Purses banned at Middle School?

[Miss Inga Depointe]

In my school years, I do not remember women carrying purses or bags to classs except in university. .

Maybe you don't remember because you are a guy and it wasn't important to you.

I know I can only speak for myself, but we all carried purses. I carried mine to the restroom even if I didn't "need " it, because it would have been stupid to leave it behind and have something stolen from it.

 

[declansdad]

Maybe you don't remember because you are a guy and it wasn't important to you.

I know I can only speak for myself, but we all carried purses. I carried mine to the restroom even if I didn't "need " it, because it would have been stupid to leave it behind and have something stolen from it.

but I'm not the only one on here that has said this.

 

[Fitswimmer]

I am not doubting your word just never heard of that! We all had purses in the 70s and I don't know, maybe there was some snobbery over purses but you know we all survived. That's just life, isn't it?

I say the schools should keep out of the kid's personal lives unless they have done something wrong or they are in danger. Period (no pun intended.)

So it is also life having to live with the inconvenience of not carrying the designer purse. The OP said that the reason the purses were banned had to do with the designer purses getting stolen. Perhaps if the girls were not carrying those expensive bags to school they wouldn't have had to make the rule.

I also said in another post that we had a very liberal group of teachers that felt designer clothes and purses were bad which had as much to do with the ban as anything else. Anything that spoke of elitism was bad. Banning the clothes would have been more difficult, so they banned the bags.
My parents gave me a D&B bag when I graduated HS to take to college with a note: "Hopefully, this won't be to elitist for college!"

 

[Toby'sFriend]

and maybe the reason you don't remember, or you never noticed --- is because the girls/women were given the freedom, time, time and space to deal with their personal hygiene issues discreetly.

 

[Maleficent13]

Although I agree that banning the purses is wrong, I do have to agree with declansdad about the whole taking the purse to the bathroom thing. When I was in school, you only headed to the restroom with your purse if you had your period. It was as obvious as waving around the big fluorescent yellow wrapped product. I usually took mine out of my purse and hid them in my waistband or something.

Which, by the way, why do they have to DO that? Make the products wrapped in neon yellow, green or pink? How about wrapping them in dark colors, so they blend in with the interior of your purse or pocket? I never did get that. Sorry; OT.

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

So it is also life having to live with the inconvenience of not carrying the designer purse. The OP said that the reason the purses were banned had to do with the designer purses getting stolen. Perhaps if the girls were not carrying those expensive bags to school they wouldn't have had to make the rule.

Some people can afford more expensive things than others. That's life. We take risks be carrying anything we own around. That's life. Schools trying to "protect" students in this way is not real life.

Hey, I was the one with the KMart purse in school. I can't remember being traumatized by the rich girls purses. Maybe the moms of the girls who had the Kmart purses would do better to teach their kids to be proud of what they did have than be jealous of what they didn't. And the moms of the rich girls should teach their daughters to take better care of the nice things they have.

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

Although I agree that banning the purses is wrong, I do have to agree with declansdad about the whole taking the purse to the bathroom thing. When I was in school, you only headed to the restroom with your purse if you had your period. .

Maybe that's why the purses are getting stolen! I always was taught to keep my purse with me at all times so it wouldn't be stolen.

I had no idea anyone was evaluating my reason for taking it with me.
(Alot of things went over my head in those days, though, I must admit!)

 

[Maleficent13]

TBH, if someone had stolen my purse in highschool, they'd have been the proud new owner of 3-4 "products", a couple pens, a few quarters, and possibly a chapstick.

As a matter of fact, if someone stole my purse *today*, that's about what they'd get.

 

[lillygator]

banning purses? Wow!

Almost all the girls in my junior high carried a purse I know I did, we had to have somewhere to stuff all of our notes!!

And back then the purses were Liz Claiborne....and Aigner and later on Dooney.

