hmmmmmmmm... personally distracting maybe... yep, oral fixation!

mental image of a guy in a singles bar going "I got my DDS from Harvard with a concentration in grillz..."

There are many public high schools in Texas that have dress codes that include not wearing hats, short shorts, ripped up jeans (excessively), no hoodies, no flip flops....so I don't think its that big of a deal. I think its great that officials don't want their institutions to look like a thuggish rap video.

Don't be a dick, dude - I'm not 'anti-modesty', but who gets to decide on what is 'modest'?

It's a weird line to walk, allowing others the ability to choose for you. You took the LSAT, though - you should get what I mean.

Yeah I guess, but thankfully they're still kids, so I think its fine to impose a little modesty. God knows they tried when I was in school. After they leave the school, they can do whatever they want.

My sophomore year of college I had a history professor who came to us from Morehouse. He had a dress code for his class. (Any Morehouse men on here probably know who I'm talking about, he was known for this.) No jeans, no sneakers, no flip flops, no sweats, no t shirts. Guys had to wear khakis or slacks with button down shirts, ties, and/or sweaters, and girls had to wear skirts or slacks with nice tops or sweaters. Even if your class was at 8am. His reasoning for this was that one day in Atlanta him and his wife were walking past a club that had a dress code posted outside of it. He thought that if places were you went to get drunk and hang out with your friends had to have dress codes, then he should have one for his class were you come to learn. In theory, it sounded like a good idea. Except that we're a very laid-back school where it's perfectly acceptable to show up to your night class in pajamas. There were a lot of complaints about this and I think he got in trouble for it because he no longer requires it.

Guy sounds like a class act to me.

The article also state the following:
"We want to instill in them a sense of modesty and a sense of community," said school board trustee Gloria Pena. "We're preparing them for the work force, and in the work force there are rules."

To me, that is a bunch of crap. While I dont find grillz attractive, to each their own. The article also addresses gauging, with double zeros do tend to attract attention- the novelty wears off after awhile and no one cares.
I am a professional, work in an office everyday -- I have a couple visable tattoos (ankle and foot), no one at work as ever questioned my work ethic due to my tattoos. When I was hired at this company, I had my ears gauged to a 4. I have since let them close to a normal hole, I am not sure but a couple of people even noticed. I think the diamond earrings I wear now cause more distraction than my gauged ears ever would.

If the kids in the school are not being hurt because of their adornments then there is no reason for the ban.

I've had a teacher like that too.. it happens. He was the only one that semester that required it, but we didn't put up much of a fuss. Though he was surprised that anyone would wear PJ's to class. The horror! He was a grad student too so... i dunno, an oddball.

Clearly the school finds the grillz to be a distraction. When they're 18 and out of high school, let them do whatever the hell they want. Pierce anything they can from eyebrow to Prince Albert and back, and draw crap all over... but schools have always had the ability to decide a dress code.

The Catholic high school here bans male facial hair (won't bring up female facial hair) and would actually have a razor and gel for those who failed to shave. The grade school had to enact a ban after one kid had a full goatee during 7th and 8th grade. Stuff like this happens all the time. It's just the new cool thing.

/Cool, maybe. Stupid? Yes.

Winnie, but don't you think there might be a difference? I mean, I have a tattoo, but given how I dress in work situations, it would never show. I wish I had never gotten it, but whatever. It also depends on what work environment you are in. I have a friend who worked for Bellsouth and commented on how laid back they were in the office. Those type of situations, ones where you won't come in contact with customers or clients, probably don't warrant a strict dress code. However, in offices I've worked in before, and those I hope to work for in the future, some things wouldn't be tolerated. I think those things would be excessive jewelry, non-normal hair colors or styles, obvious tattoos, etc...However, even outside a truly professional environment which would obviously frown upon such things, I think most companies where any client contact is required would frown upon grills. While the majority of those who desire "grillz" will probably never be in a situation where they'll be forced to remove them for work, perhaps the school's action will prepare some student for professional life.

What I'm saying it that having one or two gold tooth is fine. My mom used to have a gold tooth and I never had a problem with it. But grillz are a different story. Grillz cover more than two teeth. Grillz are unattractive and are a big turn off for me.

You missed the point. Valkyrie is saying that unless you have proof that grillz are harming someone or causing disruption in class, just them being "unattractive" isn't good enough of a reason to ban them.

One of my classmates who was not the skinniest used to cram her butt into skintight designer jeans. It certainly was unattractive, but they couldn't very well say "you can only wear skintight jeans if you're under x amount of pounds."

But I think that ALL gold teeth are trashy and unattractive. Therefore we should ban them too, because that's what I think, right?

If you're an administrator at a school, then yes.

In contrast, at my job it is against the rules to show visible tatoos or have excessive piercings. I don't think that men are allowed to have any, and women can only have 2 'standard' piercings per ear. While some companies, like yours, may not mind these things, there are many many others that do. I think that this is what the school is addressing. In actuality it would be very difficult for someone to get an offer from a law firm, accounting firm, investment firm or banking institution if they showed up at the interview with a blinged out grill. Right or wrong, this is a reality, and they would be doing their students a disservice if they didn't prepare them for this now.