Education Community Forum: Student Behavior & Dress-4/19

[Stephen Calhoun]

I don't live in Lakewood, don't have any children (that I know of,) and cannot have any investment in decisions made in this matter.

I do have an opinion. One, to voluntarily opt to do an experiment about school dress obtains a result with respect to a hypothesis. If the hypothesis is concerned with what benefits and what costs come about in the aftermath of such an experiment then it may be worth doing for a couple of months for the sake of concrete learning.

Free expression is always qualified by specific arrays of benefits and costs that result from doing the experiment of 'free expression'.

***

I went to Hawken School from 1970-1972. The high school had a dress code: jacket, tie, leather shoes. However, given the force of the free expression component of the early seventies counter-culture, during the 70/71 school year, it came about that the extravagant inventories of 40s and 50s style suits, including zoot suits, velvet smoking jackets, and english double breasters found at downtown the Salvation Army Shop became the source for prep school sartorial style. You have to close your eyes and imagine the shoulder and longer hair flowing over crisp summer linen ensembles mated to woven Italian loafers. Eventually, the school's administration declared the dress code to be narrow not broad. The suits were put away. In any case, it was an object lesson in expression finding its channel regardless of the imposition of rules.

Also, I vacationed in Barbados. There the British style public school puts everybody in uniforms. Accustomed to this structure, Bajan schools seemed to work fine. Although no connection can be correlated, literacy is higher in Barbados than it is in the United States. The thing might be this: education is effective there for a variety of reasons. My memory is of smiling girls and boys exiting from school buses as we snaked along behind the buses on the narrow Bajan roads at the end of those February days.

[Dan Slife]

The Board of Education will be holding their monthly meeting tomorrow, 7/11 at 7:00 p.m. in the board auditorium at the board of education on Warren Rd.

Word has it that a large citizen/student turnout is expected. I encourage all interested observers to attend this meeting, it may be an interesting night.

Please spread the word. You as citizens have elected this school board to serve the public good on your behalf. It's your responsibility to be there, no matter what your take.

[Kenneth Warren]

Mike:

I hope that my posts about the spirit of experimentation and consensus at work in the dress code controversy are not a source of trouble.

Your post made me think about how we might approach the complexities of the dress code matter through the lens of motivation and archetypes.

The image mix in Lakewood is evidently shifting by way of the Lakewood City Schools more restrictive dress code. As a result, the motivations that were satisfied through expression by way of various images will evidently be stifled, presumably to serve some higher educational purpose.

Your post reveals how different people will interpret actions taken by Lakewood Schools with respect to images and codes. In the process, the meanings unleashed from such differing interpretations about images, permitted and denied, will have an impact on psyches across the city.

I hope that the Lakewood Observer will at least provide us with an opportunity to learn more about ourselves, our motivations, and the dreams to which are hitched images of ourselves in community, even when the going gets tough.

To my mind, the purpose of the dress code experiment would be to evaluate whether or not access to certain images and motivations improves learning in our students.

By participating intelligently in this process, we can at least help each other make sense of differences over vision and how the balance of power might be shifting toward a set of motivations that you might not share.

What do you do? Home school? Look for a charter school? If such is your response to the new restrictions, you need to let the school system know how you interpet this limitation.

The proof is ultimately in the pudding. Did the education and learning environment improve for our children?

I am not trying to sell you on the correctness of the dress code. I simply want to provide a means of thinking about the situation in a psychological way.

I will use a book called The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes by Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson, which is owned by Lakewood Public Library.

The book lays out the following motivational axes:

Stability -- Mastery


Belonging -- Independence

Now gauge how far toward the stability and belonging points the new dress code is pushing motivational drives. The degree is more pronounced than when you were in school.

It seems to me also that stability and belonging are accentuated over independence and mastery.

What do you think?

Are there any economic and social conditions that have changed that might activate among people in the community the drive toward stability and belonging?

Will the program work? I don't know.

Can the community enter into such an experiment intelligently, aware of the motivations that are driving the restrictive action to a proper educational result? I certainly hope so.

Are things going too far toward stability and belonging? I don't know.

Consider these points below, also taken from The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes.

