Read the article below about a group of students who are working toward social change in their community:
STUDENT'S WEARING OF HAT STILL AT ISSUE; [3 ENFIELD NORTH CENTRAL Edition]
HELEN O'NEILL, Courant Staff Writer. Hartford Courant. Hartford, Conn.: Oct 29, 1994. pg. B.1
The hat hysteria just won't die down.
Days after student council representative Chris May sat at the school board table wearing a scruffy white Hartford Whalers baseball cap, the controversy over his right to wear it is still raging.
Students say they have a constitutional right to wear what they like outside school hours -- including baseball caps, which are banned by the controversial new dress code during school.
To protest the code, some students wore caps when they delivered a 609-signature petition to the board Tuesday night.
At the meeting, May was asked by board member Nelson Gamage to remove his hat out of respect. He refused, saying it was his right to wear it.
The next day, board Chairman Scott Vining angrily called for May's removal as student representative, saying "Hat or no hat, he will never sit on my board again. I don't think it showed a lot of pride and dignity, which is the Enfield High School motto."
Vining later said that if May apologizes and doesn't wear a hat to board meetings again, he will recognize the student representative at meetings.
May said he wore the hat to support the students' petition. He plans to make a statement clarifying his position at the next board meeting. Though he doesn't normally wear a hat, May said, "I will wear one if I think the situation warrants it and if I really feel like wearing it."
Student council members said they support May as their representative, whether he wears a hat or not.
They criticized Vining, saying that on at least one occasion, he wore a hat when he addressed the school board. Vining acknowledged that occasion, but said it was before he was a member of the board. The chairman said he doesn't normally wear hats.
"I don't think that Vining or the board has the authority to recall Chris. That is something the student council does," said student council President Dan Rubino, who appointed May as representative to the board.
Students say they are seeking the advice of the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union on the hat issue -- and about the dress code in general. In addition to baseball caps, the code bans outerwear, miniskirts, spiked bracelets, sexually suggestive clothing and clothes that depict sex, violence, drugs and tobacco products. It went into effect in September.
Martin Margulies, a law professor at the Quinnipiac College law school in Bridgeport and a member of the CCLU, said that although he took issue with some aspects of the code, hats was not one of them. The board does have the authority, he said, to ask the student representative to remove his hat at meetings.
"It's not a free speech issue," Margulies said. "He is not expressing a clear message, so it is a very limited intrusion on personal rights."
After you read the article, respond to it with a comment of your own. There is no minimum length for your comment but you must use formal writing, with appropriate grammar and spelling. Be sure to use the information from the article in your response. You can also earn extra credit by responding to one of your peers' comments. You can respond to the following questions:
- Did Chris May have a strong argument?
- Do you think that the student petition caused change?
- Why do some of the adults in the article disagreed with the students?
- Chris May is probably 30 years old now. What kind of job do you think he has? Why?
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31 comments:
I think that the stundent petition caused a changed becuase it's causing adults to think about the issue. Some adults disagreed with the students becuase they think that hats don't show alot of pride and dignity which is the Enfield High School motto.
I think that Chris May had a very strong arguement. Though you shouldn't be able to wear whatever you want, I don't really see a reason of why you shouldn't wear hats,because they don't really hurt anyone, unless they're covering your face and it's distracting. I think that the student petition atelast should have caused change, because if 609 people want the rule to change, the school should accept. I think some of the adults in the article disagreed with the students, because hats can be distracting to studnets, or even to teachers as they look at the students. I think that Chris May could be an activist or something like that. He's probably writing more petitions to help other people get rules changed that they need.
I really do think Chris has strong argument. The school isn't really helping or doing any thing about it, but I do think he has an argument.
Chris is a good representitive to accept a going against a bigger force with a common, but contreversal problem. If student arn't allowed to wear hats during school hours. They should be allowed to wear them anyone wear else they choose too a point. Of curse hats should be takin off before the pledge, national anthem, library,or dinner table. Otherwise students do have the right to wear hats
This article is great. I love how Chris stood up for what he thought was right. If we carried that much about certain things than everything would be great. When he stood up to the board like that I just thought to myself how commented of a student he is. I also thought that when this kid grows up to be in collage he is going to be one great debater and probably a future president.
