Grillz are barred at some Texas schools
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060711/...rillz_earlobes

I believe in self expression and I like one or two gold teeth, but the grillz are nasty looking. Good move by the school board.

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought you meant barbecue grills and I got a mental image of a bunch of people sitting around in pj's at 3am grilling burgers in their dorm room.

I did the same thing!!

I will say this....if a teacher says something to a student about it, and ends up getting a beat down, they deserve it. And I hope it happens. And I hope everyone on the school board who voted for it gets a flat tire on the way home. And not just any flat tire, one where the nail is all rusty and so it brakes off halfway through you taking it out and then you slip when you get the last nut on the spare and your knee gets all muddy even though you've been like super careful the whole time you were changing it. Yeah, that will teach them. Those jerks!

Why?? They're distracting and I wouldn't be surprised if people get beat up/killed over them. They don't belong in a highschool.

This line of "reasoning" bothers me, and I've noticed it a few times here on GC. It goes something like this:

I really don't like [whatever].
Therefore, I approve of/support/advocate for a regulation/law/policy prohibiting/outlawing/limiting [whatever].

-or-

I really think [whatever] is a great idea.
Therefore, I approve of/support/advocate for a regulation/law/policy requiring/imposing/recommending [whatever].

Examples:
-Oh, I always wear a helmet while riding my bicycle in dangerous areas and there should be a law requiring everybody to wear helmets.
-Smoking is nasty and I hate the smell! Nobody should be allowed to smoke in public.

I hope everybody recognizes that personal thoughts, opinions, and feelings on an issue are NOT a good reason for creating laws or policies. Whether you like or dislike something is irrelevant in terms of whether it should be required or prohibited by law or other policy.

I don't really think thats a good analogy. Smoking in public discomforts people with health problems, and we all know about second hand smoke. Your right to do something should not impede upon anothers. Similarly, while I hate wearing my seatbelt, its not just my safety law enforcement is concerned with. People unrestrained in a serious car accident can cause injury to others. For some reason the link didn't work for me, but I assume this grill banning is in public schools. I think its great. Its the same as saying you can't wear your pants half off your ass, or you can't wear a shirt with a rebel flag on it. I personally think "grills" are one of the stupidest trends our country has seen in a while, plus it could be distracting.

If you say smoking should be banned in public because it causes harm to the health of others, I think that is a compelling argument. I'm taking issue with people who say that they, for example, hate leaving a bar smelling like smoke therefore smoking should be banned. The end result is the same if smoking is banned, but the arguments are very different.

I agree with the ban and pray that more school districts will follow suit! They are not attractive, they are not contributing to anything but, as mentioned, distractions among young people, who instead need to concentrate on graduating and being a student. There is so much craziness in high school now from the latest trend to the issue of oral sex being a common practice among this age group (Reference: Tyra Banks Show had high school students talking about oral sex and how common it is). I just think our young people need redirection...redirection from proper parenting and positive influences...

Are you saying that they are a distraction to students other than the students who have them?

Both, the one who has it because he's busy showing it off and/or playing with it in his mouth (the tongue is a nervous organ and cannot help but play with anything unfamiliar in the mouth), and the other students looking at it.

Quoting a piece of the article who stated that they are a distraction...however, I can only imagine that they are a distraction to both.

What is "distracting" varies from person to person. Grillz are so common in certain areas, that I don't even notice them that much. I'm not that distracted by crazy fashions (I've seen it all), and I'm a pretty easily distracted person.

I recently saw a sign in Atlanta that said you could buy 4 grillz and get one free.

Wait, what's 'distracting' about something you wear in your mouth?

If it's a safety issue (kids getting rolled for their grill, or appropriated by gangs, or etc.), then that's one thing - but the 'distraction' argument sounds a lot like "I think they're gross/weird/silly/stupid/too 'hip hop', so get them out of public schools."

The article mentions that the school board wants to teach the kids 'modesty' - that doesn't exactly seem like Tinker v. DMSB, and I can definitely see reasons why gauging or grills could be banned. Distracting just doesn't really cut it for me.