 

[Fitswimmer]

Some people can afford more expensive things than others. That's life. We take risks be carrying anything we own around. That's life. Schools trying to "protect" students in this way is not real life.

Hey, I was the one with the KMart purse in school. I can't remember being traumatized by the rich girls purses. Maybe the moms of the girls who had the Kmart purses would do better to teach their kids to be proud of what they did have than be jealous of what they didn't. And the moms of the rich girls should teach their daughters to take better care of the nice things they have.

Schools do this ALL the time, there is nothing further removed from reality than a school. They don't play dodgeball anymore because the kids got mean, they don't grade with red pens anymore because it made the kids feel bad, some schools are doing away with ABCD grading because it makes the kids feel bad. My mom told me that they had trouble when I was in first grade because they didn't know what to call the different reading groups so the kids in the lower groups didn't feel bad. When my niece played soccer in 2nd grade, everyone got a trophy for showing up and we weren't allowed to keep score so nobody would feel bad. The designer purse ban fits right in with all the rest of the stuff they're doing. Our children are NEVER supposed to feel bad!!

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

TBH, if someone had stolen my purse in highschool, they'd have been the proud new owner of 3-4 "products", a couple pens, a few quarters, and possibly a chapstick.

As a matter of fact, if someone stole my purse *today*, that's about what they'd get.

My contents weren't very interesting either, but I would have been upset if the purse itself had been stolen, though.
I just remember once when I lost my purse, my mom freaked out. I might have just been a Kmart purse, but it was a purse, and we couldn't afford to buy a new one on a whim. It was a big deal.

 

[suzannen]

So it is also life having to live with the inconvenience of not carrying the designer purse. The OP said that the reason the purses were banned had to do with the designer purses getting stolen. Perhaps if the girls were not carrying those expensive bags to school they wouldn't have had to make the rule.

So how about instead, we let the parents and students know that if they decide to bring to school designer purses, sneakers, clothes, etc., the students much bear the consequence if they get stolen and there will not be any restitution. Perhaps the students might begin to learn about the responsibility that comes along with having nice possessions instead of treating all of the girls as criminals. This seems so much more about 1) crime within a school that they cannot control and 2) envy over certain kids' possession, then about purses.

 

[Va-bear]

I am not doubting your word just never heard of that! We all had purses in the 70s and I don't know, maybe there was some snobbery over purses but you know we all survived. That's just life, isn't it?

I say the schools should keep out of the kid's personal lives unless they have done something wrong or they are in danger. Period (no pun intended.)

In the late 70's I was in middle and early high school .You wouldnt have caught me or most of my friends w/ a purse....but they were allowed. We just thought they were icky/uncool/whatever. Now, the "girly-girls" all had them. Point being, even if you "can" carry a purse, lots do not and you might not notice our strange ways. All that being said, I believe girls SHOULD be able to carry them.....just pass them thru the metal detector like the backpacks and have them sign a "I will not complain if it's stolen" disclaimer at the begining of the year.

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

In the late 70's I was in middle and early high school .You wouldnt have caught me or most of my friends w/ a purse....but they were allowed. We just thought they were icky/uncool/whatever. Now, the "girly-girls" all had them..

I went to school out in the country, and sadly, none of us were very cool! My husband looks at my yearbook and says, "Are you sure you aren't lying about your age???? These pictures look like the 50s!!!."

 

[Va-bear]

I went to school out in the country, and sadly, none of us were very cool! My husband looks at my yearbook and says, "Are you sure you aren't lying about your age???? These pictures look like the 50s!!!."

I wsn't very cool either, but lordy, how much energy my friends and I put into trying!! Now, I am a scientist - the ULTIMATE geek/nerd!!

 

[bevtoy]

No one carried purses when I was in high school or middle school except the kids that smoked . We just kept our 'supplies' in our locker or in a pencil case, etc. It was never really an issue.

We kept our "smokes" hidden in our knee socks under our jeans.