Father says son's pants were taped up by administrator

[Cosmo_ac]

Personally, this story pisses me off.

School dress code breach questioned
Father says son's pants were taped up by administrator
Raluca Barzu <[email protected]>
Truth Staff
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
DUNLAP -- A father told members of the Concord Board of School Trustees Monday night that he believes his son was treated unfairly at school when the assistant principal duct-taped his pants to keep them from sagging.

Scott Allison said he came home from work last Wednesday evening and found his son, Spencer, in tears.

Spencer, 12, a seventh-grade student at Concord Junior High School, told his dad that he was sent to the assistant principal's office by one of his teachers because his underwear was showing above his pants.

"Spencer wanted to get a drink of water when she (the teacher) told him to lift up his shirt," said Allison. He said the teacher then noticed Spencer's pants sagged below his underwear, a violation of the dress code.

The student handbook states that underwear cannot be showing during any school activities.

"I don't understand what motivated her to ask him to lift up his shirt," said Allison, who added that Spencer's underwear wouldn't have been showing if the shirt was left down.

"This outrages me and shocks me," said Allison.

The board members learned that in her office, the assistant principal, Patricia Walters, told Spencer to pull up his pants and tuck in his shirt.

"She (Walters) then proceeded to duct tape his waist, three times around the waist," said Allison. "Then she sent him back to class, in front of his peers.

"I am worried about the psychological angle," said Allison, who feared his son was being mocked in front of his classmates.

Allison said Spencer was wearing the same pants and shirt Monday night at the school board meeting as he wore to school last Wednesday.

He asked his son to lift his hands and bend down in front of the board members. Both times, underwear remained concealed under the shirt.

The father told the board he wondered why school authorities didn't contact the family before applying such action. He asked them to examine the assistant principal and the teacher's behavior.

"We cannot discuss personnel issues in public," said Randall Myers, board president.

Junior High Principal Kevin Caird also did not comment on the matter. "Student disciplinary actions are confidential," he said.

Contact Raluca Barzu at [email protected].

My thoughts on this. First, the teacher should be fired. Now, i know some might say that what she did was not a huge deal, but if it was a MALE teacher who asked a twelve year old GIRL to lift her shirt up to see if her pants were sagging and exposing her panties, not only would he get fired, he'd probably get charged as well. Hell, there would be a picket rally outside the school until he did get fired. As shown above, the underwear should not have been visible, even if his pants were sagging.

The assistant principle should also be fired. IMO, this was nothing more then a direct attempt to humiliate the boy. First, she does not have the authority to do something like this. No way, no how. If the shirt covered the pants, which it did, there should have been no problem. However, even if there was, she should have at worst called the boys father. second, physical contact with students should be kept at a bare mimimum at best. Any teacher would know that. There is no excuse for what she did, or logic. Either she's extremely stupid or her actions were intentionally meant to emberrass the kid. Either way, she should go.

 

[leafstk]

I agree completely, Cos. That's a sick abuse of authority. I used to work in an elementary school, and if I'd seen one of my peers do anything remotely close to that... damn right it would be public. Unacceptable.

 

[cloudgazer2k]

in the isd i went to throughout my school career, the teachers either gave you a peice of twine or rope to act as a belt if a kid's pants were sagging. what i can't under stand is...how could a teacher use duct tape? that stuff isn't easy to remove, especially off skin and clothing. i hope that teacher loses his/her job for that. isn't supposed to put a hand on a student in the first place.

 

[jugner]

I do agree with what you all say, but we don't know the whole story. Maybe this child had been warned many times of sagging, and even though you may not be able to see his underwear, you can tell if someone's sagging without seeing their underwear. Maybe this is also against the rules. I'm just saying we don't know the whole story.

 

[Cosmo_ac]

while your right we don';t know the whole story, We certainly know enough of the story. First, if wearing sagging pants was against the rules, which since this is a public school i'm pretty sure isn't, then the teacher would have been able to see it without the boy lifting his shirt. Second, if the boy had been warned, the father would have been notified, and should have been notified if his son had broken any rule and was to be punished, and finally, even if the boy was breaking a rule, even if he was not allowed to have saggy pants (which if that was the case, wouldn't make much sense for him to wear them before the board to show that his underwear was not exposed) there is no excuse for what the teacher or assistant principle did.

