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Originally posted by filtherton
And you think allowing children to dress like individuals in school will facilitate what you describe?
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It certainly can. After all if they won't carry what they learn in school to their job, then why do we have them in school?
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In school, you don't have to worry so much about your appearances and i think that's good.
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You're right. That's why kids can wear jeans and a Tshirt to school.
Lemme ask you this. Your kid comes home and says Billy wore a Tshirt that said "fuck you" on it. Do you think that's an appropriate thing for the kid to be wearing? Why not? It won't distract anyone, it won't teach anyone anything, it won't influence anyone. Why not let 'em wear it? While we're at it, let's let them wear pants with a penis painted onto the crotch. Same arguments apply. If you claim nothing the kid can wear can influence, distract, disrupt, or teach bad lessons, then why not let the kids wear literally ANYTHING?
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Irrelevant, unless we segregate the tall kids too. Might as well, seeing as how their heads are probably disruptive.
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That reason was a bit of tongue in cheek humor. I'm sorry that you did not perceive that.
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Do you honestly think that every other kid in this 6 year old's class has led such a sheltered existence that they could do nothing but stare at a freaking mohawk all day?
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Oh please dude. Little kids will stare at a speck of dust when they're bored in a classroom. Do you honestly think a blue mohawk WON'T attract attention?
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I could understand looking at it for a minute or two, but shit, even breasts get old to look at when you're constantly exposed to them.
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Not to a kid they don't. And neither will the mohawk because normal parents will refuse to let their kids get one, so it has that tinge of "forbidden fruit." Makes it much more attention grabbing.
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Who are you to pretend to know what kids are learning from this?
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a double major in journalism and child psychology. Who are YOU to pretend to know what they are NOT learning?
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Wow. Honestly. Freak? hmm. How is it bullshit? Break it down for me. I was always taught that, as americans, our differences are part of what makes us strong.
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and if you interpreted that concept to mean "I should grow a big blue mohawk to strengthen our counrty" then you're beyond hope in this argument.
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I guess i was wrong. Apparently, the key to being a good person is to go along with whatever the majority is doing, you know, don't rock the boat. I guess if it worked for you...
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No, that's the key to being an accepted person. If you want to rock the boat, that's great and I wish you all the luck in the world. Don't complain when people reject you, however, because you should know going in that that will happen.
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I'm not really certain where you're coming from here, but i'm pretty certain the responsibility to accept or reject people does, in fact, lie within each individual person. If someone chooses to not accept someone with "weird" hair, it is their choice(or, fault, in your terms).
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Which goes back to my point about the goths trying to get a job. Sure, it's the fault of the interviewer that he's not open minded enough to accept someone with fake blood dripping from their eyes, but it's the fault of the goth for being a big enough dumbass to actually think people would accept that in a job interview.
If you want to be a nonconformist, you can't be surprised when people don't accept it. What YOU want is your cake and eat it too. You want to do whatever you feel like doing and NO ONE is allowed to form a negative opinion on it. That's simply not living in the real world.
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You're right though, no amount of individuality will change the fact that the majority of americans are afraid of and misunderstand people who are different from them. It is interesting to see you say such things though. From reading some of your other posts i thought you were a big advocate of rewarding people based on abilities rather than appearances.
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And you are correct - I am. However I'm also a realist who realizes that if you want to get along in this world without constantly fighting, then you gotta conform. Whether you want to do that is up to you.
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Let me ask you this. Do you think it is fair that we are all expected to conform to various folkways which, despite being completely arbitrary, can ultimately decide whether we sink or float?
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No, I don't. I also don't think it's fair that you get sunburn from the sun. But it happens and if I want to go through life without feeling pain, I don't go in the sun too much. If I want to go through life without being a reject, I don't dress like one.
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Do you think that it is acceptable for the more qualified candidate to not get the job because his hairstyle was unconventional or because his earrings were too big? Why? What's the point?
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Yes I do and I'll tell you why. If I'm hiring people for my company, I'm looking for the smartest people I can get to fill that position. Now, smart people know that crazy hair and body piercings aren't widely accepted in a business environment. Therefore, if an applicant shows up in my office wearing that crap, I can safely assume he is a moron. I don't hire morons.
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It seems obvious to me that this isn't really about a six year old. This is about you ranting against every other goth kid who ever made you feel uncomfortable.
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Wow. That interpretation shows an amazing lack of perception. You couldn't be more wrong.
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I have some advice for you and timalkin and sixate. The next time you see someone who looks different, be it a mohawk or piercings or whatever, and you start to feel the righteous indignation/scorn rising up inside of you like an ulcer, just ask youself a simple question: Why the hell do i give a damn about how this person chooses to look? Why is it so important for me to feel like i am better than this person?
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OK, and I have some advice for you. The next time you encounter a realist like Sixate, Timalkin, or myself, before you succumb to that kneejerk reaction that we just hate everyone who isn't white and cleancut, try to correctly interpret what we're saying rather than assuming we're just a bunch of old intolerant farts, eh?