May 24th, 2012: Mad Hatter

Long sleeve brown shirt, Charlotte Russe skirt with belt, Charlotte Russe flats, White Oaks Consignment Shop hat, Haitian bag

I often wake up in the morning and think, "My, what a day to wear my hat...oh, wait."  And then I remember.  Hats aren't allowed in school.  I know I'm not in school anymore, but I believe it's an unfair rule to the kids.  I wrote a paper in College English recently entitled "The School's Mad Hatter."  It wasn't a very good one, so I will not post it, but it covered my arguments for hats in schools.  

Hats are a part of every culture, especially American culture.  American men like to wear baseball caps while American women like to wear knit hats or berets.  School systems strive to make their students more comfortable and what better way to make students more comfortable than to allow them to wear their hats?  I recognize, of course, all the counter-arguments, and they're all very tough to argue with.  I'll even say that they're stronger, but the main issue was respect.  

Students don't show respect for others by wearing hats in the building.  I believe, gentlemen would remove their hats while addressing an administer or teacher.  Granted, not all men are gentlemen (Believe me, I KNOW), but it weeds them out from the rest of the motley crew that call themselves men. 

I'll quote from my paper some:

"Another argument is that hats conceal weapons that could possibly harm the students.  If this was so, then jackets, shoes, and pockets should also be banned from schools because weapons could easily be hidden in any of these items of clothing.  Also, the weapon would have be extremely small in order for the student to successfully conceal a weapon in the hat without any of the students or faculty noticing.  Hats are not going to promote violence nor are they are going to encourage students to hide objects that could harm other students."

"Hats have claimed to be an issue with schools because the hats displayed logos that could insinuate gang violence.  Gang violence does exist in larger cities, but in small towns, gang violence is very low or sometimes even non-existent.  If the hat policy was made for the sole reason of gang violence, then the schools in the small towns should not have to be punished for the crimes committed in the larger cities.  Also, if the logos on the hats were insinuating gang violence, then t-shirts and sweatshirts should be banned as well.  Hat logos can be monitored just as well as t-shirt and sweatshirt logos.  Also, hats can advertise positive logos such as the high school mascot or a local business.  Wearing a hat does not encourage a student to commit gang violence nor advertise to be in a part of it."

"Many schools across the United States allow a day that is called, “Hat Day.”  On “Hat Day,” the students are allowed to wear a hat as long as they pay a small fee for it.  If hats are considered as disrespectful as many of our elders make them out to be, then why do we have a day to celebrate hats?  If this was so, then the schools should have days such as “Swearing Day” or “Sass Your Teacher Day” for a small cost because these are also considered disrespectful.  Many individualistic people of the 21^st century do not consider hats to be disrespectful because in many buildings of this modern society, hats are allowed indoors.  If hats were allowed in schools, then if a student removes his or her hat in front of a teacher, then that is a sign of even more respect because it shows that you respectthat teacher enough to remove your hat in front of that teacher."

"If school systems wish to make their students more comfortable in their environment at school then hats or bandanas should be allowed so the students do not have to worry about an outdated rule in the handbook.  By allowing students to wear hats, it gives the students a belief that the faculty of the school trusts their students to believe that hats are innocent objects that yes, can be abused, but with the proper training and handling, can be taken a luxury that the students can have in school.  Hats have become a part of American culture, as with many cultures and religions, and allowing this allows a new era of new thinking and hope for trusting the students with a privilege that I think have earned their rights to."