I do admit though, i am curious to see how this story progresses, what the teacher and assistant principle have to say about there actions, or if we hear about it again.

 

[jugner]

I hven't been in high school in five years, and the entire time sagging was against the rules (and I went to public school). Repeat offenders were often asked to raise their shirts simply because without seeing it the student would deny it. I just cannot say definitely they were out of line without more info.

 

[Cosmo_ac]

thats fair Jugner. There certainly is more to hear i'm sure. I was in highschool five years ago also and it was fine. Perhaps thats one of the reasons this irks me. Personally, i see nothing wrong with it, as long as the underwear is not showing. Even if it is, to be honest i was never bothered by it in highschool. Didn't care much for it, but hey, their choice. I mean, if the assistant principle and the teacher are worried that sagging pants are going to be a distraction to the other students, i wonder what they think taping a students pants around his waist would do? I do find it interesting though, right here:

The student handbook states that underwear cannot be showing during any school activities.

Now, if his shirt did indeed cover him up, like it's said it did, there should have been no problem. What i find ironic, is that the Teacher was the one who instructed the kid to show his underwear, which until she asked him to lift his shirt, was covered.

However, i do agree, it'll be interesting to hear the teachers and principles side of the story. Assuming we get to hear anything.

 

[kis123]

I'm sorry folks, but...

Based only on the information given, I'm not in agreement with the use of duct tape at all. Having said that, if the school says no sagging pants, they didn't say it for nothing. The child in question shouldn't wear sagging pants to school. Simply put, the child was out of dress code and should have been disciplined according to dress code laws. His parents shouldn't be buying him clothes that violate school policy. I am personally sick and tired of looking at boy's boxers or briefs where pants should be. It's vulgar to have to be exposed to it. If the girl wears the thong to school, she should be dealt with as well. It's an educational institution, not a fashion show! That's why they should make them all wear uniforms!

There's always going to be someone who bucks against authority and doesn't think the rules apply to him or her. Follow the rules or deal with the consequences. If you let one get away with it, then the entire school could end up out of order.

Once again, I don't agree with the duct tape thing, but I bet it'll be a long time before he comes to school with sagging pants again.

 

[Cosmo_ac]

here's the thing though Kiss. There's no meantion of not allowing sagging pants. Only that underwear showing is against the rules. IF sagging pants were against the rules, then they should have a male teacher be checking the male students. As i said earlier, you have a male teacher checking the girls panties, and your have him out on his ass in a second, and probably be charged.

 

[Cosmo_ac]

I don't think it's possible that he was violating a shirt tucking in rule, because if he was, his teacher wouldn't have told him to lift his shirt up. More then likely the assistant principle ordered him to tuck his shirt in so she had something to tape his pants to, instead of his skin. Also, his pants effectively covered his underwear from all eyes, so he wasn't showing them to begin with, making it un-nessary to tape his pants up to begin with. This doesn't seem to be an issue of exposure, as, by the example shown and from what we've heard, there wasn't any.

At any rate, we can all at least agree that the assistant principles actions were wrong.

 

[jugner]

I think the point of the duct tape may have been to embarress him to prevent him from doing this again. One more thing to remember is we are only hearing from the student, who is naturally going to maske himself sound like an innocent victim.

 

[kis123]

He obviously violated some aspect of the dress code rules or this never would've happened in the first place. Either dress according to the rules (which all are made aware of at the beginning of the school year) or deal with appropriate consequences. I wouldn't have used duct tape and I don't agree with that per my first post. But, when these kids purposefully disrespect the rules, they need to be dealt with immediately. Disrespect is like cancer, if you don't treat it, it will spread!

I just wish they make all students wear uniforms and that would take care of a lot of the problem. Even then, there will be someone ready to defy that too.

I don't like adults abusing their authority anymore than kids thinking they can buck against authority. The teacher involved needs to be punished, and that student hopefully has learned how to appropriately dress himself for school.

 

[Krokus]

The teacher should be fired, and the school should be fined. I'd sue the hell out of that school for all I could get. Then out of spite i would sag the hell out of my pants.

