reasons why i should be allowed to wear my kilt to school

[clan campbell]

im 17 and i attend a public school and i want to wear my kilt, but i dont wanna get in trouble for causing a distraction in the class, because im not allowed to wear it, so i wondered what are your thoughts on why i should be allowed to wear it

[Nick the DSM]

I've worn it to my high school over the past four years and got no trouble from admin whatsoever. Should be no problem.

[imnothng]

Why aren't you allowed to wear it? If it's public school I can't see how they could say no, but if it's catholic school, then you have to abide by the uniform rules.

[beloitpiper]

You should be allowed to wear it because you live in the United States and can do what you damn well please within the limits of the law.

[Nighthawk]

Well, the way I see it, unless your school has a specific uniform policy (and not just a dress code) there should be no issues. My son wouldn't be able to wear a kilt unless it was a khaki kilt, because that's what uniform policy dictates- khaki pants and skirts, and white or grey shirts. It's very restrictive. If, however, you go to a school that simply has a dress code, then ethnic clothing should be allowed. If you have a dress code, my attitude is that it's always better to ask for forgiveness than for permission, because asking permission automatically implies that there may be something wrong with what you want to do. If, on the other hand, you have a uniform policy to deal with... well, then permission has already been denied.

[Mickey]

Public schools can and do impose and enforce dress codes, quite legally, even though some of which make no sense at all. My son, who is 16, along with his cronies, wear kilts to school with various stages of dress ranging from punk rock T-shirts to collars and ties.

However, they are not allowed to wear hats of any sort, jackets/hoodies/coats (even in wintertime) and even display bandanas of any design or color, regardless of whether it is on a head, neck, wrist or even showing from a pocket from the time school starts until in ends, even if outside. He even got in trouble for wearing wrist sweatbands that had the Bud Light logo on them (promoting alcohol)... We gave him white sweatbands the next day with Rozelle and Pluto written on them in Sharpie.... (some folks might get this jab)

I would recommend that you get your parents involved and bring up the double standard between guys and girls, along with culture/heritage, especially as I assume from your screen name that it may be a large part of your family history. I've lived in some pretty bad neighborhoods and even had an ex-brother in law who was an actual "crip" in LA, and I've never seen a gang member of any sort wearing a kilt. A kilt does not incite violence or turf wars. Unless kilt wearing is specifically forbidden in your student guidebook (which I only assume your school gives out) a bit of parental involvement, even a letter, can accomplish a lot.

You could even test the waters (with your parent's permission of course) by wearing the kilt and bringing along trousers to change into if it turns into a problem.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[Whidbey78]

If the school has any written policy about culturally significant or symbolic clothing being an exception to the dress code you can always use that to boost your argument. Despite the impression given by most public institutions, the kilt is no less a culturally significant item than a turban or a yamika. The only downside to using this argument is that it applies more to traditional kilt and wearing them in a traditional style, so it probably wouldn't open the doors to wearing something like a Utilikilt.

Hopefully your teachers and administrators haven't been brainwashed into the all-too-common misconception that the word "ethnic" either can not apply to things originating in Europe or that it means "non-European in origin." Then you're saddled with correcting their misconceptions before you can move on to getting permission or changing policy. Been there. Its a struggle. Good luck.

[TheNaughtyScot]

You should just wear it. But wear it well for the rest of us!

[Nighthawk]

Public schools can and do impose and enforce dress codes, quite legally, even though some of which make no sense at all. My son, who is 16, along with his cronies, wear kilts to school with various stages of dress ranging from punk rock T-shirts to collars and ties.

However, they are not allowed to wear hats of any sort, jackets/hoodies/coats (even in wintertime) ...

Well, that makes sense...

im 17 and i attend a public school and i want to wear my kilt, but i dont wanna get in trouble for causing a distraction in the class, because im not allowed to wear it, so i wondered what are your thoughts on why i should be allowed to wear it

So now, I have to ask, because it's unclear to me from your post- have you already tried to wear it and been denied, or is this a hypothetical situation against which you're arming yourself?

[Mark Keeney]

School is a place to learn. If they said "No" to the kilt. Just wear it after school is over. Get your moneys worth out of school when you can and use your non school time to make a statement by wearing the kilt.