I came across this article from School Library Journal the other day and was horrified. Here is an excerpt from this article:
In October, school officials banned students at North Garland High School in Texas from wearing hooded sweatshirts, alleging that kids could use them to hide their faces from security cameras or to conceal that they’re sleeping or using an MP3 player.
Now, this article sent me down the rabbit hole to my own youth, where the hoodie played a major role in getting me through high school. Why? Because it hid my face. And my walkman (not the lovely, sleek ipods of today, but those clunky yellow sony cassette players that needed some skill to hide), where I had a constant stream of anti-establishment music playing. Most of all, it allowed me to pass through the halls without having to speak to anyone. My hoodie was my shield against the Lord of the Flies world of High School and without it I would have felt exposed, vulnerable.
Of course, it’s a different world out there. My school had no security cameras. But I am wondering why just hoodies? Why not anything with pockets in it? Do they ban cargo pants? There is a good scene in a new YA book by Cory Doctorow called Little Brother where he tricks gait recognition security cameras (I am not sure if these actually exist) by dropping a few pebbles in his blundstones. My point is anything, even an innocent piece of clothing, can be subverted. So why stop at the hoodie? Why not just issue prison uniforms, or scrubs, to all kids aged 12-18?
Or better yet, why don’t they all go naked?
Lina Branter 