Stylin' the Eighties

Chemistry. Tuesday, eighth period. 

The lesson plan for the day was for them to complete some surveys the district was requiring of all the high school students. Mr. U said that it should take the whole period, but teenagers rush through things, so many were finished with much time to spare. 

Mostly they were sophomores, and mostly sophomores know how to not make a nuisance of themselves when they've finished their work. Most have learned how to sneak onto video games. 

But not Jessie. No. Jessie first distinguished himself by taking 20 minutes in the restroom. In a building where the restroom was steps away from the classroom. Deep sigh. 

I'm not going to list all of Jessie's misdeeds, mostly because as I write this it's been four days since I covered the class and I've forgotten exactly what it was that made him stand out. Self preservation, I think. I can't keep all of the silly things they do at the forefront of my memory. 

Why Jessie made the blog has to do with the last thing he talked about, just before the final bell rang. 

He asked me if I wanted to cut it off. Cut what off? 

He reached around his neck and pulled out a long, narrow braid... 

A rat's tail?!?

Suddenly, I was a seventh grader again. I think that's the last time I saw one of those. They're back? Really? 

So, I said the first thing that popped into my head. 

"1983 called. They want their hairstyle back." 

But the bell rang at the same time, so Jessie did not hear me. 

I'm not upset. It was a rather weak joke. It's been made hundreds of times. Just not about rat's tails. 

Rat's tail. 

Wow. 

I did not expect to see that style return. 

Full of Stars

As an adult who often interacts with teenagers, I consider it my duty to report back to you when I notice a trend. And lately I've noticed that the kiddos have all started doing something kind of weird--they now wear star stickers on their faces.

These are not large, maybe a half centimeter across. Usually they're yellow. And they can be anywhere on their faces. Usually girls, but I've seen some boys wear them too.

Curious, I Googled it. And it turns out that they are pimple patches. Oh, that makes sense.

Here's an article I found about them. If you search for them, you'll find they sell them on Amazon, at Walmart, and many other places. 

So, if you encounter teens and you see little stars on their faces, now you know what they are. 

Fashion Icons

On Friday, I was talking to the principal and Mr. T (he teaches social studies and the electives) as the students were leaving for the day. They noticed that Brandon's pants were sagging, and reminded each other that they needed to remind him of the dress code the next time they saw him. 

I remarked that I thought the whole sagging thing had gone out of style. (It used to be that we'd have to remind the kiddos to pull up their pants multiple times a day. It's been a few years since that was a major issue.) 

The principal explained that yes, that was out of style generally. However, Brandon might have been emulating the look of those just out of jail. Apparently, when they are released, they are frequently given clothes that don't fit, so when the pants are too small, they ride low.

The education I receive when I go to these schools. I learn so much about segments of society I would not normally interact with.

Shoeless

Tenth grade world history. As with every other class I covered the week before finals, they were working on the study guide for their final.

It was passing period before fifth period. Ellie darted into the room, looking anxious.

As Ellie's friends arrived, I gleaned the reason for her distress. (Students rarely tell the sub what's going on. I have to figure it out for myself.) Someone had stolen Ellie's shoes from PE, and she was at that point walking around in only her socks.

(Why she wasn't wearing her PE shoes was never discussed.)

She was understandably distracted. (I guess they were Vans in a navy blue. I think that's what I overheard.)

When she asked to go back to the locker room to look for her shoes again, of course I let her. When her friend "needed to use the restroom" as the same time, I allowed it. When they returned together, I was not surprised. I was also not surprised Ellie did not find her shoes. (Still, why not wear her PE shoes...?)

While Ellie was gone, the attendance office called. That's where parents can drop things off for their students. Ellie darted back out when I told her.

Alas, Ellie was not happy with the shoes that had been left for her. She got on her phone and told whoever she was calling that she had half an hour until lunch, and "people can't see me like this..."

She was wearing a Spongebob Squarepants T-shirt and gray legging shorts. I'm not sure how her shoes improved the outfit.

