Ministry to enforce national school dress code
(CNS): All children attending government schools must follow a strict national dress code at the start of the next academic year, which includes short hair for all boys and modest skirts for girls. While most schools already have their own uniform and dress policies, the Ministry of Education, in consultation with the Education Council, has revised the National Dress Code Policy, which will apply across the board and deals with the overall turn-out of students. The policy will take effect on 1 September 2018.
The ministry is launching a campaign under the title ‘Take Pride in Your Stride’ to encourage students to dress appropriately, officials said.
A release from the education ministry explained that students must dress in accordance with their specific school’s uniform policy in relation to the colour and style of socks, pants, skirts, shirts, blouses, belts, undershirts and required PE kit. However, the national dress code applies to all government schools. It states:
- Uniforms should be properly fitting.
- Skirts are required to be knee length and not above the knee. Pants are to be worn at waist height and shirts should be tucked in.
- No undergarments should be exposed or visible through the uniform.
- All students are required to wear black shoes/sneakers that do not contain other colours.
- Boots, sandals and slippers are not allowed.
- Students are permitted to wear a watch. No other jewellery is allowed.
- Items that display connection with gangs are not allowed e.g. badges, tattoos, colours or tagging.
- Girls’ hair should be groomed. Hair is required to be a natural colour, and extremes of hairstyles, such as a Mohawk, shaved lines/words, are not permitted. No beads should be worn in the hair.
- In keeping with the cultural norms of the Cayman Islands, hair of male students should be cut short. Hair is required to be a natural colour, and extremes of hairstyles, such as a Mohawk, shaved lines/words, are not permitted.
- Shaved eyebrows are not permitted.
- Makeup, nail polish and false nails are not permitted.
Officials said, “A dress code is a significant component in teaching students the important life skills of presenting themselves in a well-groomed manner and in dressing for purpose. It also helps to instill in students a sense of pride and belonging.”
The ministry stated that the purpose of the policy is to outline the expectations of all students in government schools and said it will be working with stakeholders to develop welcoming, supportive and inclusive learning environments that promote the well-being of all students and staff.
Students who violate the national dress code or their school’s own uniform policy could face detention. According to the policy, parents will be informed on the first violation; by the third, school leaders will meet with parents because students could be suspended from lessons.
The policy also advises principals who are faced with principled objections by parents to their child’s adhering to the dress code to respect the objections and take a non-confrontational approach to engage parents in clarifying the reasons for their objection. In such cases, short-term variations or long-term exemptions may apply.
Category: Education, Local News
We need to throw out all the critical thinking crap. Students only learn that thinking smart will get them good grades, but if teachers gave credit for dressing well, then we would have a whole new school. All the critical thinking every does is make it harder for con-men that dress well. It could endanger the slick leadership.
I know that 6:24 pm is being tongue in check, but he or she is touching on something about how we approach learning in most classrooms: Education is very rarely about learning—it is about the grade.
We are raising a generation that knows the value of a good-looking resume—and so have caught on that grades are critical. And they will do anything to get those grades—lie, chest, steal— and otherwise usually with the minimum effort.
That is because there is little excitement being generated in the classroom about learning. Education is mostly about churning out facts and depends greatly on rote learning.
All this rule-making initiative fit right into that ethos.
And by the way, the new rules will have very little impact on the teaching and learning in the classroom. That is my prediction.
Right…the dress code is why schools are failing. Glad we figured that out. Phew!
Back to my tractor or gardening and running useless weekend leadership training sessions for our youth. Ahhh, the sweat smell of laziness and getting paid for nothing. It is a joy I hope all the students will emulate.
The ignorant moral brigade was out in full force today.
I had no idea that some of these sexists, narrowed minded, ignorant views were still around.
Been quite an eye opener.
My question is what about the girls/boys that have nicely groomed locs and have been attending school for the past 2-4 years. Would they have to cut their locs off even if they are well kept and groomed?
