Students have raised questions about the school handbook over the course of…well…its entire existence. From the dress code to what you can bring into school, if a rule is in the handbook, it’s been questioned. One specific rule has many students scratching their heads and asking, “Why?”  The rule can be summed up in one word: hats.

According to the school handbook, the hat rule states: “Coats, hats, caps, bandanas or other head coverings or any headgear that distracts from instruction are not to be worn or displayed at anytime in the building. They are to be removed upon entering the building. This applies to both males and females.”

What the point is of not wearing hats? They aren’t distracting for the most part, and they help you out on a bad hair days. Girls can sympathize with me on this point.

I understand the concern that some kids take other kids’ hats and toss them around the halls or in class. That’s just a few students being immature; they should know better, and that won’t be accepted in the real world.

Upon asking 100 students to take a survey on what they think about wearing hats in school, 38 students said they would love to wear hats in school stating, “Hats aren’t disrespectful or distracting, so why not?”

Only four students said they don’t want hats to be worn indoors, one of them writing, “I’m sure immature people would make a point of stealing other people’s hats, throwing them, etc. It’s an opportunity for distraction.”

Of the hundred surveyed, 49 students said they don’t care if hats can be worn inside or not. One said, “It doesn’t affect me, but if someone did, I wouldn’t mind.”

Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Mrs. Linda Gross has worked at the high school for many years. She remembers when the high school first made the hat rule ten years ago.

“They used to let the kids wear hats,” Mrs. Gross said, “and then what started happening was teachers would question when kids would put their brims down during testing periods, and [teachers] were wondering where they were looking.”

Mrs. Gross explained that it used to be socially acceptable for girls, but not guys, to wear hats inside.

“It was considered poor social skills [for guys to wear hats inside],” she said. “Then this whole thing with discrimination started happening, and they started to say ‘well the girls can wear hats, why can’t the guys?’ So they thought it was in the best interest to say that this rule is for everybody.”

I interviewed one anonymous teacher who believes hats should not be worn in school. “Students aren’t willing to police themselves when issues arise,” they stated. When asked what students can do to help the cause, they replied with: “The first thing to do [to show students can handle the responsibility] is start making people be responsible for their hats in the hallway. Help them to make the right choice.”

The moral of the story is to act mature. Don’t throw your hats around or use them to cheat on a test, no matter how tempting it may be.  If you want the privilege of wearing hats in school, start by acting your age and “policing” yourselves. It may not sound cool, but it’s what we need to do to show administration and the school board that we can handle it. The whole reason why teachers are so against wearing hats is because we haven’t shown them that we can handle wearing hats.  In my opinion, I think the rule should be changed. It would open up a new door to self-expression and a new door to responsibility, which is exactly what we need.