Also the oral sex argument above is HILARIOUS - high school kids having oral sex? Seriously? Call the f-ing news!

KSig RC, I think you did touch on one issue concerning grills that the article doesn't. Grills could make kids a target to gang violence and whatnot. Schools do have a responsibility to their students to protect them.

With regard to them being distracting, schools do have a right to determine what is distracting. Remember that it can be distracting to not only students, but to teachers and administrators as well. When I was in middle school I went to a prep school where we didn't have to wear uniforms. The middle school administrator made the rule that tank tops were distracting and that girls couldn't wear them. We could wear sleeveless shirts and we could wear tank tops with t shirts under them, but we couldn't wear tank tops by themselves.

Schools regulate what kids wear all the time. They have dress codes, we werent allowed to wear hats, etc...Of course, my reasoning for liking the ban is that it helps eliminate some of the dumb urban popular culture kids are so infatuated with. But being realistic, I know if anything such bans make these trends more popular. What would be better, is if parents and the media (MTV especially) suddenly said "you know, this is a stupid trend, so lets stop doing MTV and VH1 specials on who has the best grill."

he nailed it

I agree totally with this post. We had the same rules in high school... no hats, no tank tops, not short shorts or skirts, etc. The schools have a right to say what is distracting.

And really tho. Do people actually find grills attractive? I think they are the nastiest thing. The diamond ones are eh ok but the other ones look stupid. Just get braces if you really want your mouth to shine. This is by far the stupidest trend ever... next to sagging your pants below your ass.

I think really hot guys are distracting. Instead of me taking responsibility for myself and my ADD medication, why don't we ban them?

Oh wait, that would suck. Never mind.

Also, a point, these aren't "adults" these are kids. Let them do what they want after they're out of school

THANK YOU!! I don't see anything wrong with making kids abide by rules/regulations/dress codes. I mean come on...most of the rules in school are simply based upon the opinions of the principal or members of the school board. It doesn't mean that we need to scrap the rulebook.

I really like this line from the article: "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."

"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."

Brilliant. Now if only people would realize thats what we are often trying to do when we "haze" our pledges...

I completely disagree with the 'modesty' part of the equation, but can respect the 'community' portion - I think I've laid out my reasons in earlier posts.

True, modesty is a horrible thing. God forbid.

Different perspective
 

The issue with grillz may not only be one of "distraction" between children and developing a sense of mediocrity and needless, excessive indulgence.

The issue may be that youth are still physically developing from hormones to psyche. Most of the time, the grillz are not made by altruistic board certified general dentists, oral surgeons, orthodontists or even dental hygenists. They are probably purchased from a dealer at a unsanitary location with poor precious metallurgy that probably contains toxic levels of lead...

And amounts of lead exposure can cause chronic health problems later in life. And if children are inserting these items in their mouths when they are still underdeveloped, then who will be addressing the lead posioning that ensues? You and I the taxpayer...

Moreover, since these appliances are not made to "fit" the mouth properly--like I do not know many dental school programs that offer grillz continuing education courses--then that sets these kids bites completely off causing them to not properly eat their food the first step of digestion, I think call mastication.

Don't these children have enough to contend with in life than worrying about dentures at age 25-30? Along with poor dental hygiene which has been shown to be a root cause to a lot of disease outcomes, such as heart disease, obesity, maladsorption, colon cancer, sleep apnea and stroke?

As a taxpayer, I am not interested in paying for a 25 year old who made poor choices in life... But that is just me...

Even more importantly than your extensive and well informed comments regarding medical danger, they're also stupid. Public schools foster stupidity enough, lets draw the line here.

In Charlotte, we have Grillz on Wheelz.:( :( :(

I agree with you 100%

I can't understand why anyone would even want to wear them... didn't we all hate having braces? I sleep with a mouthguard because I grind my teeth. It's not fun. It probably gives them a speech impediment, too. Interesting post on the potential health effects, CT4. Not something I ever thought of, but after reading your post, also not surprising at all.

And I freak out if I bump a fork off of my tooth or get a piece of tin foil in my mouth- I couldn't imagine having some kind of crappy metal like that in my mouth all the time. And I wonder if they rust?

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.