I think Chrois had a good idea saying that he had the right to wear his hat because he wasnt in school yet and by wearing his hat throughout the day he really extended what the petetion was trying to say.
I think he had a strong arguement because students should be able to wear what they want outside of school. I think when they got the 609 people they should have just changed the rule. If that many people want it to be changed they should change it. If they were not just wearing it but they are throwing ut around or hitting people that would be different but if they just have it on their heads like they should then it shouldnt be a problem.
i think Chris is doing the right thing by wearing a hat at a board meeting, not because I agree with his stand on the subject but because i believe in freedom of expression. I mean, if someone wants to wear a hat then good for them. It doesn't effect our learning so why should it affect grown men and women making decisions? It shouldn't! I think that is ridiculous. Yeah! be free to be who you are celebrate your decisions and be happy with it!
Go Chris!!!!! I totally agree with him because I personally don't see why hats aren't allowed. I agree with the other dress, but hats don't send a bad message. If I were Chris, i would wear a hat to the board meeting to stand my ground. And after 609 signatures, it's rediculous that the board isn't convinced. I agree with the hat thing, 100%. There is freedom of speech, and if Chris wants to wear is hat to stand his ground, he can. I respect that.
I think Chris had a strong argument because when they had 609 kids sign the petition they should have changed the rules.
I think that Chris had a pretty good arguement against the board of education. I also agree with him because I really don't see why wearing a hat is disrespectful. I also think that the B.O.E. has a good argument for not being allowed to wear hats during school. The B.O.E. has the advantage, because they have the written rule in the school handbook. I also agree with Joe when he said that he would probably become a debater even if he's not president.
I think that Chris did have the right to wear that hat at the board meeting. I mean wearing a hat isn't going to make him a bad person or change his thinking. I never thought that wearing a hat to a board meeting could make such a change on everyone. It isn't that big of a deal. I mean so what, he's wearing a hat. Also he got a repetition with 609 signatures on it. You wouldn't think that each of those signatures were for nothing. All that i am trying to say is that I think that hats are fine to wear in school. Students should have that right.
I read article #1. I think it was wrong to keep the Africans as slaves and i think it was kind that they allowed them to enjoy the liberties and privileges of the "free laboring class." I think it was great that Road Island had an anti-slavery ordinance but it was was openly violated which is terrible. It was good to hear that Pennsylvania maitanted a sustained opposition to slavery. I thought it was not good that slavery got worse as time went on becuase it was pointless. It wasnt all that bad when they kept them as servants becasue they were not considered property, but it is terrible when they started keeping them as property
I think that Chris did have the right to wear his hat at the board meeting. Its not a bad thing that he is wearing a hat. I like how he is standing up for what he thinks is right. I did not know that one little thing like that could change into a big ordeal. It's not going to change his thinking by wearing a hat. I don't know why people are so raciest know one is to dark or to white.
I think that Chris did have the right to wear his hat at the board meeting. Its not a bad thing that he is wearing a hat. I like how he is standing up for what he thinks is right. I did not know that one little thing like that could change into a big ordeal. It's not going to change his thinking by wearing a hat. I don't know why people are so raciest know one is to dark or to white.
I think that America should apologize for African-American slavery. However, there are also good reasons not to apologize. It would be kind of insulting to apologize hundreds of years after it happened. It would be showing African-Americans that we didn't care much about it until recently. But also there are good reasons America should apologize. White Europeans were extremely racist at the time if the first interaction they had with Africans was to enslave them. It was one of the first settlements in the American Colonies and even then we treated them as animals. I think that America should apologize to African slavery in the past because they have never gotten one and it's basically like hurting someone for no apparent reason and never apologizing for doing it.
i read both article and think that bthe u.s sould say im sorry. I also think slavery was wrong. i think that chris should have been able to wear his hat its not a big deal. RAsimim is not a good thing and dont know people are like.