Stability and Control
Archetypes – Creator, Caregiver, Ruler
Customer Fears – Financial ruin, ill health, uncontrolled chaos
Effect on People – Feel safe

Belonging and enjoyment
Archetypes – Jester, Regular Guy/Gal, Lover
Customer Fears – Exile, orphaning, abandonment, engulfment
Effect on People – Feel love/community

Risk & Mastery
Archetypes – Hero, Outlaw, Magician
Customer Fears – Ineffectuality, impotence, powerlessness
Effect on People – Achieve

Independence & Fulfillment
Archetypes – Innocent, Explorer, Sage
Customer Fears – Entrapment, Selling out, Emptiness
Effect on People – Find happiness

Now reflect on the very economic conditions you cite.

Do you see why motivations for stability and control are likely to surface in a consensus building process?

Can you see the archetypes that will soon have the upper hand?

Can you see that such archetypes as the hero, the outlaw and the magician may not easily find expression through the more restrictive dress code?

The key question is whether or not a child under image subjagation to the hero, outlaw, or magician archetype is learning more or less and how that image is bearing on the total learning environment.

These are not easy answers.

I certainly don't know the answers and I am not trying to sell you on the decision. I simply want to provide a critical lens for thinking about situation in terms of balance, image, learning and motivation.

With people expressing a sense that the dress code is over the top, I believe that it is critical that people consider the consensus process, along with the larger archetypal, developmental, economic, motivational and social context.

Only then can we recognize the means to balance all these motivations within the framework of effective education.

Again, your insights will help us make sense of what is happening.

Thanks for posting.

Kenneth Warren

[dl meckes]

I hadn't considered what would happen to students who are either involved in special education or have some other academic problems. Some of these students have issues with clothing that average students do not face.

When these students have problems at school, they must have something called "manifestation meetings." These meetings include a number of people who must take time out of their normal schedules or time away from their normal duties, to discuss the student's issues and there's always the question of whether the student can remain in school if they have too many rule infractions.

Even if the dress code rules are relaxed for special ed students, they face being singled out again for being "different" due to a dress code exemption. These students have enough problems without having more barriers placed in their way.

[STOSH BURGESS]

Couple of things about my background, first I do not have any kids that attend Lakewood schools yet. The fact that I live and own a house here entitles me to a voice, when your kids start their public education in Lakewood do you then start paying more taxes, no. Second, I did not attend Lakewood Schools growing up, I went to Berea High school. I did not know about the new rules (I was working on other community projects that kept me on that one track) and I work odd hours that prevent me from attending many civic meetings. My wife is a high school physics teacher (not in Lakewood) and feel the same way, this dress code is absurd. That being all said here are my thoughts. We have a responsibility to make education as accessible as possible. Putting strict dress codes can cause problems for poor families that will have to work harder and jump though hoops to meet the new requirements. Imagine the single mother that has two kids and on a tight budget, true there are options for kids to get cheap clothes, but these options might seem demeaning and reinforce some thoughts in that the poor are second class citizens that do not know how to dress. I am sure these kids already feel bad that they can not have the clothes they really want and now they are told the clothes that they do have, they can not wear to get the free education that they are entitled. Wearing certain dress attire should not be a requirement for receiving an education. ("if you do not dress our way, you will not recieve a education, you will be sent home") I actually dressed very nice in high school, Oxford shirts, dress slacks, and the boat shoes (and people did actually think I got good grades, fellow students where shocked when they saw my grades, it was the kids with green hair that where expected to do poorly). I barely graduated and walk out with a 2.1 GPA. So what does that say (well it does explain the grammatical errors). Have you ever bought an outfit you really liked and then go out somewhere and feel really confident, this is how we want our kids to feel. I am sure many of you might have had to wear an outfit that your mom made you wear and all day you felt insecure and preoccupied by the fact of how stupid you thought you looked, this would be a distraction. Kids with green hair do just as well in school as those with natural color. Also the kids that sit next the kid with green hair I am sure would do just a well if they sat next to a kid with natural color. I had one real distraction in high school and that was girls. If my school district would have just banned girls I might have been a lot better with the grammar. (I understand the fact that typing up a message here is easy and a lazy way to try to make changes. It is also not fair to those who really have tried to look out for the best interests for all those involved. I am not trying to bash those involved in making these decision, I understand that things are often more complicated than they might appear. I only want to offer a different perspective that happens to be a bit emotional for my family, who often do not look like the “Jonesâ€Â￾ family next door.)

