[Danielle Balocca]: Hey Medford Bites listeners, I'm so excited to share this bonus episode with you today. Ms. Whalen's class from Andrews Middle School submitted their podcast, No Cap, and were finalists in the NPR 2022 Student Podcast Challenge. We're planning to record an update to include all the work that went into this podcast, as well as some updates about its impact. I know you will enjoy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hats, hoods, bandanas, and other non-religious head cover are not allowed to be worn, carried, or visible by both girls and boys during the school day from 8 a.m. to 2.15 p.m. This is the rule put in place by Medford Public Schools found in our middle school handbook.
[XXXXXX00041_SPEAKER_04]: Many staff members of our middle school constantly tell students with hats or hoods to take them off. If students get reminded too often or too many times in a certain time period, they may be issued to an after-school detention, told to surrender their hat or hoodie until the end of the day, or receive a phone call home.
[XXXXXX00041_SPEAKER_03]: What are your opinions on wearing hats and hoods in school?
[SPEAKER_15]: I just don't get why it's a rule that you can't. It doesn't make sense.
[SPEAKER_03]: I think we should wear hats.
[SPEAKER_12]: They're like so obsessed with what we wear now.
[SPEAKER_03]: I think that you could have them in school. It doesn't really hurt anyone.
[XXXXXX00041_SPEAKER_01]: Do you think we should be allowed to wear hats in school? Yes, I think we should be allowed to wear hats in school because I feel like it would express more of the students to be wearing hats.
[SPEAKER_00]: How do you feel about the dress code in general?
[XXXXXX00041_SPEAKER_01]: I feel like the dress code is really bad. You know, they dress code people like that show more stuff like they have more bodies than the other people but I wish it was just fair.
[SPEAKER_08]: We believe that our school district's rule that we are not allowed to wear hats or hoods in school should be abolished. Over the course of this podcast we will explore how this rule came to be and how we plan to challenge our school committee's rule on hats and hoods.
[SPEAKER_10]: We interviewed some of our teachers about that hats and hoods rule. So 20 years ago, when my son was up at Medford High, it was not a rule for the hoods, but they picked and chose certain students to maintain that rule, I guess. So I may be wearing a hoodie, and he might be wearing a hoodie, but if I didn't, I don't know how to say that.
[XXXXXX00041_SPEAKER_01]: Cause like a ruckus?
[SPEAKER_10]: Yeah, if I wasn't a troublemaker, put it that way, they'd just let me go. say the other person was a troublemaker, they stopped and asked.
[Lynch]: What I did notice is that a lot of the veteran teachers that had been around for over 20 years, they were still heart set against it. They thought it was a disrespectful sort of thing. And that all young kids, pre-teenagers and teenagers, should show a certain amount of respect by removing your hat or your hood on a daily basis. So you had a little bit of a split. New young teachers in in all the Corps of veteran teachers that expected you to take your hat or hood off as a sign of respect.
[SPEAKER_10]: I think it was just to recognize people. I know back with my son at Medford High, it was because there's 20 kids walking down the hall, they all had on black hoodies. Everybody's was up and if they needed to talk to someone, literally you would have to have all of them turn around and look at you. So I think that was the beginning. I'm not sure.
[XXXXXX00041_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah. And do you think times have changed since then?
[SPEAKER_10]: Yes. Yes. Times have changed and I think we should all adapt to the changes. And I think there might be a happy medium for everybody if we work together.
[SPEAKER_04]: In addition to interviewing our teachers, we conducted our own research about this topic.
[XXXXXX00041_SPEAKER_03]: According to an article from the Washington Post titled, Wearing Hats in School, A Second Look, this rule may have originated because of the idea of respect and what that looked like in a traditional society. It should be noted that we put traditional in quotation marks. It's been speculated that knights used to take off their helmets, their form of hat or hood, in court to show respect. Taping your hat is known as a way of flattering and paying respect to a woman. Emily Post, the authority on courtesies and manners, says it's impolite to have a hat or hood on in school. Most notably, and possibly most controversially, hats and hoods have been used to identify gang members. There are some sexist and racist connotations behind this rule, and it's discriminatory. This rule should be eliminated or at the very least altered.