We will need to create a super-committee whos job will be to interveiw students and pray to God if those loks offend God. The Principle or lackey President will have the final say of what God wants. See how we will solve all problems?
As I overhead a prestigious Professor at a nearby college say once: “Praise bE… to our salarIES”
Our quality runneth over…..not.
Like … they are bleeding grom the locks! Don’t be rediculous! The rules are the rules! Dont like it, go to another school!
This is what happens when women are in control. We focus upon irrelevant details of educations like how you wear your hair is going to effect how you read a book.
It does. Spot talking crap. Rules are rules. If you are not willing to follow rules at school, imagine went out of school. The rules teach children and prepare them.
Those rules show that leaders are weak and have the creative powers of an orange. But I bet they take home a huge salary to buy all their nice clothes so they look smart.
12:12 pm: very sexist comment.
Females in control making decisions based upon feminine qualities…who would of thunk it. I thought the whole point of “indentity politriks” was that you get power based upon your gender or race, not your accomplishments. You seem to confuse degrading women from describing how women band themeselves together for power. Shut down people’s observations with catchy one-word nonsensical phrases…much?
This the dumbest idea and it will never be checked if it was effective. How about we take half the schools with the new rule and half without and see if it actually works. But we all know its not about what works, its about looking like we want something to work and if it does not work then we pray to get rid of the guilt that we are not sincere.
Something strange about the likes on this page. Cns readers tend to be very left leaning feminist style, and more often than not at best the likes on these controversial comments are relatively even. Then randomly the likes have taken a big swing to the conservative side. Kinda like when the kirkbots were out in full force last year.
Someone appears very keen to sway public opinion on this topic.
You mean like you ????
Cns, keep posting your comments!
I’ve noticed it too someone or some group seems to have amassed within the last week that supports the government and pushing the far right agenda
CNS have you all noticed any significant changes in interactions and reach in the last week?
CNS: No we haven’t.
I agree with the introduction of these measures – it will be good practice for learning to dress respectfully and adhere to dress codes in the workplace later in life. However – could this not have been announced at the beginning of the summer to give parents time to prepare? To buy the black shoes they need, take their child for a haircut etc? Why announce it just as schools are about to start again? Hardly setting an example for our kids when it comes to forethought and organization!
Actually, it’s always been the policy, it’s just now being more strictly enforced because parents and students alike have decided they don’t have to adhere to the already established dress code.
They wanted to surprise us of their geniousness.
I agree with the measures, some points are a little harsh but if that’s the school rules…. I think it prepares children for following rules in the work place later on, maybe slightly different rules, but rules nonetheless. What I would like to see is the Parents of non conforming kids being made accountable. A child from a broken home who’s parents couldn’t care less if his hair is cut or uniform fits should not be punished further by being excluded from school when school may be the only stable force in his/her life. It should be publicized that these are rules for Parents too.
Here we go again, setting up vague exceptions that will eventually break the whole rule for everybody. You have a job working for inneffective leadership as long as you can repeat this over and over again. No reason, no logic, just whoever repeats and is the loudest wins in this stupid system.
Let’s try this. Any team representing these Islands abroad can dress as please. Police,immigration, custom, prison, dress as you please save the government money in uniform. How we looking now. Bring up your to be one of the above. Dress as you please Cayman.
In a country where politicians have no concern for corruption, can brazingly bribe and cheat, where older men regularly groom young girls, where 13 year olds can be pregnant and no one is prosecuted you have bigger things to worry about than the length of boys hair. Get a grip folks.
Folks, do not worry as these rules are unenforceable anyway. Give it a few a few months and it will go the way of every other initiative.
Could be, self important virtue signaling scumbag leftists will find a way to corrupt anything that resembles traditional values.
Help. I am a teacher and ALL of my pupils arrive to school in school uniform. However, some arrive with missing buttons, hems hanging down, dirty and shoes that are so worn they should be put in the trash. What do I do about these children. How do I police parental behaviour and how do I enforce rules without penalising children? This is a serious question.
