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What are you gonna do? Give me detention? Illinois schools ban pyjamas in online classes

(2020/08/11)


As the mercury hits tropical levels in the UK, Vulture Central continues to deliver enterprise tech news in various states of undress.

But spare a thought for kids in the Illinois state capital of Springfield who have been told they cannot wear pyjamas or sit in bed while enrolled in online classes.

The school district's student and family handbook

[1]PDF

has been updated for 2020-21 with various policies addressing the coronavirus issue, and under the "school culture" section are some guidelines for remote learning.

It's specified that students will be "sitting up out of bed preferably at a desk or table" – so there go the dreams of thousands of teens who had hoped to spend the entire day there – and that they "will be dressed according to the dress code."

This, unfortunately, rules out any comfortable clothing like "pajama pants" and "slippers", along with all the usual prohibited items.

Jason Wind, director of school support, was quoted by [2]Fox 5 Atlanta as telling school board members: "The expectation is that the dress code is upheld. We don't need students in pajamas and all those other things while on their Zoom conferences."

The question is how it'll be enforced. The grown-up world of work seems to go by the maxim "business in the front, party in the back", which is to say as long as you don't look too awful on camera, whatever's off camera is fair game.

Or maybe that was mullets.

Parents slapped with dress code after turning school grounds into a fashion crime scene [3]READ MORE

Still, as you'll no doubt remember, kids are little shits. Many teachers can be totally ineffectual when physically standing in front of a class of them, and it only takes one remote-learning smartass flouting the dress code to say something like: "What are you going to do? Give me detention? I've been in quarantine for four months!"

Not all parents are on board either. One was quoted as saying: "I made the decision for my kids to be at home and I don't really see how any district can come in and say what my kid can't wear in my house. I don't think they have any right to say what happens in my house. I think they have enough to worry about as opposed to what the kids are wearing. They need to make sure they're getting educated."

Indeed. Even at uni no one cares this much about how the students are dressed. At the turn of the century, Ugg boots – [4]that horrendous crime against fashion – lounge pants, and hoodies were all the rage among academics, who looked like their scheduled lecture had rudely interrupted their morning nap.

On the other hand, at least the US kids don't have to wear uniforms. British pupils look like they will be returning to school in September wearing scratchy shirts, suffocating ties, and irritating Teflon [5]come what may .

I'll spare you what I'm wearing. This is a family tech news site. And it's nearly lunchtime. ®

Get our [6]Tech Resources



[1] https://www.sps186.org/downloads/table/116806/2020-21%20Student%20and%20Family%20Handbook.pdf

[2] https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/school-district-says-no-pajamas-for-online-classes

[3] https://www.theregister.com/2019/04/25/texas_high_school_dress_code_for_parents/

[4] https://www.office.co.uk/view/product/office_catalog/6/3764752451

[5] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53710472

[6] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/

Cronus

Not related to the article per se but not really sure where else I'd post this. What ever happened to Mr Dabbs? Did I miss some article about him leaving?

chivo243

I think I saw him on vacation in France!

GrumpenKraut

> Did I miss some article about him leaving?

There was no such article though he apparently left. Quite sad, I enjoyed his writing enormously.

Dan 55

There was a Tweet from Dabbsy about it [1]here . He may be back or he may sink into molten metal in a foundary making a thumbs up sign.

[1] https://twitter.com/alidabbs/status/1240961651295354881

A. Coatsworth

Thanks for the tweet link! I had the same doubt and hadn't found any hard info about Dabbsy.

I just noticed his description at twitter reads "Ex-columnist at The Register" so, yeah, more great news from this SOB year.

Hopefully an asteroid will hit soon and end it all already. It has been too much bullsh*t already for a year.

GrumpenKraut

Thanks, I dearly hope for a come back.

DAAAAAAAAAABSY!!!1!!1!1eleventillionzwoelfdreizehn!!111!!!

Antron Argaiv

Hope he returns and enjoys his holiday meanwhile.

I enjoyed his curmudgeonly viewpoints on life and the daily struggle to get through it.

