. The one I am undecided on is hats. The main reason I wouldn't want hats in school is that sometimes they signify real or fake allegiance to gangs. In Austin, I walked down a 7th grade student down to a separate portable (in school suspension) because he was wearing an all blue cap for the second time that week. I can understand both the rule and a reason why he would wear the cap even if he wasn't affiliated with the gang - it gave him power and confidence in school. Does a school law against hats really deal with the issue at hand? Taking the student away from class sometimes seems to give him more power, and it keeps him from learning. How do we build a positive school culture if many kids in the school affiliate with opposing gangs? How can we help students to understand that learning should be their priority when a much more salient issue for them is being top dog?
Does anyone know if gangs have a large presence in Boston? How does it affect our kids?
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