tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590465.post115273863185974940..comments2024-03-11T05:58:13.874-04:00Comments on Halbert's Cubicle: On Freedom of Speech in SchoolsHalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17985840356273623901noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590465.post-1152816707359457982006-07-13T14:51:00.000-04:002006-07-13T14:51:00.000-04:00I'm just waiting for the day when some smart-ass g...I'm just waiting for the day when some smart-ass gang decides to use school uniform type clothes as their symbol. The confusion will be magnificent!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590465.post-1152809077211660562006-07-13T12:44:00.001-04:002006-07-13T12:44:00.001-04:00Also, I like to write "I suppose" a lot. I suppos...Also, I like to write "I suppose" a lot. <BR/><BR/>I suppose I'm just a bad writer.Halhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17985840356273623901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590465.post-1152809042150901122006-07-13T12:44:00.000-04:002006-07-13T12:44:00.000-04:00I suppose I can't justify my description of gaugin...I suppose I can't justify my description of gauging as "nauseating" other than "just because." <BR/><BR/>I suppose it's back to a "community standards" sort of thing. In parts of Africa, where customs can include putting rings on the neck to stretch it out or putting plates in your lower lip to stretch that out, people probably wouldn't care about such a thing. You walk into a midwest high school with a lip plate in? People are going to look at you funny.<BR/><BR/>I would consider ear-piercing to be a "standard" practice, in that it's widely practiced in the US. While gauging may be gaining popularity, it's still uncommon enough that most students, I'm assuming, will see it and not thing highly of it. Smaller gauges might go unnoticed, but I'm assuming the school wouldn't step in until it became, as I put it, nauseating. Such as that fellow I saw at Wal-Mart.<BR/><BR/>I suppose it might seem inconsistent then, that this comes off as a "some forms of mutilation are better than others" kind of argument. But I can't defend that with anything other than personal preference and a reference to "community standards" and so forth. "The devil you know," as the saying goes.Halhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17985840356273623901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590465.post-1152803271636399642006-07-13T11:07:00.000-04:002006-07-13T11:07:00.000-04:00i think i have issue with your take on guaging. h...i think i have issue with your take on guaging. how is it any more "nauseating" or any less permanent a form of "self-mutilation" than standard ear piercing. most schools allow that (i know you have pointed out that a few don't - but most don't ban piercings, just earrings...and if you have to leave the earrings in because you just got the piercing, they will allow you to bandage the bottom of your ears), and very few people consider it to be self-mutilation. just in case one wants to point out the dangers of guaging - if cared for improperly, standard pierced ears are VERY prone to infection and other bad gross things.<BR/><BR/>so why standard ear piercing, but not guaging? yes, the holes are bigger - and some are irreversible, but you can say the same about ear piercings. i have a standard guage ear piercing - tiny little holes that most people have. if i leave them without earrings for the next 20 years, they will not close up. yet, for some reason, that is more commonly accepted by society. why? <BR/><BR/>now, if you feel that ear piercing is self mutilation as well, then i apologize in advance for attacking your lack of consistency :).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590465.post-1152763568096393622006-07-13T00:06:00.000-04:002006-07-13T00:06:00.000-04:00I don't think it's an inconsistency at all. There...I don't think it's an inconsistency at all. There are different rules for adults and for minors. Why is that unacceptable?Halhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17985840356273623901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590465.post-1152752786239705122006-07-12T21:06:00.000-04:002006-07-12T21:06:00.000-04:00Why does it seem that these debates only arise in ...Why does it seem that these debates only arise in K-12 school districts and not public universities? This would be a non-issue if we were talking about UT-Austin. Why the inconsistency?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5590465.post-1152741359747255642006-07-12T17:55:00.000-04:002006-07-12T17:55:00.000-04:00It probably falls under general dress code rules (...It probably falls under general dress code rules (non-uniform) which have been pretty well upheld, if I recall correctly. The problem with calling something a gang symbol is that you can do that with <I>literally everything</I>. "He's wearing white sneakers! Gang sign!" or "He's wearing a goatee! That means he kills people!"-Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16841346338225366728noreply@blogger.com