Hmmm, how the hell?

chivo243

Let's see... I'm seated at a table, with a nice shirt, and pj bottoms with slippers under the table, how the hell are they gonna know? Are they going to ask me to stand and deliver?

Disclaimer, I'm from Killinois... or Smellinois, pick your poison ;-}

Re: Hmmm, how the hell?

Antron Argaiv

My Teams backgrounds masked the fact that I was working from an unfinished basement. I usually appeared to be in one of the following:

Tardis (bigger on the inside, of course)

NASA Mission Control

A generic tropical beach

The department award for most innovative background went to the chap who photographed the area behind his desk at work and used that.

My basement has now been finished (partition walls, suspended ceiling, LED lighting), so I proudly show it off....because it appears that I will be working from there for the forseeable future...

Re: Hmmm, how the hell?

Charlie Clark

I'm basically in agreement with you but a couple of points:

sitting in bed is poor ergonomics and probably not the best position for distance learning. Then again, many households might not have the resources for a choice.

The clothes shouldn't become an object of discussion during the lesson, so neutral clothes are less of a distraction. But better still to have the kids cameras disabled unless absolutely necessary. Not least the privacy aspect: young kids on an online video conference potentially in their underwear? Think of the potential lawsuits in the land of unlimited liability if someone were to record and publish the lessons!

and how would they know...

Rattus

All the kids at my daughter's school have been using overlaid graphics in their online lessons - dragon scales & cat heads, guess they could still be 'dressed' in a school uniform

Doctor Syntax

"And it's nearly lunchtime."

So time to get up?

So long as it's not mixed thread...

Jason Bloomberg

I've never had any truck with dress codes or uniforms of any kind, at work, at school, or anywhere. To me it's all 'fascism'.

I'm all for people wandering around naked, in full top hat and tails, and anything in-between, if they want to. But I am well aware my tolerance is derided as degenerate and dangerous by so-called lovers of freedom the world over.

Re: So long as it's not mixed thread...

Warm Braw

There's a rather odd argument put forward for school uniforms is that it prevents rich kids from parading their wealth in ostentatious designer wear when it actually means that poorer families have to buy clothes, often overpriced from single suppliers, they can't usefully use on other occasions.

I always felt school was just preparing kids for a life of taking arbitrary orders from people with more money /status/louder voices and any education was merely incidental. It's a theory that social media would seem to validate.

Re: So long as it's not mixed thread...

A Non e-mouse

I always felt school was just preparing kids for a life of taking arbitrary orders from people

To quote Madness:

"All I learned at school was to bend not break the rules".

No bed rule

alain williams

Unfortunately I suspect that for some of the poorer pupils this is the only place that they can call their own.

Same in Croydon

Efer Brick

A pal's son had to wear full skule uniform during lock down lessons.

August

Just Enough

"British pupils look like they will be returning to school in September"

British kids are already returning to school, in August. Because they're not all English.

Nunyabiznes

As long as they are properly covered up and the clothing isn't obscene I don't see an issue.

Personally, I've generally found it easier to learn when I'm comfortable, not sitting in a hard desk designed to make your bum numb while freezing/broiling as season dictates.

Sir Loin Of Beef

This is my state for ya!

Anonymous Coward

We recently had an all hands meeting and management said there had been complaints about staff eating & drinking during video calls (Er, we did that at the office), children/partner/pets walking into someone's (physical) room, outside noise, etc.

If it was people's choice to work from home, I might have some sympathy, but none of us had a choice when this all kicked off months ago. (And we still don't have a choice now) Not everyone has a dedicated office room at home and for some households there is not enough room for everyone to be working from home.

swimming trunks

gfx

That's what I'm wearing the local 35 degree heatwave warmed indoors to 32 degrees celsius.

Mighty Maxim

Robert Helpmann??

business in the front, party in the back

I thought that was "liquor in the front and poker in the rear". Kids these days!

"I just want to be a good engineer."
-- Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, concluding his keynote
speech at the 1988 AppleFest