As someone who says "Your hands should not be touching another human being" a good ten times per day, I can't say I disagree....DON'T.  TOUCH.  EACH OTHER.  Even if you are playing.  Even if that's your boy. 

Well, I mean there should definitely be boundaries. You know, no kicking, punching, biting, kissing, hand holding during class, etc. ...but NO touching? No high fives? No poking? ..at anytime..any where. Ridic.
I also don't have a problem with teachers having certain rules in their classrooms...like, touching another human being during class..really isn't necessary, but EVER? It's just going to cause a riot.

Exactly--it's a joke because it's impossible to enforce.  It will dissolve soon enough, I'm sure.

Oh, "Don't touch another human being" isn't my rule, haha.  I just say that to certain kids whose hands are constantly doing wrong.  Like, as a rule of thumb, YOU should not be putting your hands on someone else.  Hands-to-self is our biggest middle school problem, period, and it vexes me to no end and makes our learning incredibly difficult.  So I can understand where that comes from.  And as soon as you start targeting specific behaviors (punching, kicking, etc.), kids can ALWAYS find another way to beat up on each other.  For instance, throwing their backpacks at each other.  Body slamming into each other.  Throwing paper balls/pencils.  It's better to just make a blanket rule of "Behave in such a way that it does not create a problem for another person."  

But yeah, this rule shows total lack of foresight.  What exactly is their plan for implementing it?  Dumb.

Schools get way out of hand with too many things lately. At my school, i dont know what year it was, a kid got detention for wearing black lipstick. And they have a list of things not allowed because they're "gang related"

I mean, I think that "no black lipstick" is a perfectly good expectation, as long as it is communicated to students and they know beforehand.  I understand wanting to let kids express themselves and all, but at the end of the day, they are there to learn, and "boo hoo, I can't wear the color lipstick I want," isn't gonna garner much sympathy from me.  My school has uniforms, and it's THE best thing ever.  I mean, would I like to wear whatever I want to my job everyday?  Of course.  It's tiring getting dressed up nice.  But it's my job.  And one of the functions of school should be to teach students how to carry themselves in a way that portrays them as serious, hard-working, and respectful.  Those are basic life skills.  And kids crave structure, even if they don't communicate that they do.

I just think the sense of entitlement that kids have is atrocious.  No, you do not have the right to behave/dress/act however you want.  Perhaps we should be teaching kids to express their identities through their actions rather than through their appearances.  

I always think its funny how people are allowed to have afros, but no mohawks (which is just a skinny afro. haha)

i dont think theres anything wrong with wearing black lipstick to school.  its not keeping anyone from learning.  so why does it matter?  i think as long as it doesnt directly keep kids from focusing in school, it shouldnt matter.  and if its something visual (thongs sticking out, mohawks and so on), have that student sit at the back of the class so as not to be disruptive (kids staring at thongs, trying to see around a mohawk).  high school is a perfect time to figure out how one needs/wants to present themselves to the world.  like, what would happen if I wore a shirt to school that is ripped and covered in dirt.. how will i be treated?  or how will I be treated if i wear a v neck sweater vest with khakis.  is that how i want to present myself?  is that the reaction i want to get from other people? 

i dont totally approve of uniforms in public schools because we dont have uniforms after high school.  kids need to have that time period to figure out how they want to dress/present themselves and how it affects other peoples perceptions towards them.  but there are certainly some schools that are probably much better off with uniforms, i'm just talking about the majority of schools in the US.

I disagree with most of this because what will get a student positive treatment from other students in terms of appearance--what will get them peer approval--is not necessarily how they should be dressing to find success in life.  I could have gone to school with low-cut blouses and short skirts and would have gotten a lot of positive feedback about how I should be dressing from my peers.  I don't think we can expect kids to teach themselves through trial and error what is acceptable clothing, especially when peers are the temperature check.  They have to be taught--this makes a presentable outfit, that doesn't.