 

[kis123]

The teacher should be fired, and the school should be fined. I'd sue the hell out of that school for all I could get. Then out of spite i would sag the hell out of my pants.

I'm sorry, but I disagree with you on this one. He'll only make matters worse. He should've worn appropriate clothing to school and not violated (or even approached the line) of violating school rules. Why is it that no one seems to understand he walked himself into the line of fire by disobeying the rules? The way the teacher handled it was deplorable, but if he weren't straddling the fence, he wouldn't have gotten into trouble.

I am the mother of two children. I don't buy them clothes that look like two people can get in them. I buy them clothes that properly fit them and make them look the way teenagers are supposed to. No ganstas' in training, and no hoochie mama clothing allowed in my home, period!

I agree that something should be done to the adults involved, but this will end up being one more reason that kids don't respect authority. When you don't get your way, involve the media and pressure the school to get what you want.

I will reiterate I DO NOT AGREE WITH WHAT SHE DID AT ALL! Cosmo has a point-if it were a man and a teenage girl, he'd be either in jail or home on his couch reading the want-ads. But these kids are going to leave school and home and become part of adult society some day. They need to learn how to dress appropriately and follow the rules before they are turned loose of the rest of us.

 

[Cosmo_ac]

Kiss, beggy clothes are the style these days in a lot of circles. I don't agree with it, hell i don't even like it, but thats whats in. Being the age he is, he'd want to fit in, so i can see why he'd wear the clothing. Now, i can apreciate what you mean by him on the fence. He was wearing pants that did indeed drop bellow his underwear. However, since it was indeed covered, or so the story and evidence pressented seems to suggest, there really shouldn't have been that much of a problem. I don't see this as a deliberate attempt the throw something in the face of authority. I see a kid simply wearing the style, and who was not violating any rules (that i have seen presented). He probably thought that as long as his underwear was not showing, as is stated it should not, he'd be ok. He might have been close, but close only counts in Curling and hand grenades 😉


I think a dress code wouldn't be a bad idea. I'm not a huge fan of conformity, but i think it could work. Love those catholic school girl unifroms 😉

 

[AquaFeline]

Clothes don't have to be particularly baggy in order to show underwear. You just have to be skinny and not wearing a belt. Having a long shirt on to cover that up should be acceptable. I also don't like the assumption that he must have been doing something wrong in order to singled out; maybe he was malicious or maybe the teacher was malicious/over cautious but it is impossible to know based on the given facts. We do know that the principal was out of line, though, due to the duct tape (which was an extreme measure.)

What if the clothes were hand-me-downs? The parents might also have decided to buy things a little big so that he could grow into them and never thought twice about it. Clothes get expensive after all.

 

[kis123]

Clothes don't have to be particularly baggy in order to show underwear. You just have to be skinny and not wearing a belt. Having a long shirt on to cover that up should be acceptable. I also don't like the assumption that he must have been doing something wrong in order to singled out; maybe he was malicious or maybe the teacher was malicious/over cautious but it is impossible to know based on the given facts. We do know that the principal was out of line, though, due to the duct tape (which was an extreme measure.)

What if the clothes were hand-me-downs? The parents might also have decided to buy things a little big so that he could grow into them and never thought twice about it. Clothes get expensive after all.

You have some valid points and I'm really not trying to beat up on you but we can talk about the "what if's" all day long. What if he wore clothes that fit more appropriately? What if he had a history of school trouble previously? What if the teacher would've been smarter than to let her emotions and frustrations with these kids with bad dress and even worse attitudes get the best of her? How much does a belt cost anyway?

Like I said, much of this could be avoided if the kids were made to wear uniforms or their parents dress kids more appropriately. Then, they're not imitating each other and the horrible they see people dressed on television. Girls wouldn't come to school dressed like Britney Spears, J-Lo, or Lil' Kim. Boys wouldn't come to school dressed like rappers, grunge folks, goths, and gangsta'/thug wannabes. My kids started out wearing uniforms and by the time they were in public school they knew how to dress properly. It's real simple, don't buy your kids that crap! There's a way to dress them fashionably and tastefully at the same time.