Shortly thereafter, Ellie asked to go back to the attendance office. Again, I allowed it. (I'm not an ogre.)

Ellie returned to class wearing Nike slides. These shoes replaced the white slides that someone else had given her to wear. I didn't see all that much difference between the two (although, the Nike slides were black). And she looked way more relaxed.

Only then did she ask what the day's assignment was. (It was posted on the board. I had announced it.) She had less than ten minutes of class to do anything.

I get why she was upset, but I don't think I would have taken up the whole class period on the shoes. But then again, I am an adult.

Ellie was so displeased with the white slides that I found them left by her desk after she left...

A Yellow

Boy 1: "Why does your shirt say 'pink' when it's gray?"

Boy 2: "I see those shirts all the time, and they're never pink."

The girl, not sure what the big deal was, gave some sort of explanation. I figured I needed to jump in.

Me: "'Pink' is the brand name."

Boy 1: "Well, that's a stupid brand name." He flailed about, trying to come up with a good analogy. "It's like your name being..." He failed to come up with anything that made sense.

Me: "Brand names are brand names. A color is a perfectly valid name for something."

Boy 1: "No. It's like her name being... It's like this," and he indicated his orange, "was called 'a yellow'."

I pointed out that was a terrible analogy as the color was named after the fruit.

Boy 1: "Well, it's still stupid."

I don't disagree. (I have a bad habit of taking the opposite view when someone starts saying something that is not necessarily wrong is wrong. Even when I agree.) For a long time I couldn't figure out the "Pink" shirts. But as the shirts are innocuous, I stopped dedicating much thought to them.

I shrugged and walked away. Later, the boy called me over.

"Can I eat my yellow?" He indicated his orange.

Since eating in class is discouraged, I said no.

The boy continued to refer to his orange as his "yellow". Even the next day.

If that's the hill he wants to die on...

Dressing for the Weather

It was an easily distractible 7th grade math class. "Easily distractible" is code for "just as soon as the class gets settled, someone will sneeze, and a chorus of 'bless you' will erupt in a louder and louder spiral that soon becomes an entire class engaged in random conversation".

Seriously. It could be anything. Anything will set them off.

(The opposite of "easily distractible" is when the fire alarm will start blaring. We get a fast "all clear". And in seconds, the students are again working silently. I have seen both scenarios play out.)

This particular class did work silently. In fits and starts. But a dust mote would start the talking again. I couldn't move from my spot in the front center of the room, because the talking would start.

Deep sigh.

They had just settled to silence (again) when it started to rain. Loudly.

"Is it raining?" and the boy jumped up to go look out the window.

"P.E. will be cancelled," with the immediate response, "No, we'll have to run in the gym."

"I'm not going outside."

"I wore shorts today."

Yep, any little thing and they all have to chime in. But the boy complaining that he wore shorts? (He wasn't alone. At least 4 of the 17 in class were in shorts. But that's pretty normal around here.) I had something to say to that boy.

The forecasted high for the day was about 65°. With a 10% chance of rain. (According to my weather app.)

I explained to the boy that it was his responsibility to check the weather (and weather apps on their phones are ubiquitous) so he could dress appropriately.

"But that's my mother's job."

Me: "Does your mother pick out your clothes?"

"Yes."

Oh. Never mind, then. He's right. That would be her job...

Also, this is my week at Unicorn Bell. I'd love it if you'd stop by. I'm talking about social media marketing.

De-Pierced

The boy came in wearing a nose ring. His teacher reminded him to remove it as it was against the dress code. (The teacher was on his way out of the room at the time, leaving me to cover his classes.) Then the teacher explained to me that the boy was enjoying setting off metal detectors while he still could.

"When do you go in [to the army]?"

"August 4th."

The boy dressed like a stereotypical punk rocker. He wore the jeans vest with band fabric "patches" safety pinned and clearly hand stitched to it. He wore the fraying jeans. He had the standard Dr. Martens. His hair was short and spiky. The nose ring completed the look.