[Lynn Farris]

I too love casual dress and I believe in personal freedom. However, I wonder if there has been any studies done that show that students who are dressed more formally learn better. It seems to me that I remember a study to that effect when I was in college, many, many years ago.

I know prep schools and many parochial schools have fairly strict dress codes. Is there reason for this? Just curious if anyone knows.

[Grace O'Malley]

Lynn

Many administrators and teachers believe that strict dress codes improve learning and discipline in the classroom, but that belief is based more on perception and anecdotal information rather than any actual study.

In fact, the studies that have been done have not been able conclusively prove that dress codes do any such thing; they cannot be proven to contribute to discipline or an increase in academic achievement.

While many point to the private and parochial schools as the model for dress codes and discipline, they fail to acknowledge that those schools have other more important factors that contribute to a more disciplined environment, like selective admission, tuition barriers, ability to remove permanently any disruptive student, and a generally higher socioeconomic class of parents.

Looking to a dress code as a means of solving deeper problems in the system is like putting a band-aid on a burst artery. IMO. its a misdirected effort that focuses attention away from more serious concerns.

Here is some info:



http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2000_02/white.htm

From this site:

Anecdotal Evidence
Despite Smith’s beliefs and those of like-minded policymakers and school officials, research on the effects of school uniforms has been inconclusive or mixed.

In a 1995 study seeking an answer to the question of whether dress codes and school uniforms can help curb school violence and other antisocial behaviors, Lillian O. Holloman, a professor in the department of clothing and textiles at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, concluded that it depends on whom you ask. That's because much of the debate between advocates and opponents, she says, is based on anecdotal accounts rather than scientific data, which is difficult to extract.

But a 1996 paper on school uniforms and school safety by M. Sue Stanley, a professor of education at California State University at Long Beach, says uniforms can "reduce the emphasis on fashion wars" and, in the long run, help reduce the financial strain of clothing costs on low-income families. Stanley says school uniforms can help encourage students to concentrate on learning, rather than on what to wear, and are "social equalizers" that help to promote peer acceptance and school pride.

A 1997 study by David L. Brunsma, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Kerry A. Rockquemore, an assistant professor of sociology at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., however, says school uniforms "have no direct effect on substance use, behavioral problems or attendance." And, contrary to other studies and hundreds of anecdotal accounts, the authors find a negative effect of uniforms on academic achievement.

"Instituting a school uniform policy can be viewed as analogous to cleaning and brightly painting a deteriorating building," they conclude. "On the one hand, it grabs our immediate attention. On the other hand, it is only a coat of paint."

[/quote]

[Jim O'Bryan]

Lynn

Many administrators and teachers believe that strict dress codes improve learning and discipline in the classroom, but that belief is based more on perception and anecdotal information rather than any actual study.

In fact, the studies that have been done have not been able conclusively prove that dress codes do any such thing; they cannot be proven to contribute to discipline or an increase in academic achievement.

Here is my fear, after hearing a letter that has been sent out to some of the masses.

The fallout from this dress code.

From everything I have heard or read, the dress code is either not enforceable, illegal, or subjective. That even when passed, many educators have said publicly to me they have no interest in enforcing the dress code, for a variety of reasons ranging from "not my job" to "I do not want to alienate the students farther."

So in a system that is going through rapid, and very rough changes over the next year, what fallout will occur from a very good school board that believed the answer was clothing, to the teachers that feel they are at the end of their rope. Will they feel like they lost another battle, will they feel like they are indeed losing control?

As many of us are now doing in the city, wouldn't it be better to find the areas where agreement is strong and push for those changes now. Engage the students, challenge the students. Then worry about the smaller battles down the road.

I think what bothers me most of the whole issue, is that it has been played out time and again for decades and decades. Each generation is worse then the generation before. I find it hard to believe that any group taxed the system more than the years of 68-74.

Jim O'Bryan

[Shelly Gould Burgess]

First and foremost, I appreciate the work of those who served on the conduct committee. I tend to serve on these committees in the district in which I teach (high school physics), so I know the effort and care that goes into these projects. However, I now see that I need to turn my attentions to the committees in my home city of Lakewood, because I am appalled at the dress code decisions.