I regret to inform you that your contract will not tbe renewed if you conintue to complain and try to poke our bubble. All the best in your future endeavours.
Fair point!
If you really wanted to help instead of complain then you would give this a little thought and your students a little care. How about you bringing in some extra buttons, a little shoe polish and a collection of shoes. I’m sure if you asked around you could have an extra 2-3 pairs donated to you by friends within a weekend. Also, for the hem- you could get those little sewing kits to either send home with child or ask parent if they need help sewing the hem. Compassion goes a long way when you stop complaining and start thinking on how to solve really simple problems.
As a man who had long hair for 30+ years, from childhood, if a school told me to cut my child’s hair off, I’d tell them to get lost.
Cultural norms are fine, but surely it cannot be the only option at the exclusion of all others? Society is a broad spectrum, and individuality is to be cherished.
And who’s going to enforce these silly rules? The teachers? Surely they have enough on their plates trying to actually teach (not that the curriculum, facilities, or funding are worth a damn here).
The time and effort used to prepare and publish this statement must have cost enough to pay for a good deal of textbooks. Priorities, eh?
Caymanians don’t seem to understand that freedoms go both ways
They acknowledge their freedoms but the second you use yours they say you are infringing theirs
We are the ultimate victim complex society
What about headscarves for Muslims?.
There are religious exemptions
Forget all the comments. The important thing is this will NOT work. It was tried in the 1980s when the Education Council had all the religious people on it..Marjorie and Marquiss for example…and they demanded prayers/devotions, assemblies, flag raising, visits from old folks from the districts telling old time stories, scratchy fiddle music..all of which the kids hated… and conservative uniforms and hairstyles to reflect Cayman’s culture. The parents simply ignored it and let their kids show up with gangsta haircuts, gold chains, short skirts etc. They demanded the schools NOT send the kids home because they were Caymanians blah blah and entitled to an education blah blah. The Education Council and the Miserable Furriner Hating Man from the East blamed the foreigners in the schools for not enforcing it and the whole thing collapsed. Laws, rules and regulations can only work if the majority see a reason for them. The majority of the parents were not following rules so their kids did not either.
I thought the education intelligencia was going to focus on behaviour. I guess the cheecky leadership who are just happy to have a job will find that too challenging and will resort to simple solutions. We need another party or celebration to distract from the next few months expected failing and prayers to act naive about the whole matter. Maybe they should move those games played at the stadium up to fall.
Why should a boy not be able to have long hair if he keeps it neat and clean? This is a human rights nightmare.
Like …. Why should he not obey the law? That’s the school rules, bro!
The religious police are out in force today
* In order for you to read this comment in context please note that I personally have no issues with Batabano, Braccannal and other events, what I despise is the hypocrisy of the CIG, certain MLAs and the religious/morality police
People in my mind are free to express themselves in whatever ways they choose barring a small number of exceptions*
Is the dress code really about discipline or is it all in the name of arbitrary puritanical “Caymanian” values, which the government claims to be in favor of???
Lets take note that this is all being mandated by the CIG while they also sponsor events like Batabano and Braccannal, while prosecuting artists for statues (even in adulthood the CIG tries to forcibly hold you to their conservative beliefs), and while discriminating against minorities based on their own personally held beliefs (again even adults are subject to the personally held beliefs of the government of the day)
You wanna know where young girls get the ideas for how to act to get the attention of young men in our schools, look no further than those very same government sponsored and endorsed events.
If the CIG honestly gave a damn about trying to ensure that young women are being modest in schools and avoiding overly sexual behaviors at a young age then surely they would start by cracking down on the hedonistic and “immoral” displays that they allow (and promote), through the streets of the Capital and beyond
Don’t even get me started on “short hair” for boys (specifically black boys) and the shoe color mandate, utterly and completely ridiculous
The hypocrisy is stunning but not surprising and at the end of the day even grown men and women find themselves subject to the opinions and ideological leanings of the elected government, because at the end of the day they can frame this however they want they are the ones who are doing the social programming, this is about exerting control, for the moment the religious Right think that they are the ones who are pushing these ideas through, but their interests are secondary to the government. As we see with every even slightly controversial decision in which the organisation of church leaders object to.
