My daughters STUPID high school-DUMBEST SCHOOL SPIRIT DAY EVER

[Robyn66]

So I am at my daughter's high school yesterday for a meeting. I had arranged for her therapist to meet with her teachers, the Autism SPecialist, vice principal and resource officer to discuss Aspergers, Bullying and how to help my daughter the best. Oh and the best part of the meeting was the teacher I had the most concerns with blew it off, and when my husband said we wish we knew she had another meeting scheduled the Autism specialist said "sometimes its impossible to schedule with some teachers" In other words she didn't want to come to the meeting and had no interest in helping my daughter. (Glad MY tax dollars pay HER salary!)

Anyway we are waiting outside the office when this kid with cammo make up on ever inch of exposed skin, carrying a black bag comes to the outside door and is buzzed in with no problem. I think, HOLY COLUMBINE BATMAN! Then I see another boy walk down the hall in cammo and I look at my husband and my daughters therapist and I am like OMG, what the hell is going on! And that is when I see the poster for Spirit week! It was CAMMO DAY!!!!

Am I over sensitive? But in a day where school shootings happen, WHO thinks its a GOOD IDEA to encourage kids to dress up in cammo?

Well it freaked me the hell out anyway!!! And my daughter's therapist was a little disconcerted as well.

[Ian David]

1. How Not To Be Seen

How Not To Be Seen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zekiZYSVdeQ

[realisticphish]

2. where I grew up

we had camo day, as well as "rival" day, pajama day, etc.

And in any case, half the kids wore Mossy Oak stuff anyway since they hunted :shrug:

[slackmaster]

3. My personal policy is to avoid pre-judging people by their attire, hairstyle, etc.

When I was a kid I lived in a place where it seemed like the biggest crooks in town always wore the most expensive suits, drove the fanciest cars, wore the finest shoes. I've retained that prejudice, which has made it difficult at times for me to deal fairly with people who are wearing "business attire" as a requirement or expectation of their occupations.

WHO thinks its a GOOD IDEA to encourage kids to dress up in cammo?

My experience as a parent was that when your kid wants to dress or groom himself or herself in a manner consistent with how other kids look, resisting them is not worth the grief.

[Robyn66]

7. I have nothing against cammo

What I mean is face paint and looking like you are heading out in to the jungle. It was all in fun but a bit scary too. I am not JUDGING anyone except when not KNOWing it was CAMMO DAY and seeing a kid painted head to toe and carrying a big black bag. Now a days its hard not to be a tad concerned.

[gratuitous]

17. Oh, I do

Same problem I have with military recruiters infesting public school campuses, "opt out" (instead of opt in) for contact by recruiters, and the saturation advertising by the military.

But that's an entirely different issue.

I think you had reason to be momentarily alarmed. Was it the stupidest idea ever? I'd be hesitant to say that, because I fear it would spur some people to greater depths of stupidity, just to make "camo day" seem less stupid. But it was pretty stupid.

[slackmaster]

20. Halloween must be a difficult day for you

:hi:

[blueamy66]

43. In the 80s we had Slave Day

What do you think of that, in 2010?

[slackmaster]

50. I have no opinion. Was it fun? How does it relate to my reply?

Did it involve raising money to be used for good causes or something?

[blueamy66]

57. Um, I was just stating that during our Spirit Week

one day was reserved for Slave Day.

The Seniors got to bid on the freshmen.....then the freshman had to be the Senior's slave for the day.

I don't remember where the money went.

[Mimosa]

4. What has happened to schools?

When I was in school we didn't have stupid dress up days, except for a Halloween Party after school hours.

[Robyn66]

8. That is right

I hate those stupid days. They are more of a disruption than anything else. The kids in my daughter's school need to be focusing on school work not this kind of junk.

[TheMightyFavog]

16. We had dress up days back in High School for homecoming week

Camo day, Lazy Day (Come in your PJs), School color day, hat day, turn back the clock day (Dress in 50s and 60s clothes). This was back in the 90s, and we loved every minute of it. I had my Granpa's old Army Helmet which I had painted up in our school colors, and I had a blast.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. I'm trying to understand the contradictions.

You claim to be worried about bullying, yet you want schools to hassle kids wearing camo and carrying black bags.

[Robyn66]

10. Um no-I never said that

I simply think having cammo day is a stupid idea.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. Oh, so now you're calling other people stupid.

[Robyn66]

15. Yes, that is exactly what I am doing-good catch (nt)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. You're probably also not getting the irony.

Anyhoo, you overreacted to what the other kid was wearing, you tried to walk it back, and you should be at least a little embarrassed.

