Tag Archive for code

Kids’ Shame; Education’s Friend

A Florida girl was pulled from class and reprimanded for wearing a too-short skirt, violating the school’s dress code.  To continue going to class, she was made to change into what her mom calls a “shame suit”: over-sized sweat pants and a bright yellow tee shirt, both saying “Dress Code Violation.”  Feeling humiliated, she asked to call her mom, who became as upset as her daughter.

The school claims that this was her choice since she could have taken in-school suspension or had her parents called to bring her more appropriate clothing. The girl claimed no knowledge of those other choices, even though they’re written into the dress code that every student and parent should have read.

I can’t help wondering if there was a fourth choice. In my more permissive high-school-teaching days, I remember watching parents drop off fresh-scrubbed kids dressed in nice outfits.  Once on campus, these girls met up with friends. Together, they went to their locker to retrieve “school clothes”–short skirts/shorts, tight/skimpy tops, jeans two sizes too small, etc.  And the make-up bag.  When they emerged from the bathroom, ready for a day at school, their appearance had drastically changed.  The clothes they’d worn to school (and would be put back on–and faces scrubbed–before heading home) spent the day in their lockers.

The fourth option, then, might have been a trip to the girl’s locker and a quick change.

A lesson I’d learned back then, as I vainly tried teaching English to teenaged males with their tongues hanging out and their eyes firmly fixed on what the girls had on display, was that a reasonable dress code is Education’s Friend.

 

 

 

Will Your Tires Kill You?

Aging tires can be dangerous, say studies done by the National Transportation Safety Board.  They deteriorate in the store, and they’re kept until they’re sold.  You might even buy a 10- or 15-year old tire that has rubber that’s breaking down and steel belts that are weakening.

Most of us just look at the tread and figure our tires are fine…sort of a “not-bald-is-beautiful” attitude.  That doesn’t mean they’re safe, though.

When you buy tires, look for the manufacturer’s code date.  Find the string of numbers on the tire.  The last four are the code for the day and the year of manufacturer.  For example, if the tire was made after 2000, “6811” means that it was made on the 68th day of 2011.  If you’re checking the tires you have now, be advised that there may be a different date on each of the four you’re driving on.

How Old Are Your Tires? Your Safety May Depend on the Answer has more information on tire age, safety, where to find the code number, and how to read code numbers on tires made before 2000.

Then, go check your tires!  I want my readers to be safe!