When the government decides that they have had enough of the puritanical values and the moral policing (in order to make a profit off of gambling for instance) they will see just how much their voices matter in the system they think they have created
Diogenes of Cayman
No moral policing? There is no way we can ever imagine you a principle or leader of a school, much less make decisions for our own!
Many of us are too poor to spend the whole day like you sitting behind a keyboard clicking away nonsense. Try get a life!
A very substantive response
Many have tried to silence me, none have succeeded
But please feel free to continue to prove my points for me
Diogenes
I wouldn’t worry. Anyone who gets the wrong principal, I’d disregard on principle.
I don’t think anyone is trying to silence you. But folk are entitled to disagree with any commenter who tries to spread their garbage. Are they not entitled? The fact you don’t accept this, is your problem, yours alone
Spreading garbage? Yet no actual responses to prove me wrong or discount my initial comment. Pointing out the truth is what pisses people off the most in Cayman I find, because we all know what is true, but we as a people prefer to ignore it rather than confront the real issues.
ESPECIALLY in the name of arbitrary “traditions”
Please rebut my comment, with substantive counterpoints, I’d love to see you try.
My opinion or position doesn’t swing with the popularity of the issue like our politicians and other “commentators” on CNS or anywhere else
The angry personal attacks, baseless assumptions about my socio-economic status or life and lack of true responses make the reality of my points crystal clear for anyone willing to see them.
Instead of taking the truth in my remarks even if you disagree with me on a personal or emotional level I am derided for merely mentioning reality
As the ludicrous Ben Shapiro says
“Facts don’t care about your feelings” and neither do I
Much Love
Dio
To get a good idea of whether this is a good policy or not. Why not put this into practise first with a test trial across the entire civil service.
that’s right ladies, no more see through blouses, no make-up, nail polish, fake nails, sandals, and you must wear black shoes, no jewelry, no hair colouring, and you can’t shave your eyebrows.
Comparing adults to children, your dumb.
Given the purpose of this is supposedly to develop professional adults, it would make sense for the adults to lead by example, no?
@3:20 pm: so it is ok for teachers to wear the very untidy but fashionable hairdos while students must toe the line?
How do you think the students will react?
Out of curiosity, what does the Ministry intend to do with a child that already has a tattoo? Its not as if they can scrub it off. I don’t agree with kids having tattoos, but excluding them from school because they had one pout on before your brought in the rule doesn’t seem fair.
Send them straight to northward!!!!!
when in a uniform they feel like family , for instance basketball teams / football teams /etc , they stand up for each other , their wont be as many fights and other disruptions , uniforms are Good for all the kids !
yo Bertie, they have always had uniforms. what is your excuse for all of the fights and disruptions then?
We are failing to provide a proper education to our children but at least we can made them look snappy.
Hmm, I can smell the incoming lawsuits. The Constitution speaks to your freedom of expression not being restricted by the Government and seeing as this is being implemented by the Government…..but luckily for our Government, most people don’t have the resources to challenge them on anything.
Don’t use the Lord’s name in vain. He warned us a very long time ago.
Dont be vain to think you know what the Lord wants.
Were they not sued several years ago by the Rastafarian parents of a boy who had long dreads?!
I agree with a dress code, it makes young people look groomed and smart and not like they are about to make a drug deal or waiting on a street corner for a customer.
No face tats!? Boooo!!
THESE ARE OUR KIDS!
Schools should not be an experimentation for children to dress anyway they feel like!
Schools are to prepareour young for the real world! For job interviews, for meeting people of different walks of life, for encouraging a modest lifestyle, and representing proudly our islands!
Schools are there to educate not to police parents choices. Those who already do not adhere to the dress codes are those very same children who come from families who do not give a toss about regulations.
Keeping codes, rules, laws, is part of education. You can’t separate education from discipline.