[proteus_lives]

40. You big bully.

[LanternWaste]

55. Sounded like the idea referenced

Sounded like the idea referenced was stupid rather than any one person... :shrug:

[snooper2]

6. Sounds like a school of not very bright kids..

If it were cammo day and the environment you are in is a "school"....

They should have come dressed up as a locker or a podium or something :rofl:

[Robyn66]

13. True (nt)

[sandnsea]

9. Too bad it wasn't goth or punk day n/t

[Robyn66]

11. That would have been cool! (nt)

[Hangingon]

28. The Columbine shooters were goths.

They didn't wear camo.

[RaleighNCDUer]

31. No, actually they weren't.

Here's a pretty good article about how Columbine and goth culture were conflated by the media.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/27097/what_did_the_gothic_counterculture_pg2.html?cat=9

And looking at pics from the shooting (which I'm not technically savvy enough to copy) neither are in goth gear, and one looks like he's wearing camo pants.

[sandnsea]

33. The point is judging people based on clothes

And the fact that the columbine killers had a lot more in common with dark goth styles than camo, and yet the op freaks out over camo. It's not my choice either, but for a lot of kids it's just outdoor wear.

[boppers]

41. They were industrial, not goth.

It's kind of like confusing rap and R&B.

As for their outfits:



Not a frilly collar or velvet cape in sight, and one of them is even wearing a baseball cap backwards(!)...

[RaleighNCDUer]

49. And isn't the guy in front wearing camo pants? nt

[Posteritatis]

54. Does it matter in the slightest one way or another? (nt)

[RaleighNCDUer]

60. It speaks directly to the point of the OP.

OP is freaked at seeing kids in camo carrying bags at school - immediately associates it with Columbine, for whatever reason. Is answered with "they didn't wear camo anyway - so don't freak out". Photo proves OP right.

Tell the truth, didn't YOU look up nervously every time you heard a plane overhead for the first couple weeks after 9/11? Don't you think there are some people who, 9 years later, still do? And don't you think there are some who were enough traumatized over Columbine that they might have a similar reaction?

You see, camo is not only good, appropriate hunting gear. It is also a RW militarist uniform. The Columbine shooters were fascinated by Hitler. See any Nazi or Klan rally, and look at the numbers of them dressed in camo. Part of the skinhead uniform, too, along with steel toed boots and black T-shirts (curiously similar to the look of Blackwater mercs - just realized that).

So yeah, it DOES matter.

[Brickbat]

14. I think it's an overreaction. Here in hunting country, I'm just fine with a camo day.

Actually, I'm fine with a camo day in any school. So yes, I think you're oversensitive.

[ladywnch]

19. what the hell does cammo have with ANY school's spirit?!?!? n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

24. You don't get it - "Spirit Day" = "corporate group think day"

and is designed to increase conformity, as if schools didn't do that enough already.

That's what our entire education system is all about. Creating 'insiders' and 'outsiders'.

[Dappleganger]

21. I hate those stupid spirit days...

it's ok to have fun days but during football season it seems like they have one every week, and IMO are too distracting.

Yeah, you may have overreacted a bit due to being pissed at the missing teacher situation. I feel for ya...have a nephew who's an aspy as well, he gets bullied by neighbor kids all the time.

[Fire1]

22. A little overly sensitive, yes. This is a new generation and

even some teachers are having a hard time changing their attitudes and how they deal with students and parents. Administrators are the worst of the lot in their paralysis to change.

[Posteritatis]

23. The Fear bags yet another victim. (nt)

[proteus_lives]

39. Yep.

[Sabriel]

25. How can teachers mark kids present if they can't see them?

I kid.

Anyway, remember the good ol' days when I was in high school, and we had slave auctions to precede Slave Day? Good times....

Camo Day around Wisconsin, where I am, has a more hunter-ish connotation, rather than military.

But I see and understand your point, Robyn66.

[blueamy66]

44. Just saw your post.

Yeah, slave day doesn't sound so good anymore.

[flvegan]

26. Once I realized it was "dress in camo day" it wouldn't have bothered me.

But yeah, I might have been taken aback if I had seen the one kid in full paint and BDUs.

That said, all those kids dressed in camo, blending in and unseen, must have made taking attendance really difficult.

[ET Awful]

27. Yes, you're oversensitive.

Wearing camouflage has nothing to do with Columbine or any other school shooting. People wear camouflage every day and don't start shooting people.

Would you have had the same reaction if told it was red white and blue day and kids had been wearing white t-shirts and red or blue bandannas and baseball caps?

What about if they were dressed in just normal clothes like say . . . Ted Bundy or the BTK killer?

How about just plain jeans and a t-shirt like Tim McVeigh and any number of other killers?

Yes, you're oversensitive.

