My daughter Katie needed a construction worker’s outfit for a school club activity.She wanted a couple of accoutrements to go along with the clothes that would give the look a more realistic feel. I offered her a hardhat, a hammer, a carpenter’s level, and pair of gloves. The gloves passed muster but she protested about taking the other items because there’s a rule that forbids the wearing of anything other than hair on your head in school. She said that the tools could be considered weapons, as in “I’m going to carpenter’s square you to death.”
And let’s not even get into the hammer. We all know what a dastardly tool that can be.
I got to thinking about all this and sat down to make a list of ten items in Katie’s school that might harm students if used inappropriately. They are: books, pencils, pens, scissors, staplers, laptops, chairs, tables, keyboards, letter openers. And then there is paper. Anyone who has sliced themselves open with this dangerous weapon knows how painful it can be.
Katie’s high school has been ranked one of the top schools in Colorado. It’s full of bright, engaging kids. If you ask them about the school district’s rules, they’ll tell you that while many of them are reasonable, there are a number that defy logic and sends the message that students — any and most students — cannot be trusted.
I will concede that there are schools where the students have demonstrated that they cannot be trusted and more restrictive rules need to be in place. But how can our society teach our kids reason and critical thinking skills, when we demonstrate daily that we don’t trust them to use their common sense? Every step we take to protect our kids from each other in school when there is no demonstrable need results in one less opportunity to teach them reason and critical thinking.