This is a very difficult thing to read. I do ask for the patience of those reading this comment, to curb the emotional reaction until this has been digested.
First, there is an understanding of why these measures are taking place. The educational authorities are seeking to instill a set of “professional values” in the students. It appears they believe that by instilling the military style concept, that they will be able to create a more disciplined child who will then go on to be a producing member of society. Their intentions are not lost on me.
HOWEVER, there are some very serious flaws with this. A quick review of Orwelian societies, shows one of the first tactics used by dictators and fascists is implementation of strict uniforms guidelines. Think 1984, WWII Italy, etc.
If the goal of these educational authorities is to create high producing Caymanian youth then there are far simpler and less intrusive ways to approach this.
A professional dress code is enacted. This may be the goal of this policy, but the methods will not produce these results, instead it will further demoralize students who are already disenfranchised. This spokesperson is a managing partner of one of the largest finance institutions in Cayman. Everyday his office has men and women arrive professionally but in their own personal and creative style and the vast majority of that staff did not grow up going to schools that mandated uniforms. There is a culture of understanding of what “professional” entails and that is respected and enforced. Teach and nurture that culture at the schools and then implement it. A boy can have long hair and still be professional. A girl can wear make up and still be professional. Unless this managing director is holding his own staff at E&Y to this standard, he should not be asking this to be enforced on the Caymanian youth.
It would seem that this is the tip of the iceberg for changes coming to the schools. These decision makers would do well to remember that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Trying to create better youth by instilling Orwelian policies has historically been proven to be a disaster. Your curriculum is horrendously poor, animals in zoos around the world are treated better than your students, and the vast majority of the decision makers have little to no understanding of the components necessary for managing successful schools and fixing the historical problems. The problems with the schools are a combination of failure of the decision makers to address these above issues, and the ignorance of a number of parents who have up through this same system.
It is hoped that these educational decision makers will make wiser and more prudent decisions about how to address the multitude of issues. This dress code though is a poor start.
Amen @ 9:42 am — superb comment and all perfectly reasonable and logical. Thank you.
Thank you @9:42 am — thoughtful comment. Love it.
Hope the educators who thought up this very uneducated list will read it.
Lets be clear, it was not educators who came up with this policy. It was the Education Council who know nothing about education. The leader of the pack is of course our pavement queen of the Brac who is blissfully ignorant of anything education related. No wait a minute, she taught in a school on the Brac 30 odd years ago and had to get out because she could not cut it.
It says it is a policy being imposed by the Ministry in consultation with the education council. You have a beef with the Minister, not Dan Scott.
No it is the other way around. The Minister does not consult education at all. She lives a fairy tale existence where paving peoples driveways is ok but a boy having long hair will be excluded from school.
Curious comment. Will the staff within the ministry, and teachers, be required to abide by the same dress code? No jewelry, no make-up, no nail polish, etc?
2:11: This is actually a good question.I have seen some scruffy looking teachers!!
Further, personally, I don’t like some the popular hairdos that I see teachers sporting, but wouldn’t object though as it tends to come under fashion. Nevertheless, some of these styles don’t qualify as neat by any stretch of the imagination.
Who will police the teachers for neatness? After all, should they not be the exemplars for young, impressionable youth?
No, idiot. They’re fully grown adults.
O boy. I can just sniff the gay comments coming now.. about equality and freedom to dress anyhow. The social engineering machine rhetoric to turn our youth into their image.
9:19 You sure that isn’t just the odor of your ignorant top lip you’re sniffing?
Yea, got smelly after tasting your coolaid.
same coolaid you tryin give to our kids!
I cannot understand why any boy/ young man would dare to go out in public with their pants half way down their butts but I wonder about the no beads policy. Perhaps the number of beads could be reduced. I think they look kind of cute. What about the boys and their long hair, will that include straight hair, or is it just the Afro hair boys? All in all I guess the girls got lucky, it could have been dresses down to your ankles, absolutely no make up, greasy faces and hair pull back in a bun!! I wonder how many hours will be spent daily washing faces, picking out skirt hemline etc, redoing hair etc., will there be time for classes? I believe in decipline, but honestly some of these guidelines are way over the top.
