A decade ago, the Duncanville Independent School District kicked off the 2003-04 school year by suspending 700 kids for dress code violations. The crackdown made headlines, but the first didn't appear until late September, more than a month after the district began booting kids from class for infractions as minor as wearing an untucked shirt or failing to wear an ID badge.
When Duncanville High School officials launched a similarly draconian dress-code sweep this morning -- reportedly sending kids home for having chin stubble (per the DHS dress code, "Mustaches are permitted, provided they do not extend beyond or below the edge of the lips and are neatly trimmed") or wearing pants made of an improper material ("Denim, jean, or workout or warm-up material is not permitted") -- the backlash was much more immediate.
For that, thank Twitter and Instagram, where kids have been going nuts about the suspensions (reportedly about 170) all day. Case in point:
LETSSS START A RIOOT LETS START A RIOTTTTTT
— MANDO (@mandomartinez_1) May 14, 2014
All rioting, for the record, seems to have been confined to social media. DHS Principal Andre Smith tells WFAA's David Schecter he "didn't lose control, but some of our kids chose to make bad choices."
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Speaking of bad choices, how about booting kids from class for absurdly insignificant rules violations? And doing so without considering that your entire student body is equipped with a device enables them to instantly broadcast their outrage to a) every other student on campus and b) every news outlet in Dallas-Fort Worth, some of whom will decide the situation calls for the deployment of helicopters? Pretty dumb, Duncanville High School.
DHS seniors, take heart from the fact that you are less than two weeks from never having to set foot in that godforsaken prison again. The rest, now's a good as time as any to learn that the real world is filled with maddeningly stupid, arbitrary rules. Best for your blood pressure not to get too worked up about them.
Like this kid. He's got things in perspective:
Newscasts, riots, helicopters, police squads... #PANTHERPRIDE
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