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Show Family Weekly flattering: when they become extoo short skirts." Wilkes-BarrPa. Erceg, For the most part, teachers, principals, and school boards seem to oe opposed to way-ostudent haircuts and clothes. JReflecting ihe position taken educators, William W. Miles, principal of Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Md., regards .school as the young people's place of business. He considers any attire out of place at school if it disrupts a class or causes groups m oiuucn.a w cnug resale ill tiie halls to stare or comment. At the Rockville school, the gran- . tremelike Ar-le- ne e, ut by-ma- ny e I :l m October 2. me . school's official position is that if. a student is dressed in a businesslike fashion, he is more apt to be interested in the academic life. On the other hand, Nathan Le- vine, principal, of New York's Wal-de- n School, leavea appearance up to the students'Underachievers," he- - says, "will be underachievers whether they have haircuts or not." As for parents, here again a di- vergence of attitudes is encountered.-On- e father revealed to Family Weekly that he had bought a dress for his shaggy son's birthday. "If you want to be a girl with that hair, here's a present for you," Pop announced. Shamed, the boy trotted off to his barber. Many parents, however, are siding with their youngsters on this . question. On father In Virginia complained to police that his son suffered "emotional shock" when a teacher cut off the boy's blond bangs. A Warwick, R.I ., housewife, defying the local school-dres- s code, vigorously protested; "No one is going to tell me Tiow to bring up my children !" Behind the current vogue for offbeat clothes and manes, psychologists, tell us, are several? factors. First, teens seek popularity. As they enter h igh school, they try to look" and act like adolescents, so they will be recognized as part of the "crowd." One device is to dress in a way appropriate to their brand-nestatus. Wearing tight trousers or short skirts is also considered by school psychologists as a declaration of rebellion against adult authority. "Parental ire tends toKeTgliten whatever tendencies teeners have to revolt Their anger solidifies a fad more quickly. "Teen-ag- e fads," says Dr. Robert Shellow of the National Institute of Mental Health, "are carefully calculated to scandalize adults." w David Raleigh of Philadelphia got his long hair cut as school demanded. r Sharon Dalrymple (shown with dad) won right to wear slacks to school. ny dress was banned, not because Mr. Miles had any objections to the enveloping garment per se, but on grounds that it was an inappropriate school garb. A great many school administra- tors point out- that outrageously far-ogrooming is distracting and makes teaching more difficult. Some don't object to the length ot a boy's hair as much as to the slovenliness - ut TT i .11 lege ism 'T . V BW w ... " - - that freedom and individualare being totally confused with faddism. In private schools, attitudes vary amongteachers. At one, where stu dents must wear uniformsLthe While hair-splitti- over teen- . ed age hairdos may appear frivolous, it raises a legitimate question : how much authority should schools exercise over students? One increasingly common approach to the problem has appeared t. in the form of school codes of They are often very effective. - In Spartanburg,-- S.Gr forinstanc Family Weekly reported (May 23, 1965) that after a code was introduced, teachers no longer were faced with young girls wearing skirts or boys affecting duck-ta- il haircuts, con-duc- ht - hair curlers. ' too-tig- However, m the view of Paul S. Mitchum, Des Moines assistant superintendent of schools, the ulti mate solution to the problem is classroom instruction. In Des Moines, girls are instructed by their' teachers in matters of dress, makeup, and hair styles. JIundreds of such codes have been formulated, often with the participation of student councils, which also help with enforcement. San Francisco has a foot-lon- g code which outlaws such items as high-slashskirts, motorcycle boots, and . - V Provincetown, Mass., bans "unusual footwear of any kind." A Salt Lake City junior high school prohibits blue jeans and shirttails worn outside trousers. In Whitman, Mass., a girl who shorter than must go to the home economics classroom and have it lengthened. In some schools, skirt lengths are tested by asking mid-kn- ee thenprlslshee1lthe touch the floor, .' ; Perhaps the best approach to the problem is tojmaintain our sense of humor. There will always be girls trying to explain away their high hemline by whimsically saying they- - JiaveJIow knees."z what happens when a girl " And sent of her tight, is home because short skirt and her. mother ap- pears at a school conference that day wearing an equally tight, short dress? Should Mother be sent home jQrmQre-Suitableapparel- ?A Family Weekly fictober i, 1966 |