15 NOV 05: THE TUCK RULE
The rules changed Monday for students at Americus-Sumter County High School. A new dress code requires them to tuck in their shirts on school grounds. The next step may be to have everyone wear T-shirts inside out - so those Abercrombie and Fitch slogans don't offend anybody.
School officials in Sumter County say they changed the dress code because students could hide weapons under shirts which aren't tucked in. Must we always think negatively here? The students also could hide apples, to surprise all their teachers.
The rules about weapons in Georgia schools already are very strict. Anyone who even carries a weapon in his or her trunk in a parking lot could be arrested. It makes me wonder how Northside High School possibly can have a marksmanship team.
I've attended church congregations over the years which met in school cafeterias and auditoriums. So I didn't dare carry a pocket knife with me -- and left it to the women to bring knives for luncheons and snacks. But come to think of it, can't you hide knives in some big dresses?
(This is why Georgia residents should have had no trouble adjusting to tighter security at airports. Public schools prohibited pocket knives already....)
But back to Sumter County: the new high school dress code also bans those "low-riding" jeans which have become popular in recent years. What puzzles me is that I bought a new belt a few weeks ago -- and they were NOT all marked down to two or three dollars.
There's one other big change at Americus-Sumter County High School. Students now have to wear identification badges inside the school. Thankfully, at this point they are NOT color-coded for nerds, jocks and punks.
The identification badges not only make sure unwanted people stay away from Americus-Sumter County High School. There's a bar code on them, allowing students to check out media center items from.... uh-oh. No, I did NOT write "bar code" to encourage teenagers to drink alcohol.
Isn't it sad that we've reached the point where high school students have to wear identification badges all day? It simply shows the downfall of U.S. education - that some teachers can't memorize students' names anymore.
As it happened, Hardaway High School in Columbus marked its 40th anniversary Monday. While the students of the 1960's didn't have to wear badges, they probably faced their own confining dress code - like how much Vitalis men could wear on their hair each day.
It was during my sophomore year in high school (1973-74, if you MUST know) that the school added a truant officer. I always felt awkward around Mr. Cofield - and not because I skipped classes. If I tried to be friendly toward him, would he suspect something and detain me? Would classmates label me a spy?
(A check of my high school yearbooks to verify this showed Mr. Cofield had the nickname "Super Shaft" - as in the Richard Roundtree movies of the 1970's. The strange thing is, he didn't have much of an Afro hairdo at all....)
Now for other more peaceful thoughts from a magnificent Monday:
+ The Columbus Health Department received a new shipment of flu vaccines - and a check found there was NO long line of people waiting for shots. That's what happens when the high temperature stands at 80 degrees F., and not 55.
+ Fire destroyed one of the villas at Callaway Gardens, and damaged another. Several volunteer fire departments came to the rescue - and crews had to be humbled, knowing one of those villas probably costs more than their entire annual budget.
+ WXTX "News at Ten" presented a special report on the growing use of security cameras. One camera actually caught a Columbus State University trying to take back a tuition payment. Hmmmm - do you think he was a business major?
+ A Forsyth County, Georgia Justice of the Peace confirmed he helped a 37-year-old woman marry her 15-year-old boyfriend last week. This is one time when a "runaway bride" actually might have been a good idea....
(Bride Lisa Lynnette Clark was arrested one day after the wedding, because she's pregnant with the teenager's child. Under Georgia law, that's sexual molestation. And for the Jerry Springer Show, that's an exclusive interview waiting to happen.)
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