I read the first 2 articles. I agree that we have already paid.
Because we fought for their freedom and lost a lot of men and othere people in the proses. Some people had to fight their brothers and kill them. Could you kill your brother I know I couldn't.
I read articles two and three and I thought two was very racist and stereotypical. It went on for about a paragraph stating how an apology won't help many stereotypical problems that black people were facing. It said that African-Americans bask in white people’s shame because of slavery, it suggested that many black men were in prison and do not get through high school and college, it suggested that tons of people in black communities have aids, that many black children do not have fathers, that black neighborhoods are rundown and full of trash, and it suggested that most African-Americans don't have single, well paying jobs. These things may be true about a tiny percentage of African-Americans but is also true about many white people as well and defiantly not true about almost all African-Americans! All of these comments were very stereotypical. The author said that an apology may not fix any of these "problems" but I agree with Logan that black people deserve an apology for being thought of less than equal with whites.
I agreed with article 3 because it was awful that Africans were stolen from their country and weighed, measured and sold as though they were animals. Everyone deserves the same rights no matter what color they are. America should find a meaningful way to apologize to the African-Americans whose relatives were enslaved and abused. I think a special memorial museum or park in Washington DC in memory of all of the slaves would be a really cool way to apologies and a great way for people to learn more about slavery. What do you think America should do as an apology? Do you think article 2 was raciest and stereotypical?
I read the first 2 articles about Slavery. I think we should apologize about slavery because nobody no matter what skin colar or race should be treated that way. I think we have not apoligized nearly enough as we should, I mean if we apoligize for little things, we should curtainly apologize for this huge mistake. If people were killed and alot of family members were killed or separeted form each other to work in cruel places making no money and have just enough food to keep them alive or even not enough. We should do something about it. I think we should do more than just apologize for it we should do something even nicer. This is why I think we should apologize for all the cruelty we put them through and for all the millions of African Americans that were killed in this short amount of time.
I read articles 1 and 2. In the first one I think that it was fair that after the African Americans finished their contracts they could leave and do whatever they want including owning a house, but I don't think it was fair that they took the Africans from their homeland and forced them work for us without pay. How would you like it if someone came to your house and told you that you're going to work for them whether you like it or not.
Article #2, I think that we should apologize for what we did to them before the civil war making them pick cotton with no shoes and torn clothes. Also they had to sleep in shacks because I don’t think that it was fair that they were cramped in a small shack will we were sleeping in a nice big room in a comfortable bed while they were sleeping on the floor next to each other. Also we got all we wanted to eat and they got stuff that looked like nasty oatmeal and it came in rations.
In the article about the hat, although I am a hat wearer my self I dont think Chris has a very strong argument. His argument goes against unwritten rules that have been around for decades. Howerver I love the fact that Chris found an issue he believed in and stood up for it. I think that the world should all follow Chris' lead and get up and do something. No more standing around and talking about it.
After reading the following articles. I think an apology is the right thing to do most of them would not accept their apolagy but at least you tried to do the right thing. I don’t think they should have had slavery. I don’t think they should of done thick because they worked them to death.
I think every one has a good comment is good.
I read the first 2 articles and they apologize for slavin black people. I agree with them because they aint nice to black people they anit apologizing for being mean to black people for a long time but its to late to apologize to black people if they want to apologize they should have apologize along time ago people still be call them bad stuff
I read article 2,"apology for slavery? White people already paid that bill". I agree with the writer that no matter what we do, the fact of slavery will still exist. Yet, I do not think that we have paid the bill for apology of slavery. I think an apology for slavery is pointless because our ancestors enslaved African Americans, not us. Why should we apologize to African Americans who aren't enslaved now for something that happened a long time ago? Yes slavery was a horrendous event in history, but let's instead of giving an apology provide money for health care,schools, and insurance.
I think that Chris had a very strong argument and the board of education should of listened to him and been convinced because their were 609 signature petition and that proves that if that many kids care about this problem that it is a serious crisis that needs solving.
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