Detentions Over Dress Code 

The Uniform Debate at Eli Whitney Tech

(Oscar Herman Sanchez)

  Eli Whitney Technical High School is a place meant to create the next generation of skilled tradespeople in our state. Students come here to build strength, discipline, and real-world skills that will shape their futures. But this raises an important question: what should matter more in a technical school? Developing capable workers or making sure every student looks exactly the same?

School uniforms have recently become a major issue for many students. While rules are important and help maintain order, the increased punishment for uniform violations has created growing frustration. Detentions for non-uniform issues have risen dramatically since the rules began being enforced more strictly, and many students feel the focus has shifted away from education and toward appearance.

Several students and faculty have shared their thoughts on the issue: “They’re always on us about the uniforms, and it gets annoying,” one student said. “Not everyone can afford to keep buying them. If a shirt rips or gets ruined, you have to replace it, and that costs money some families don’t have,” another student added. A student in the Electrical department said, “I understand why we have uniforms in shops.  It shows professionalism and prepares us for the real world, because a lot of jobs require a specific dress code.  Once you break in the boots and clothes, the uniform really isn’t that bad. But if we already have uniforms in shops why the need for uniforms in academics?” If you notice all uniforms related detentions are always in academics.  Why is that? Is it really just disdain for the rules or is it a subconscious knowledge that we don't need them? The consistent push back will increase the chances of rule breakers in general so if that's the case, what will follow next?

     So what is the solution? Patches? The patches are Eli's Remedy for the uniform problem. A cheap alternative instead of having to buy the full shirt. Sounds like a good idea, right? You would be wrong in trying to fix the problem. The administration unwillingly made the problem much worse and why is that? This cheap alternative option has to be on permanently and for the people who cannot get the real uniform why force it?  Most students have a patch and pin it or in my case, use magnets.  A fellow student stated, “I don’t think it’s fair that we can’t wear temporary patches and have to iron them on every time." They continued, "If you have a shirt you really like, you might not want to ruin it by putting a patch on it. We only use these uniforms for four years, and for seniors it’s only a few months. If I use a magnetic patch and the teacher don’t like that, I've gotten several detentions because of it.” A second student added,  "At first they told us the patch just had to be visible and that it could be pinned on. Then later they said it had to be ironed on, which didn’t make sense to me. If that was the rule, it should have been clear from the beginning instead of changing it midway."  One teacher had this to say: “If everybody is wearing the same thing, it takes bullying and judgment out of the equation.” This shows the positive side of the uniforms. The side threw a teacher's lens. It takes away some of the pain of bullying but even then it is not always a positive side. “Uniforms do limit the expression of a student, their individuality and their sense of style,” another teacher said.

When all of the students look the same it can stunt their ability to grow as their own person and their own style. All people are not the same.  Think about all the jobs in the world.  Almost every career has some kind of dress code or uniform. In an ever changing world with much more creative freedom, uniforms in school feel a bit outdated and definitely should not be prosecuted and given as many consequences as we do.

Is This America?

(Gwendolyn Kolubah)

Childish Gambino is trying to say that America took / is taking something from black people. From the students' purity to their freedom, there are weapons everywhere in the streets( he said "Guns in my area I got the strap I gotta carry em). Guns were brought into the black community, to the point where everyone has a gun because of this fact people are walking around with this “kill or be killed” mentality which is what’s killing our people. Drug usage is also something that’s very prominent within the black community ( he said " I got the plug in Oaxaca") because people tend to use drugs as a form of escape from their reality. The drugs that you find within the black community are hardcore drugs; they are drugs that tear families apart and leave you wondering how it got this bad. It’s easy to sit and judge from the outside when you don’t know the full story. Sometimes drugs, guns and violence are the only way of life in black communities.  It can be hard to break these chains and end the cycle when America took everything from them, and left them stranded.  Imagine being a young black person in this world trying to find yourself while all these existential problems are being thrown in your face every step of the way. 

At the end of the video he's running away as people are chasing after him, which could symbolize young black people trying to get away from all of the mess that keeps following them.  Things like the weapons, hate, drugs, violence, and whatever else that is being thrown at them. Towards the end of the song he said “you just a black man in this world… you just a barcode” and that’s truly how America will continue to see black people because in their eyes that’s all we will ever be. It doesn't matter how much money you have or all the foreign cars you may possess, because This is America.