{"id":1440,"date":"2011-11-02T07:05:27","date_gmt":"2011-11-02T12:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/?p=1440"},"modified":"2011-12-12T08:08:17","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T13:08:17","slug":"new-year-new-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/11\/new-year-new-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"New year, new rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Caroline Ingold & Callie Whiteman
\n<\/strong>editor-in-chief & insight<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

For the first time this year, the DHS administration has implemented a new policy regarding purses. The new rule restricts any kind of bag from being brought into classrooms. However, administrators have attempted to compensate for this restriction by allowing students to carry pencil cases to class. Principal Pam Kastl believes there are other factors which make purses unnecessary. <\/p>\n

\u201c[Students] can go to their lockers, they can ask teachers to go to their lockers,\u201d Kastl said. \u201cWe have passing time, which we feel is a sufficient amount of time to use the restrooms.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kastl also encourages students to use lockers to store personal items. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe provide lockers for every single student in the building, we\u2019d like them to use those lockers to be a safe place for students to keep things,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve tried to accommodate the students in every way we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new policy came about after Kastl received feedback from teachers and students wondering why purses were allowed in classrooms when backpacks were not. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty hard to make a case for why it\u2019s okay to bring a purse in, but not okay to bring a backpack,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Complaints from male DHS students about not being able to carry a bag when girls could carry a purse also contributed to the policy. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think if there was enough feeling from the male gender, then I think that\u2019s fair,\u201d English teacher Sarah Hechlik said. \u201cBut if they\u2019re just doing it on a couple loud voices, then I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Administrators claim that security was the main reason for restricting all bags, especially with increasing class sizes. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to understand, we have classes with over 30 students,\u201d Kastl said. \u201cThe whole idea behind not bringing backpacks is safety and security.\u201d <\/p>\n

Although the administration has been \u201cpretty happy\u201d with the effects of banning purses, many female students do not feel the same way. Juniors Tiffany Zhang and Hannah Fetner were two such students. They chose to write Kastl to vocalize their negative opinion about the new policy. Their email outlined their arguments for why purses should be allowed in class. Included in the email was a list of around 300 names, all supporting the position of Zhang and Fetner. <\/p>\n

The email was disregarded by administrators after they discovered that many of the names listed were people who had graduated or never attended DHS. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat hurts the credibility of the letter,\u201d assistant principal Ted Davis said.<\/p>\n

However, Fetner maintains the validity of the arguments in the email, and feels \u201cdisrespected\u201d after receiving no formal reply. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s ridiculous to completely ban purses, they don\u2019t need to go from one extreme to the other,\u201d Fetner said. \u201cThey need to set a size restriction or something like that.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the email addressed to Kastl, Zhang and Fetner argued that male students were not being restricted any more than female students; only uncontrollable social norms stopped them from carrying bags to class. They also claim that girls specifically need to be able to carry certain products with them at all times, and do not have large enough pockets to do so, unlike boys.<\/p>\n

Senior Morgan Wynne agrees that there are certain circumstances that make it necessary for girls to carry purses. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are reasons why girls specifically need a purse; I have mine everywhere I go,\u201d she said. \u201cI just need it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kastl says the latter issue was discussed by administrators when evaluating the new policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did look at this issue of [boys\u2019 pockets being bigger than girls\u2019],\u201d she said. \u201cThe solution we came up with was pencil boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the new rule has raised controversy among students, there has been much confusion of what the actual policy implies. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the first day when I talked about it, a lot of students didn\u2019t even know about it,\u201d Hechlik said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it was well communicated to the students what the expectations were.\u201d<\/p>\n

The policy directly bans all bags in classrooms, but many students have been under the impression that the rule only mandated a size restriction.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Facebook and other places it seemed like there was a compromise, where [a purse] was allowed as long as it wasn\u2019t big enough to carry books in,\u201d Wynne said. <\/p>\n

The administration denies that the restrictions are limited to size. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t talked anything about size,\u201d Davis said. \u201cIf it has a strap or a handle, that\u2019s what I would use as the definition of a purse.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the administration is vehement that no bags are allowed, some are able to get away with carrying a purse to class. <\/p>\n

\u201cI guess if it\u2019s a rule it\u2019s not being very strictly enforced,\u201d Wynne said. \u201cIt really depends on the teacher.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hechlik agrees that there have been some discrepancies between teachers who enforce the rule. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause there\u2019s so many daily things you have to pay attention to, I\u2019m not going to walk up and down the aisle checking for bags,\u201d she said. \u201cBut that\u2019s been kind of awkward to be the teacher who enforces it, and have other teachers not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Administrators have gone back and reviewed the rule, along with a group consisting of multiple DHS teachers as well as district coordinators. They have concluded that the rule is fair, and will remain in place. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very appreciative that everyone is willing to give it a try, and so far we seem to be pretty happy with it,\u201d Kastl said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New policy makes bags off-limits in classrooms for various reasons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[35,41,34],"class_list":["post-1440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3feature","category-1-news","tag-dow-high-news","tag-feature-stories","tag-news-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nNew year, new rules - UPDATE ONLINE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/11\/new-year-new-rules\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New year, new rules - UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New policy makes bags off-limits in classrooms for various reasons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2011\/11\/new-year-new-rules\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-02T12:05:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-12T13:08:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Update\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/new-year-new-rules\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/new-year-new-rules\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Update\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be39f258dafaaac3e98f5951fe5e9198\"},\"headline\":\"New year, new rules\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-02T12:05:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-12T13:08:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/new-year-new-rules\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":941,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Dow High News\",\"Feature Stories\",\"News Stories\"],\"articleSection\":[\"FEATURE\",\"NEWS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/new-year-new-rules\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/new-year-new-rules\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/new-year-new-rules\\\/\",\"name\":\"New year, new rules - UPDATE ONLINE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-02T12:05:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-12T13:08:17+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2011\\\/11\\\/new-year-new-rules\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"UPDATE ONLINE\",\"description\":\"H.H. 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