Hint: If someone were planning on shooting people in an urban environment, they would likely wear a black mask or something of the sort, along with either street clothes or a camouflage pattern designed for an urban environment (typically blacks, greys, etc.). Wearing woodland camouflage in an urban environment is kind of self-defeating since instead of being camouflaged, you stand out like a sore thumb.

[ZombieHorde]

29. I am sorry your meeting went poorly, but you are being over sensitive about the costumes. nt

[HopeHoops]

30. Yeah, that's fucking stupid. Dumbfuck stupid in fact.

Wait, let me guess - the next day is "Bring Your AK-47 To School Day", right?

[old mark]

32. Schools are designed for the average kids - the dumbasses thrive, the different

are scorned and the "professionals" move on toward their pension and watch the parade go by.

mark

[liberalhistorian]

35. Really? 'Cause my teacher parents worked awfully goddamed

hard for decades and got very little in the way of appreciation and compensation for it. They did NOT just "watch the parade go by", I assure you, and neither did their colleagues or any other teachers I know and I've know plenty. I get mighty sick of this shit.

[old mark]

42. Many of my relatives are teachers, too. And believe me, I am as sick of this shit as you are.

I juist heard from a neighbor last evening that 2 of his kids will be home schooled rather that to continue in public junior high school because of lousy administrators and teaching.

Maybe the way to stop the complaints is too honestly investigate the accusations and not shoot the messengers.

mark

[proud2BlibKansan]

45. But shoot the teachers?

Come on, Mark, that was a pretty broad brushed accusation you made.

[Codeine]

47. I wasn't scorned in school, and I was a weird-ass kid.

:shrug: A few basic social skills get even the geekiest, gothiest, and oddest kids a long way.

[lumberjack_jeff]

58. For kids with ASD, "Basic social skills" are not easy. n/t

[jmowreader]

34. I don't know...

You gotta admit it's better than Dress Like John Boehner Day. Suit, tie, flag pin, orange face paint and a stick up your ass, and you're good to go.

[derby378]

36. I tried dressing as an evil monk once for Costume Day

A couple of black students asked me about the costume - said the cut of the costume reminded them of a KKK robe. Purely unintentional, I assured them. I even let one of the African-American kids wear it for a while and have some fun in it. All was well, but lesson learned.

[jillan]

37. Robyn - I totally feel for you about her therapist not showing up.

That used to happen ALL the time. My daughter just graduated from school and I don't miss the Spec Ed department AT ALL.

Hang in there - it's a constant battle. How old is your daughter?

[proteus_lives]

38. You're too sensitive.

What's wrong with cammo?

I had a cammo hat I wore all through grade school.

[proud2BlibKansan]

46. I find these dress up days pretty distracting to the real reason we're all there

So glad I don't teach high school.

[LWolf]

48. Every day is cammo day for one of my students.

He doesn't own anything that ISN'T cammo. Many of my other studens wear cammo sometimes, as well. They hunt with their families.

A stupid spirit day? Yes. A big deal? Probably not.

As far as the teacher...

You can push it and get the autism specialist, or whoever set up the meeting, to schedule another, if you think it would help. The teacher must attend. It can be hard to get everyone to meet at the same time, but if you ask the teacher to set the time, there's no more excuse.

There ARE often conflicting meetings. I asked our scheduler to reschedule a meeting just yesterday; I had an IEP for one student and an SST for another scheduled for the same day and time. I don't make those schedules; appointments just arrive in my inbox. I could have begged out of one of the meetings, but they were both important, and I wanted to be there.

[Zoeisright]

51. That is really unbelievably stupid.

It's the perfect way for some kids to repeat Columbine. Wow, the more I think about it, the dumber it seems. Those who created that 'spirit day' should be ashamed of themselves.

[Posteritatis]

52. How, exactly, is green blotchy clothing the perfect way for some kids to repeat Columbine?

Or is the colour of the bag the deadly secret instead?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

53. Remember when all the pearl clutchers wanted to ban black trenchcoats after Columbine?

Well, it's kind of like that. Only even stupider.

[lame54]

56. you could ditch school and still claim you were there

[ensho]

59. the principal and staff must be repugs/neo cons

those brainwashed kids don't stand a chance

[Quantess]

61. Dressing up for spirit week is nothing new, at least not since the 80s

where I went to high school.

It sounds like you have a few legitimate complaints, but "camo day", honestly, sounds like a trivial annoyance at best.

This must be fashion police day here at DU.

[Odin2005]

62. This Aspie sez "What's wrong with Camo?"

I have a nice pair of baggy camo cargo pants l love, tough as hell but yet look good.

[Norrin Radd]

63. My family lived in Oracle, Arizona for a year, in 1984. The middle

school there had dress like a "cholo" day.