Hmm a dress code in general makes sense, arbitrary restrictions on the length of hair under the premise that short hair is a Caymanian cultural norm is foolishness. How short is short? Will the white boys be forced to keep their hair as short as the black boys are forced to keep it, because that has generally been the norm. White boys seem to be able to wear their hair however they want but the minute a black kid grows out his locks it’s a problem. Sick of this colonial BS. Just because something has been the norm does not mean that it should remain the norm.
Nope, white guys can have long hair and keep in styled to look short
I can attest personally to the policy dichotomy as a black male who recently graduated from HS in Cayman (within the last 5 years)
I was told to cut my hair, as soon as it was past my head, and white guys were walking around with hair all 4-5 inches long as long as they didn’t have something perceived to be a female style they would be fine
I now have long hair because I always preferred it and loved the ability to have more than scratchy tiny strands of hair, my workplace is filled with black men (Caymanians and non Caymanians) with medium to long hair, there is nothing unprofessional about it, there are no issues because as adults we can all respect the individuality of our coworkers.
But the schools have always enforced or at least implied that black men are meant to only have short hair
and that the only proper look for black men is short (bordering on nonexistent) hair
and this is one instance where the private schools are worse than the public schools
Having a uniform is fine, enforcing natural colors is fine, ensuring that hair isn’t too extreme or large (aka an visual obstruction) is fine I won’t argue against that (although I could point to dozens of “professionals” with colors in their hair)
But when you start mandating short hair (for black male students with curly hair ) because lets be real that is the only demographic that the rule will be enforced on it effects the way the students look at their own features
The arbitrary “cultural norms” are ridiculous ( let’s not kid ourselves this is little more than a tightening grip by the informal religious police in Cayman) I don’t recall voting for any cultural norm edict and cultures are meant to change over time. Anyone who denies this is part of the artificial cultural divide created between males and females, and another brick in the not so discreet wall erected against stereotypical homosexual traits is simply lying
This will be challenged, and the government will back down
A dress code is good, but let us not go overboard. We do it every time. I don’t like the untidiness of boys’ underwear showing, and I prefer a more modest length of skirt for girls. And yes institute the colour shoes and socks. No problem with that — but what is this hang up about hair? I really don’t get why it is such an issue. I honestly don’t.
I just saw a story on Yahoo.com about a US school — I think it was a church school — that sent home an 11-year-old girl because she had hair extensions — and yes she was African American.
Her hair looked perfectly neat and fine — but the rule was “no hair extensions” so home she went.
You can take rules so far that it becomes counter productive and plain stupid.
I don’t know of any old Caymanian photo of our *”fair skin” men having long hair?
* And we don’t call them white, we say fair skin!
Lol
I just fell out of my chair
George Towner you the best 🙂
I don’t give a damn what was fashionable to “Old Caymanians” or what is in “Old Caymanian photos”
Nor am I bound or legally obligated to imitate them in any way, shape or form
Cayman from 40, 50,60, 70 years ago is gone
Forcing your children to adhere to the standards of the long dead, will only make them resent you, their history and our culture
The Ministry of Education needs to be a little more economical with words. This is one case in which “less is more.”
Great what a wonderful change. Having the children dressed properly is really a good idea. When I first say the children dress in uniforms on my first visit to Cayman about thirty five years ago I thought that it was so proper for a Caribbean Country to have the schools and children have the manners of pride unlike the United States.
I would like through this media to mention that Channel 27 report is so improper for this subject as they where interviewing right in front of a wall with ladies bras and panties. Isn’t that very rude for this subject of a dress code for the school children. Thank you
I saw that too and wondered why they would pick that site??
Ah the double standards!
The last paragraph is concerning as it will open up the floodgates for objections.
I think the issue with the long hair for boys is that the line needs to be drawn somewhere.