[SPEAKER_05]: This article was written in 1999. The reasoning was different back then, but the rule was still the same. It's been over 20 years since this article was written, and there's been no change. There have been major progressive changes in the past 20 years, but this rule has stayed the same.
[SPEAKER_15]: We want to abolish this rule because it's unfair. Sometimes there's profiling with us wearing hats and hoods. As our teacher, Mrs. Miller, says, sometimes they identify the troublemakers as opposed to the good kids. It's not fair to think of us as bad, and it's upsetting and shocking to be told that they're intimidated by us because we're wearing a hat or hood.
[SPEAKER_09]: We want to wear our hats and hoods because we feel more comfortable. Physical and emotional comfort are important to us. When we are physically comfortable, it helps us focus because instead of being uncomfortable or cold, we can focus on class. When we are emotionally comfortable, we feel confident. Wearing your hood or hat is also a fashion statement. This rule needs to change with time to reflect how society is changing.
[SPEAKER_12]: It makes me feel like secure in class. and it makes me feel more comfortable.
[SPEAKER_15]: I like to wear them in school because I feel comfortable with my hats and hood on. I like wearing my hat. It's like a way to express myself.
[XXXXXX00041_SPEAKER_03]: We believe that while this rule needs to change, there are some valid concerns that teachers have regarding hats and hoods rule in school.
[SPEAKER_14]: hats and hoods can make it difficult to identify a student in the hallway in case of a lockdown, emergency, or even a fight between students. We propose wearing our student IDs in order to help teachers and students more easily identify people in the hallway and classroom. If not IDs, students have to wear their hats and hoods so people can see their faces, or they wouldn't wear hats and hoods in the hallway during transition times.
[SPEAKER_02]: Another concern teachers may have is students wearing headphones. Students can demonstrate that they are not wearing headphones by showing their ears before class. Students would need to show their teachers that they are actively listening and paying attention. We also recognize that there are some times it might not be appropriate to wear hats or hoods in school. During presentations, the Pledge of Allegiance, and one-on-one conversations with teachers are times to students would remove their hats and hoods. Students would pay a courtesy to their teachers and peers with this action while also maintaining their ability to wear hats and hoods.
[XXXXXX00041_SPEAKER_03]: We understand that there may be some concerns about whether or not students would follow these rules. acknowledge that there should be consequences for students who fail to do so. In accordance with our student handbook, if a student refuses to wear their ID or refuse to take off their hat or hood during the pledge and other times we mentioned, they would lose their privilege to wear their hats and hoods during the school day. If a student refuses to show that they are not wearing headphones or sticks them on after the check at the start of the class, We would expect students to follow the rules we have for cell phones. Cell phones are left in lockers throughout the day, and if a student is seen using it, they are expected to turn it into their teacher or their office. If a student refuses to do that, typically a plan is made where they have to check their cell phone into the office at the start of each day. We feel like these are fair compromises for teachers and students, as well as fair consequences.
[XXXXXX00041_SPEAKER_01]: We're currently in the beginning stages of taking this proposal to our school committee in the hope that at the very least we'll get this rule altered. We're not sure when exactly we're going to get to meet with them, but we're hopeful it will be before the end of the school year so that the rule will be changed in the handbook for next year.
[XXXXXX00041_SPEAKER_04]: Funnily enough, this whole project initially started as a joke in our civics class because we were trying to come up with amendments to the constitution of our teacher's classroom rules. We were practicing debating, but it became a serious project. Our teacher thought we were being serious, and he pushed us to pursue it. And now we realize we can make a change. And we hope to make a change for the better. No cap.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thanks so much to Ms. Whalen's class for sharing your podcasts. There's a full list of her students' names in today's show notes. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode, and as always, if you have feedback about this episode or ideas for future episodes, you can email medfordpod at gmail.com. You can also subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Thanks so much for listening. Guys, what's the name of the podcast? Medford Bites! Medford Bites! Good job!