I also think the effect of uniforms on learning is tremendous, at all ages.  Uniforms communicate the message that, regardless of where a student comes from -- socioeconomic background, race, etc.-- they are all on an even playing field and they are all in school for a common purpose.  Every single one of them is equally able to further herself through education.  That is the effect at the school where I teach.  By the times these kids get to twelfth grade, they are the most professional-looking/acting bunch of students in Hartford.  It just sets the appropriate tone.  I know at my (suburban) school, clothes were just a means to show off and compete.  Uniforms communicate that we are all equal human beings in a professional kind of context. 

But that's just my teaching style--very orderly.  Because my kids are crazies.  They thrive on it.  They WANT to be told what to do so they can be the most successful.  I can only imagine the disruption in learning if a kid came to school in red lipstick, let alone black.  It would be anarchy. 

Anyway, sorry, I didn't mean to threadjack, AC!

I guess it depends on what kind of people we are trying to mould these kids into.  Do we want to create people that are all "successful" and look a certain way.  Should we tell kids how they should dress so that they fit into our mold even after high school?  What they should act like?  Who are we as teachers to say what is presentable for our students generation.  What was considered presentable to my high school teachers was much more conservative than what I would think is presentable for my students. 

I can certainly see how uniforms at specific schools, like yours, could benefit.  We had a proposal to use uniforms at our school, a title 1 rural school in a texas ranching town.  there is just no reason for uniforms here at this point in time, it would cause many more problems than it would help to fix.  1. we dont have money for school supplies let alone uniforms for 40+% of our students who live under the poverty line.  2. we dont have gang problems or problems with violence 3. parents, faculty and students were not supportive of it.  there are a lot of schools like ours where uniforms are just not necessary.  especially since the dress code that we have now is not enforced at all.  that would be the first step.  does our current dress code work or not.  if not, then maybe a uniform would be necessary.  It really all depends on the school.

my school seems to be very orderly, in my opinion, and i think kids need to have some sort of outlet somewhere.  we're not shaping the minds of young robots.  we're shaping the young minds of our future leaders who need to be creative, innovative, sociable, individuals and not members of the status quo. 

but my teaching style is probably the opposite of yours.  hehe.  unorderly and noisy.  : )

[I also think the effect of uniforms on learning is tremendous, at all ages.  Uniforms communicate the message that, regardless of where a student comes from -- socioeconomic background, race, etc.-- they are all on an even playing field and they are all in school for a common purpose.  Every single one of them is equally able to further herself through education.  That is the effect at the school where I teach.  By the times these kids get to twelfth grade, they are the most professional-looking/acting bunch of students in Hartford.  It just sets the appropriate tone.  I know at my (suburban) school, clothes were just a means to show off and compete.  Uniforms communicate that we are all equal human beings in a professional kind of context. 

I agree. I begged and pleaded to be allowed to go to Sacred Heart (though my parents weren't Catholic) because of the uniforms. Everyone's the same, there are no "fashion show" babes and if you're poor you don't get the torture of not "being with it." Worse, my mother would shop rummage sales and I would turn up to school in someone else's last year's clothes. Wanna ruin your day? It was bad enough in grade school, let alone middle and high.

My mother almost let me do 6-8 in S. H. because the uniform would take care of my "school clothes." I wish she had. Mind, I'd probably be a Benedictine nun as we speak, if that had happened, instead of being what I am now...whatever that is... ;D

i was reminded of this thread the other day in one of my 1st grade classes.  at the beginning of class, i have my students sing the roll call, we have a little song.  anyways.  to encourage their friends to sing nice and loud, the kids would give their friends a pat on the back when they were done, i could certainly tell that it was ok'd by the students because of their big smiles and them patting their friends back.  i've definitely had my share of inappropriate touching during class between students, but to take away the motivational tool of touching peers would be such a shame. : (  kids need to learn that things like touching a friend on the back, or hi fiving is fine, but that touching someone on the leg or chest is not right.  that can't be taught when theres no touching allowed at all.