Purses banned at Middle School?

[apirateslifeforme]

This happened at my middle school 20 years ago! We weren't allowed to carry purses...teachers wouldn't allow us to go to the bathroom, either - we were told "you can go when you change for/after gym" (that was the response from the FEMALE teachers). It was really ridiculous.

 

[ducklite]

And the girls can't use a backpack because........??????

Beth, A lot of schools no longer allow the kids to haul their backpacks around all day. Too many kids in the hallways with bulky backpacks made for congestion and kids getting hit accidentally by other kids backpacks.

A lot of kids weren't keeping anything in their locker and carrying around all their books all day in the backpack, and having back problems as well as a result.

Anne

 

[Skatermom23]

That is a bunch of crap and I would be extremely pissed. A MS girl should be able to carry a purse so that she can have feminine items available, but private.

I agree with you! I did call the school and let them know, but I am only one voice.....

 

[ducklite]

I agree with you! I did call the school and let them know, but I am only one voice.....

What you need to do is get a large number of parents together and go to the next school board meeting. Those ELECTED school board members get a little antsy when a bunch of parents show up to voice a complaint.

Anne

 

[taximomfor4]

This happened at my middle school 20 years ago! We weren't allowed to carry purses...teachers wouldn't allow us to go to the bathroom, either - we were told "you can go when you change for/after gym" (that was the response from the FEMALE teachers). It was really ridiculous.

Rule Number One: MS/HS girls should always ask the MALE teachers if they may use the restroom. My dh is VERY quick about allowing it, he doesn't want to ask questions, lol.

Beth

 

[Skatermom23]

The sad thing here is that it's all a knee-jerk reaction to a bigger problem. If I were the school administration I'd be more concerned with ending CRIME in the school than circumventing the real issue by instituting a rule that punishes everyone.

If theives don't have pocketbooks to steal, they'll find something else. Next it will be shoelaces--then they'll make a rule that kids can only wear loafers or flip flops. The point is that they are blaming the victim, and that's a pathetic way to run a place of learning.

Anne

Excellent point Anne. I wish I had thought of that line of reasoning when I was talking to the school yesterday.

 

[declansdad]

Sorry but I don't see the big deal. I don't remember any of the female students carrying purses when I was in school.

Now being a male, I don't have the "need" for some of the things you are discussing but I do know that I see many ads on TV showing how miniscule some of these items can be and how they are disguised. In fact, wasn't there one commercial where the boyfriend thought it was candy??

 

[Planogirl]

A lot of kids weren't keeping anything in their locker and carrying around all their books all day in the backpack, and having back problems as well as a result.

Anne

My son still carries his around but only because there just isn't time to go to his locker and still make it to class. Between the congestion in the halls and the fact that some classes are in other parts of the school, the 4 minutes between classes just doesn't cut it.

 

[declansdad]

What you need to do is get a large number of parents together and go to the next school board meeting. Those ELECTED school board members get a little antsy when a bunch of parents show up to voice a complaint.

Anne

Why would you insist in making something that is relatively insignificant in to a big issue?

 

[JR6ooo4]

Right, and cars get stolen everyday so nobody should be able to drive or own a car. And stuff gets stolen from target so target should not be allowed to have any merchandise....

Mikeeee

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

And the girls can't use a backpack because........??????

Backpacks have to be kept in lockers at DD's middle school. They are only used to haul books to/from school.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

what is really hilarious is that I remember MY school trying the same thing a long long time ago.

They also at one point in time tried removing the stall doors in the bathrooms in order to prevent smoking. Idiots actually had to have a few Mothers march into a school board meeting and explicitly explain into the Board Minute records exactly WHY middle school girls require privacy in the bathroom.

 

[Skatermom23]

Now being a male, I don't have the "need" for some of the things you are discussing but I do know that I see many ads on TV showing how miniscule some of these items can be and how they are disguised. In fact, wasn't there one commercial where the boyfriend thought it was candy??

Ummm, well most 11,12 & 13 year old girls aren't using the miniscule size products. Enough said, or would you like more details?

 

[ducklite]

Why would you insist in making something that is relatively insignificant in to a big issue?

I do'nt see it as relatively insignificant. Like I said previously, I see it as blaming the victim. A kneejerk reaction to the end, not the means. They need to be concerned with preventing crime at it's root.

Anne

 

[taximomfor4]

Ummm, well most 11,12 & 13 year old girls aren't using the miniscule size products. Enough said, or would you like more details?

Even the "other items" come in teensy weensy pocket-packs (or some other cutesy name, but folded VERY small and flat). I got a sample pack for dd months ago. They are sooo cute, and very easy to hide in a pocket.

Beth

 

[poohandwendy]

I do'nt see it as relatively insignificant. Like I said previously, I see it as blaming the victim. A kneejerk reaction to the end, not the means. They need to be concerned with preventing crime at it's root.

Anne

ITA. That is why I wouldn't stand down on this issue. There is no reason to take away the freedom to carry a purse from all because some students are criminals. I am not comfortable with the school not finding a solution that actually targets the problem, instead of the whole student body, in cases like this.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

sorry for being indelicate

but nothing that could be described as "teensy weensy and sooooo cute that fold up flat and can fit into a pocket" would have ever gotten me through even 1/2 a day until lunch when I was in middle school.

I agree with the others. I don't believe in treating adolescents as criminals simply because they are adolescents and they adults in the community are too cheap to provide a school with adequate staffing to monitor the hall and bathroom situations. I think they deserve respect and dignity, until they personally do something that proves they don't deserve respect and dignity.

 

[famofsix]

sorry for being indelicate

but nothing that could be described as "teensy weensy and sooooo cute that fold up flat and can fit into a pocket" would have ever gotten me through even 1/2 a day until lunch when I was in middle school.

I agree with the others. I don't believe in treating adolescents as criminals simply because they are adolescents and they adults in the community are too cheap to provide a school with adequate staffing to monitor the hall and bathroom situations. I think they deserve respect and dignity, until they personally do something that proves they don't deserve respect and dignity.

I agree...especially if your red pants have no pockets. Middle school is embarressing enough with a purse.

 

[DisneyDotty]

OP--why don't you call the school and suggest that they provide free sani supplies in the bathrooms? Seems to me that if the schools are forbidding purses and not allowing time to go to the lockers, that's the only reasonable solution.
My DD's middle school doesn't allow purses, eitiher. Never has. But they do at least let the girls go to their lockers.
It just doesn't make any sense to me. Kids have always had designer crap--remember pappagallo purses? Alligator sweaters? Why does the school have to monitor that? When does it have time to teach?! But I also have strong concerns about teachers who restrict the use of the bathroom. I taught h.s. over ten years--if a kid needed to use the bathroom, I wasn't about to question it. Rarely had anyone abuse this, and I could deal one-on-one with those who did. I HATE when everyone is punished for the misdeeds of a few! Grrrrr!

 

[goofyforlife]

OK maybe i have an attitude problem but this is what i would do....

I would have dd and her friends all take a couple BIG BOXES of hygiene products with them for say oh about a week. Stick em to books etc..... Have the guys carry them too...

You can be sure that probably by the end of the second day purses would be back.......

Now if that didn't work.... My dd prefers to keep her items in a small cosmetic case she keeps in her locker...

Our MS had that only go to your locker once a day rule for two years until the teachers got so fed up with kids who didn't have their books or had to let them leave to get something. They's spend the first 15-20 minutes of class just waiting for all the kids to return. This year they let them to lockers between classes and things are going much smoother.....