[Amanda Morrison]

My former high school (the one that AndrewMorrison attends now) is pretty renowned for overbearing administration, especially with students' appearances. Back when I was still in the middle school there, I can still remember seeing the principal's office overflowing with HS kids, sitting on the floor, out in the hallways, everywhere - all of them with dyed, sprayed, spiked, or mohawked hair. MTV profiled us back in the day as a result. (Eventually, after kids would spray their hair before school to get out of class and the school got a lot of bad publicity, 'creative hair' was allowed but not encouraged.)

I can't say that I was ever targeted, and I was an... interesting and creative dresser for many years. Soon after I left, the school banned the color pink, fearing it was a gang color. Most recently, hooded sweatshirts were not allowed. The students had very little warning, and had the sweatshirts and sweaters taken away from them before they were allowed to proceed to class. The school confiscated them, telling parents they could come pick them up or the students could reclaim them at the end of the school year.

A few students and parents protested. Overall, it did little good and the rule stayed. The school's air conditioning is falling apart, so many classrooms without windows are very cold, others are very hot. A few students complained of being cold when winter came. Again, it did nothing and the administration kept the same attitude.

When I heard about this, I was pretty ticked, knowing the track record of the school. But my logic is this - I no longer attend the high school, and if enough of an outcry was heard about the new restrictions, the administration would probably take another look at the situation. Instead, when only a few spoke out, it appeared to the school that the rule was accepted by most of the students and parents.

Moral of the story: If you want something, fight for it.