Here are my points:

1. Noted developmental psychologist Erik Erikson put forth that the main psychosocial conflict children must solve during their teenage years is developing an identity. This is why teens rebel. Without some sort of pushing away of the elders who have defined their identities throughout their lives, teens cannot effectively find out who they truly are. Hence rebellion is a healthy, normal part of teenage psychosocial development. Therefore...
a. Teens will find a way to rebel no matter what.
b. Most healthy teens do this by way of dress and music.
c. Denied the opportunity to express their blossoming individual sense of "me" via appearance, they will find other ways of rebelling. Where else are they to go? You can use your imaginations. I predict behavioral fallout that will be disruptive to education and the community.

2. I attended a college preparatory high school, and, as anyone in such a school will attest, even with uniforms students will find ways to express themselves via appearance.

3. I agree with my husband. Free education is a basic right we pride ourselves on in America. How dare we attach the requirement, "only if your hair is of a natural color." It's un-American.

4. Finally, as a teacher I can firmly state that any teacher worth her license can keep kids focused on learning regardless of the hair color, piercings, and clothing styles of her students. If a teacher cannot keep kids focused because of how kids dress or accessorize, get a new teacher or give the teacher some support via classroom management training.

5. The exception is lewd clothing. As my hubby mentioned, the biggest distraction to him during high school was the presence of girls. When those girls expose cleavege, or when boys show their underwear, that definitely distracts kids. It also makes teachers uncomfortable because our society is very sensitive about sexual impropriety between adults and students, and no teacher wants to be exposed to students dressing provocatively.

6. My school system has an excellent dress code. We ban provocative clothing and clothing with inappropriate (sexual, profane, or substance abuse-oriented) slogans and images. The kids have a clear sense of what is "school-appropriate", and staff and students frequently discuss what that term means. I love it. My district has done a great job, and dress code is, after the first couple of weeks of school, basically a non-issue. Why is it so successful? One reason: It is REASONABLE, and therefore teachers and administrators feel comfortable and confident enforcing it.

I am disappointed in the committee's and the Board's adoption of this unreasonable dress code. However, I must also acknowledge that I do not know the culture of LHS the way I know my own school's climate. Therefore my criticisms are admitedly not entirely well-informed.

One thing is certain. I will be spending more time being involved in these committees in Lakewood from now on, and perhaps I need to think about lending my experience and expertise in curriculum and classroom issues to the school board at some point.

Thank you to anyone who took the time to read all of this.

Bottom line: Don't make the kids feel the adults are unreasonably against them. That is what this code does.

Yours,
Shelly Gould Burgess

P.S. I was unable to attend tonight's school board meeting because I am recovering from minor surgery.

[Dan Slife]

Last night, at the board of education, Dr. Estrop proposed a moratorium on languange within the new code that prohibits clothing with lettering or images with the exception of small emblems and spirit wear. The board, with some reservations from Mrs. Shaungnessy and Mr. Fave, unanimously approved Dr. Estrops proposal.

A strange concensus emerged from the young audiance, filling over half the room. They are not opposed to wearing a uniform, but some are suspicious of the motivation for such policy.

LHS Junior Sam O'Leary charged that the campaign was more about cleaning up the student image for the population that foots the educational bill. To Sam, it seems as though this is less a genuine effort to transform education than it is a paint job in preperation for future levy campaigns. He suggested that the board of ed hire a P.R. firm.

It clear that things are changing at Lakewood High, something that proponents of the Dress Code have defined in no certain terms.

What is urban? What's an Urban population? How does a historically suburban population(institutional culture), in terms of economy,race, and cultural values, respond to the influx of an Urban population mix?

Can a dress code be a counter-cultural statement?

[Grace O'Malley]

I am pleased to hear that the school board has reconsidered the ill-advised dress code. My two main objections were to the printed/picture shirt restriction and the "unnatural hair color," both of which I felt were too stringent.

And Shelly Gould Burgess, too bad you don't teach in Lakewood. You sound like a wonderful teacher. I thoroughly enjoyed your well written and insightful post, especially from someone "in the trenches."

I know several teachers at LHS who run a tight ship in their classrooms and the kids respect them for it. They make it very clear from the beginning that they have high expectations for the kids and they demand order and civility in the classroom. And they get it, as well as the love and respect of the students, because in return they offer their knowledge and assistance without hesitation. There are some wonderful teachers at the high school.

[Jeff Endress]

As this thread began, Mr. Farve stated:

Proposals regarding discipline, behavior, dress code will be addressed.



