03-26-2004, 06:24 AM
>In today's paper, I read how a young child in 3rd grade (8-9 year old) was forced to strip because he/she wasn't deemed "worthy" to wear a particular bracelet. I can't even begin to grasp the many levels this is utterly repulsive and extremely objectionable.
I'd like to see more details on this. Who forced her, the other kids? Where did this happen, at school?
>What I don't understand, is how parents can allow this sort of thing to go on?
Because not all parents (or some kids) know what fashion items is suppose to symbolize this year, this month, this week, or this day. And sometimes a bracelet really is just a bracelet.
>I'm not a big fan of government-interference, but this is so unfathomably appalling, I really think someone ought to do something.
Careful what you wish for. I can see schools banning all bracelets. I doubt that will address the actual problems, but at least those bracelets are gone. ;)
>Is this trend present in *your* country?
I'm not sure if the exact thing are going on, but I'll safely bet kids fooling around with things they don't know much about is a given. Although my highschool at the time didn't need bracelets for sex, since our school had a built in daycare centre. For the students. But speaking of fashion symbols, there was 2 examples that comes to mind.
1) How girls wear their kilt pins. Imagine a big long safety pin the length of your index finger. The orientation of the pin (pin up, pin down, diagonal horizontal etc.) was suppose to signal if the girl is single, available, dating, or down for -anything-.
A few years after I graduated I asked some of my female school friends about this. Some said it was pure b.s., some said they know about it but didn't follow it. Some said it was sort of true, but told me if I needed a pin to find out if a girl was promiscuous, I was either blind or clueless. :) Besides, pins go out the window when the girls wear pants.
2) Red shoelaces on black Doc Marten boots. Someone told me among neo nazi circles, this was suppose to signify you have killed someone, preferrably some filth that might pollute the purity of the master race. Or some other garbage. The main symbol is if you have red laces on black boots, you're signalling that you probably think Mein Kampf is a good book for race relations.
There was one kid who was a senior in my year, he didn't look like the average white supremacist except for his red laces. Other than that if people saw him on the street they wouldn't give him a second look. He was later arrested when he assaulted someone in the school bathroom. Somehow I doubt he was charged for wearing red laces on school premises.
To summarize my blatherings, I'd rather parents and school address the real problems. Otherwise we might have impeccably dressed children doing drugs, committing violence and having promiscuous sex! ;)
I'd like to see more details on this. Who forced her, the other kids? Where did this happen, at school?
>What I don't understand, is how parents can allow this sort of thing to go on?
Because not all parents (or some kids) know what fashion items is suppose to symbolize this year, this month, this week, or this day. And sometimes a bracelet really is just a bracelet.
>I'm not a big fan of government-interference, but this is so unfathomably appalling, I really think someone ought to do something.
Careful what you wish for. I can see schools banning all bracelets. I doubt that will address the actual problems, but at least those bracelets are gone. ;)
>Is this trend present in *your* country?
I'm not sure if the exact thing are going on, but I'll safely bet kids fooling around with things they don't know much about is a given. Although my highschool at the time didn't need bracelets for sex, since our school had a built in daycare centre. For the students. But speaking of fashion symbols, there was 2 examples that comes to mind.
1) How girls wear their kilt pins. Imagine a big long safety pin the length of your index finger. The orientation of the pin (pin up, pin down, diagonal horizontal etc.) was suppose to signal if the girl is single, available, dating, or down for -anything-.
A few years after I graduated I asked some of my female school friends about this. Some said it was pure b.s., some said they know about it but didn't follow it. Some said it was sort of true, but told me if I needed a pin to find out if a girl was promiscuous, I was either blind or clueless. :) Besides, pins go out the window when the girls wear pants.
2) Red shoelaces on black Doc Marten boots. Someone told me among neo nazi circles, this was suppose to signify you have killed someone, preferrably some filth that might pollute the purity of the master race. Or some other garbage. The main symbol is if you have red laces on black boots, you're signalling that you probably think Mein Kampf is a good book for race relations.
There was one kid who was a senior in my year, he didn't look like the average white supremacist except for his red laces. Other than that if people saw him on the street they wouldn't give him a second look. He was later arrested when he assaulted someone in the school bathroom. Somehow I doubt he was charged for wearing red laces on school premises.
To summarize my blatherings, I'd rather parents and school address the real problems. Otherwise we might have impeccably dressed children doing drugs, committing violence and having promiscuous sex! ;)