The one thing he didn't have was the gauged ears. So I asked him about them.

He used to have them. Apparently, army code prohibits piercings where one can see through a person's ears. So, the boy had surgery to close his up.

I did not know you could have gauged ears closed up.

He must really want to be in the army if he's willing to de-pierce himself.

We talked of various things that period. (He was the TA, and the rest of the class was testing, so it was just him and me.) I asked about his army plans. Where he'd be doing boot camp. What he wanted to do after.

There's a reason I try not to prejudge students based on their appearance. When I don't, it leaves me open to hearing the real story.

Scarf Envy

It caught my eye immediately. It was a red infinity scarf. It must have been knit on needles size 5 or smaller as the stitches were pretty small. It had eyelet pattern panels interspersed with garter ridges.

As I do when I see interesting scarves that I could conceivably make, I mentally deconstructed the thing.

"Scarves aren't against dress code, are they?"

Me: "Huh?"

The girl caught me staring at her scarf. And, as is common with teenagers everywhere, she assumed that I was finding fault.

Once I ascertained that she thought I was planning on citing her for dress code, I assured her that my interest was purely as a knitter. I asked a couple questions about the scarf, and then it was time to start class.

It's not quite cold enough for me to pull out my alligator scarf, but maybe soon? Not if the weather forecasts are correct. Sigh.

Not Weather Appropriate

Walking onto campus this morning, I passed a boy wearing a tank top and shorts. 

Then, in second period, a girl came in wearing shorts. I asked the obvious question. She told me that it was a warm day. 

I run warm. On any given day, I have the air conditioning on. Today? The first thing I did was turn on the heater. 

And yet, there are kids dressed for warmer weather. 

It's cold here. Well, cold for us. Most of the country would laugh seeing us shivering in heavy jackets in 50 degree weather. But since it rarely gets much colder, we consider this cold. 

Our high today is projected to be about 66 degrees--a fairly temperate day, but we're warming up from a couple previous chilly days. When I saw the boy in the tank top and shorts, it was about 50 degrees. I was shivering, yet he didn't seem to notice. 

I see this every year. The temperature drops, but the students still dress like it's going to be in the 80s. I've seen girls in short skirts and flip-flops. Boys in t-shirts. 

Then in the summer, they all still wear their long-sleeved hoodies. 

I really should stop paying attention. 

Mysterious Visit

My first gig of the new school year was for 8th grade science. The teacher left them a quiz, a vocabulary sheet, and a lab packet to work on.

During third period, two boys took their time completing the quiz. It was 10 questions long, yet somehow after a half hour they still weren't done. (There was a lot of staring into space and fidgeting.)

Luckily, the rest of the class worked away on the other assignments quietly.

Then the assistant principal came by. He waved at me. I returned the wave with a smile. He walked the room. About a minute later, one of the counselors came in, and she did the same.

I felt such relief. It's nice to have a behaving class when the administrators pop by.

The counselor motioned for one boy to follow her out of class. It was one of the boys who was taking his time on the quiz. The boy returned for a moment to collect his things, and then all three left. (About this time, the other boy decided he'd stared at that quiz for long enough.)

I felt the question in the air. The class was curious. Why had the assistant principal and the counselor visited our class? No one asked the question, but I thought I should clue them in.

"They were doing a dress code check."

Several students did a quick body check. Suddenly, they were all nervous. I don't know why. They all passed.

(The boy who was removed had the sagging jeans thing going on. I don't get that. Why wear pants at all if they're hanging below your butt? That can't be comfortable.)

End of Day Strange

There is something about 6th period. It's the last period of the day, and the kiddos are done. These classes can be the worst classes of the day. However, I find classes of only seniors end up more strange than out and out bad.

Seniors have the option of taking a shorter school day. I wasn't surprised to find that today's group in government only contained 15 students. They didn't misbehave, exactly. They were just a bit looser than the other groups.

I called for their current event assignment. They informed me that they don't do current events. (They're supposed to turn in a set number per semester, so everyone is not required to have one every week.) I told them of the day's assignment, and they balked at the amount of work expected.