This is a real opportunity for public input in what is acceptable conduct of our students, how to promote the positive, and how to address the negative. I urge you to attend. Please pass this information on to others who share this concern.

Please correct me if I'm wrong here (and I'm sure someone will), but as originally constituted, wasn't the advisory group's mission to address "student conduct"? I understand that all schools, not just Lakewood, face problems with student conduct. Disruptive cell phone usage, listening to iPods instead of lectures, disrespect of teachers/administrators and fellow students, destruction of property and on campus underage smoking, just to name a few. So, how did we go from addressing remedial efforts on truly disruptive behaviors to equating them with distinctive/expressive dress and then attack the problem by regulating the appearance? Granted there may be some overlay, and a disruptive student, using his or her cell phone in class, may also be wearing a mid-drift hoodie containing slogans and sporting a purple mohawk, but in what way does regulating the latter cure the underlying problem of the former? It all seemed to be directed at appearances. So, we have a clean cut student body,with no enforcement of the root issues of disruption. How is it better when the smoking student on the cell phone telling his/her teacher to f-off is dressed in khakis and a polo shirt? As I have said on several occaisions before, the issue was, and remains the ability and willingness to enforce reasonable prohibitions related to disruptive behaviors. So, while I applaud the "moritorium", the larger issues remains, unaddressed, like the proverbial pink elephant in the living room. Until the schools set forth a meaningful protocol on how to enforce ANY restriction, the restriction in subject to varying interpretation and selective enforcement.

Whatever happened to the "conduct" and "discipline" portions of the equation? It seems that the entire focus defaulted to chinos and tees when the REAL issue is identifying disruptive conduct and setting forth the an enforcement/discipline protocol. As an example:
1) Any student using a cell phone during school hours will forfeit the phone and be suspended for X days.
2) Any student addressing an employee of the Lakewood Schools in a profane manner will be placed on administrative leave and notation made in their permanent record
3) Posession of any electronic entertainment device during school hour will subject the offender to device confiscation and lifetime after school detention
Who makes the enforcement "call"...teachers? administrators? custodians? aids? Do we have entry monitoring stations and turn away improperly dressed students? Are teachers/administrators/aids REQUIRED to enforce restrictions? Is there Zero tolerance for iPods and cells as there is for knives? Are teachers/administrators/aids subject to discipline for a failure to enforce regulations?
So,we now have a moritorium on the enforcment of that which was unenforcible and no meaningful direction on dealing with prohibitons which need to be enforced.

[dl meckes]

Clearly cell phones in the classroom present several problems. Aside from being a distraction to all, the possibility of cheating is off the charts from picture phones, web phones and text messaging.

This is something that professional testing companies take very seriously and is cause for dismissal or even prosecution for the theft of testing materials.

MP3 players also present a cheating opportunity as well as an opportunity for distraction.

This is an "easy" problem to address, but regarding Jeff Endress's question,

Are teachers/administrators/aids REQUIRED to enforce restrictions?

I wonder if this is a school policy issue or if this is in the union negotiated contracts. I don't know the answer.

[Shelly Gould Burgess]

to answer the current question, in my district, it is the teacher's job and the administrator's job to enforce the rules the BOE sets forth in the student handbook. It is not a union issue because upholding rules does not constitute a change in work conditions, as would, say, changing the daily schedule to block scheduling. (Such a situation would require a union election.)

I have one clarification about my previous post.

Finally, as a teacher I can firmly state that any teacher worth her license can keep kids focused on learning regardless of the hair color, piercings, and clothing styles of her students. If a teacher cannot keep kids focused because of how kids dress or accessorize, get a new teacher or give the teacher some support via classroom management training.

I fear I gave the impression of criticizing LHS teachers, which is the last thing I'd want to do. Having student taught at LHS, I found them to be a very professional bunch. What I should have said is that LHS teachers are capable of keeping kids focused, and we should give them credit for that. There may be individual teachers in every school who need supportive training to help them learn classroom management techniques, and we should supply them with this rather than create an unreasonable dress code that, in my opinion, will do nothing to aleviate classroom discipline problems.

Children first!

[Grace O'Malley]

Shelley

I did not think you were criticizing LHS teachers, at all.

I completely agreed with your post and my commenting on them (LHS teachers) specifically in MY post was to show my appreciation for those teachers, like you, that take their job seriously and provide leadership for these teens.