Sunday, April 20, 2008

Catholic schools are strict, but are they a little too strict?


As a former Catholic school student, I clearly remember the first day of class each year. Together as a grade we were all asked to assemble to the auditorium where the dean of that grade would give a speech and talk to us as a whole. Each year they would go over each and every rule and the list would be endless. Girls were not allowed to have highlighted hair, boys could not have shorter than a certain number buzz cut, only one hole was allowed in each ear, only diamond studs were allowed as opposed to hoops, etc. The list goes on and on, but is all of these rules really that necessary?


Some people feel every rule that is offered is definitely a necessity. Having so many rules keeps the students in order and on the right track. By not allowing girls to highlight their hair it avoids the issue of some people having blue, pink or green highlights, a common thing in our world today. Giving the same rules to every student this allows them to be similar in how they look leaving little room for students to make fun of other students. It isn’t uncommon for students to get teased for not wearing name brand clothes or having the newest sneaker out, etc. By controlling these things with uniforms and similar hairstyles it tends to avoid this situation. Not only does it avoid this situation but it teaches students that in life you have to follow rules whether you like them or not and if you obey those rules everything will be fine. If you choose to break the rules there will be consequences, so indirectly there is a lesson to be learned from these rules.


On the other end is everyone who believes that there are too many rules in Catholic schools. For some it is bad enough that they have to wear a uniform, so they express themselves through their hair, jewelry, nails, etc. Once this is taken away from them they feel helpless and no one is unique. Rather, everyone looks the same and the only thing that’s different is peoples’ personality. By having so many rules students tend to feel like they are in a “prison” making them not want to go to school. It gives them the feeling that school is almost like a job and it becomes something they dread doing everyday. By dreading going to school they are less likely to focus causing them to fall behind and not do well on their exams.


I believe having certain rules are good to an extent. Students need guidelines and they need guidance to keep them on the right track moving in the right direction. However, they do not need to have their “individualness” taken away from them. If students are all wearing the same outfits they want to express themselves in different ways. I do feel that students should be able to wear their hair however they want or where whatever jewelry they please. While guidelines are still good you cannot take the “child” out of the children. They still need to enjoy themselves and be able to express themselves how they please to find out who they really are.

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