How far would you go to protest dumb school rules?
Would you consider having a criminal record?
Last week, one New York high school student was
charged with a misdemeanor for indecent exposure, because
he had streaked through his school wearing only a paper
bag on his head. According to local newspaper The Times
Herald-Record, he streaked to protest backpack checks at
Tri-Valley Central School in Grahamsville.
This protest is just one of many displayed by Tri-Valley
students, who are also wearing tampons and maxi-pads to
object to the unfair treatment of several girls who were
reprimanded for carrying their purses inside the school.
The school security guard reportedly asked these girls if
they were on their period and said they could not carry a
purse otherwise.
Tri-Valley is reportedly banning backpacks for safety
and health reasons. It’s easy to understand the security
concern about concealed weapons. But to suddenly ban
heavy backpacks is unfathomable, especially if Tri-Valley
uses the excuse that the bags could hurt the kids’ backs.
I’m pretty sure backpack-induced scoliosis is a problem
that occurs outside New York schools.
Schools are banning more than backpacks in their
hallways. This week, the Percy Julian Middle School in Oak
Park, Ill., banned students from hugging in the hallway.
School principal Victoria Sharts told The Associated Press
some hugs could be too long and too close.
Sharts also said hugging was “more appropriate for airports
or for family reunions” than for hallway encounters. That
statement’s got to look ridiculous in a student handbook.
And it has to sound pretty absurd, too: “Sorry I was late,
Coach. I was hugging my friend.”
Surely there must be more important issues for school
boards to tackle than bag checks and hugs. Although it’s
easy to wonder why seemingly pointless rules exist, we also
have to remember that dumb rules have existed as long as
people have. Some of these rules extend beyond classrooms
and into the so-called real world. For example, DumbLaws.
com says it’s illegal to tickle women in Virginia. It’s also
illegal to hunt animals on Sunday “with the exception of
raccoons, which may be hunted until 2 a.m.”
Anyone who’s caught a raccoon at 2:30 a.m. knows that’s
just outrageous. Still, I doubt it’s worth streaking for.