Stupid rule

by Ryan Hennigan

What bitter man died and made the absolutely ridiculous rule that students can’t wear hats to school. Honestly, I don’t see the harm in them. And what good comes out of this rule? If anything, principals and teachers snatching off the hats of students and keeping them in the office is invasion of privacy and theft.
Although most regard the rule as clear-cut dumb, let’s consider the opposing point of view on the subject. The guess as to why the rule was put into place is that some older people regard hats being worn in school as disrespectful. Others say that they are distractions, causing students to snatch them off each others heads and doing other inappropriate things with them. Another obscure theory is that students may by accident hit each other with the bills of their hat when they are walking in the crowded hallways.
The last statement is downright out of the question, but the others are in need of some consideration. The myth that hats are irrespective is bogus. The people that believe this are usually old fashion and they don’t understand that that kind of child stuff is out of date. The spectrum of items that one can wear without being considered disrespectful has increased way beyond hats. Students can now be seen in school wearing clothes with fishnets, minnie-skirts, chains, and spikes. A lot of them even die their hair colors such as pink or green and put their hair into mohawks. These things now symbolize personality, no longer disrespect. As for hats being distractions, this is also a weak argument. Although it is true that some immature students trying to cause trouble can always snatch a hat and play a game out keep away, there are two strong arguments to go against this. The first is that if one was to attempt to steal something off a student as a joke, one could go to by other means also. One could, for example, snatch a barrette or a hair band off a girls hair or take a pin or sticker off someone’s shirt. Hair bands and shirt pins are both acceptable items to wear to school as decided by the school’s authoritative figures, yet they both could be disruptive just as much as a hat could be. Also, we are in high school, and to not trust us by suspecting that we would do these immature deeds is saying that we aren’t the young respectful adults as the majority of us are. To take away our right to wear hats because of a few immature derelicts is irresponsible of the school.
Others schools around Pembroke allow their students to wear hats, such as Whitman-Hanson and Marshfield, and they don’t have a problem with it. This, and all the other reasons, proves that it would be a good idea with a positive effect if students were allowed to wear hats here at Pembroke.