Well, every period balked at the amount of work expected. These guys decided that they had to let the teacher know of their displeasure. They wrote her a note which said, "Mrs. K., You trippin'." (Yes, they did include the apostrophe with trippin'.)

They were working (sort of), and one boy was commenting on his hoodie. He told another student that the sleeves were "grody". I did a double take.

I explained to them that the last time I heard the word grody was in 1983. (I was exaggerating. I probably heard that word last as late as 1985.) They didn't believe me. They said they used it all the time.

What? When did the '80s come back? And why?

They didn't get as much work done as the other classes, but they did attempt it. And I was surprised to find a student who I met at the continuation high school in class (I guess he made up enough credits to graduate at his "home school"). I wouldn't have said anything, but he brought it up.

It was an interesting way to end the week.

It's That Time

I'm still battling 7th graders (it's a three day assignment).  I'm not sure why I've been asking them these questions.  It's probably because I'm trying to distract them from whatever inappropriate conversation they're having en route to getting them back on task.

Today's topic was Ghostbusters.

I've seen several students wearing this image on T-shirts lately.  By lately, I mean since at least January (though I might have seen them as early as November).  I thought this curious.  The movie is 25 years old and not really all that "cool".

But everything '80's seems to be "cool" again.  The cut off jeans (although this was a throwback to the '60's at the time).  Rubik's cube (I see kids with these all the time).  And '80's theme dances and dress up days are way too frequent.

The boy told me that there are new Ghostbusters video games coming out.  Ah ha!  That makes some sort of sense.  Although, I wonder why they'd bring this franchise back.  

I guess we're due.  It's time for the '80's revival.  Why???

The New Thing

I noticed them all day, but it wasn't until 6th period that I thought to ask about them.  Everyone, including the boys, was wearing beaded bracelets.  They weren't especially pretty bracelets--they looked like something I could do with some plastic beads and elastic.  

I wasn't sure if it was a 7th grade thing (I hadn't noticed them in other classes) or if it was something new.  I asked where they got them.  One girl admitted that she made some, so apparently it's a middle school crafty thing.  Most of the girls had multiple ones (it looked a bit like the '80's were back) while the boys only wore one (on each wrist).  

I like to see that the kids make things.  At least they do some work.  Today's history assignment...not so much.

Saggy Jeans

I'm again over at the continuation high school. I hear the most interesting things here.

So, I'm watching the art class. They are supposed to be working on drawings, and in fact some are. But some aren't, and they are the ones that talk to me.

The topic up for discussion: the dress code. Students always seem to complain about the dress code. There's really nothing in it that is terribly unreasonable: nothing too revealing, nothing promoting anything inappropriate for school, and nothing gang-related. It's the third one that gets tricky. Besides the fact that some "gang attire" is fashionable, what is and is not gang-related changes.

Today, the students were complaining about the sock issue. It is against dress code to wear socks hiked up high, especially under shorts. If a student is wearing shorts, some of his leg must be visible. Why? Gang-related.

Now, I'm just taking their word for this. As I am not cognizant of the gangs, I leave these determinations up to those who know more than me. So, when the kids complain about the rules, all I can do is listen to them vent. (And enforce the rules, of course.)

Then they started complaining about sagging their jeans. This has been against dress code for a while--about as long as it's been the style (and it's been the style for a few years now). Though, every boy in the room was wearing sagging jeans (I believe the dress code states that we should not see their underwear, and I didn't).

So, I finally asked the question. "How do you keep your pants up while you're walking?" I can't tell you how many times this particular question has come up when no one of that generation was around. I finally got a chance to ask it.

They didn't see the point of the question, however. They don't have an issue with it. They either wear a belt tight enough to keep the jeans up, or they hold them up ("gangster style") as they walk. And they're so used to this that it doesn't bother them at all.

I just want to be around when the next generation comes along with their weird styles. And I want to see how these saggy-jeans kids react. That should be interesting.