Personally I don’t have any issues regarding long hair for boys, but a dress code has to have limits as otherwise it is a slippery slope and many will cry “discrimination” if you don’t let them get away with their style.
Cultural norms? Errr, I’ve seen plenty of caymanian males with long hair. If you don’t want it, just say, but don’t claim it to be a cultural norm. Extreme homophobia was/is a cultural norm, doesn’t mean we still want it.
In these days, girls are as well causing themselves to be molested and rape because they are not MODEST. They reveal too much skin and curvatures. And please don’t say it is man’s responsibility to lower their gaze and control their sexual natures! It takes both men and women to create a good moral society. But the ladies are being neglected. Dressing anyway they feel like and with a no care attitude, saying its a woman’s independence.
This can’t possibly be a real comment
Like seriously, this has to be some troll trying to bait people into responding
Like what?
My head hurts
Dio
smh
Shallow minded. You must have been one of the johnny come late not to know of the perversions out there.
You need to be publicly flocked to make such a statement! No matter how someone dresses, it doesn’t give anyone else the right to rape or molest them period!
8:22 am is absolutely right — how could anyone give the thumbs down — it just shows how limited we are in our thinking. Do a little reading on the subject — that is why we have the Internet. How backward can we be.
Oh dear..this is gonna be just awesome!
I can’t believe I just read that. So you are saying it’s the victims fault that they are raped or sexually assaulted? Words fail me.
Now, now, did you read my statement? Did I really said that?
Yes, you did, Ms. T. Shocking isn’t it?
This is probably one of the most ignorant and disgusting comments I have read on this site. Sexual assaults happen not because of the way the victim is dressed but because the criminal derives power from robbing the person of their peace of mind and autonomy. A woman could be covered from head to toe but this has not been shown to decrease the chances of her being sexually assaulted. The only responsibility women have is to be actively aware of the dangers which they may encounter with strangers and other suspicious circumstances. Yes, modesty is an important value but please don’t devalue sexual assault victims by telling them to dress properly next time.
So youre saying that the way a woman dress does NO contribution on the reactions of perverts in our society???
Your not making any sense. We are talking about our children here. You are ignorant!
At 9:25 am — yes, that is exactly what we are saying.Perverts are perverts and the victim is absolutely not to be blamed.
Nobody is talking about blaming. We are talking about prevention!
Cayman Stew—you and others are absolutely blaming the victims. Hard to believe these uninformed attitudes are still hanging on. Sad.
CaymanStew@1:59 pm: just think about it—if you are basing your argument on victim-based “prevention” in the context of dress you are in fact blaming the victim.
If you had dressed differently this wouldn’t have happened to you.
Studies don’t show that to be the case at all in wide scale studies of sexual exploitation of children or teens.
Parents can protect their children by being watchful and present and informed.
This is not to say that parents should not also be careful about standards of dress. But dress is not the cause of sexual exploitation of children.
To focus on dress as a preventive strategy is not only counterproductive but also has the effect of contributing to the problem.
It also contributes to the sad failure of our society to come to grips with stemming the increasing incidence of child sexual abuse.
Most of your children are raped within their own homes so how do you account for that?
To all those who gave the thumbs down to 8:40am– how can you be so ignorant? The Internet has a wealth of information on this subject — try reading it sometime.
Ms. T, you obviously need a lot of exposure — rape is not motivate by passion — it is a heinous crime performed when one party wishes to exact complete power and control over another. And as a teen victim of molestation, I had absolutely nothing to do with bringing that on myself. This is a terrible misconception.
So, please, try to get a better understanding of these matters before you put your fingers on the key board.
Seems that Ms. T is not the only misguided one in our community. Look at all the thumbs up — shocking!!
Shows how ignorant you are.
Rape is about power, not about how someone is dressed.you could cover up from your neck to you ankles and still be raped or molested.
Molestation is the result of a sick mind.
You think a five year old or eight year old is dressing provocatively and deserves to be molested you sick human being.
What?!? Please explain to me why babies less than 2 are raped !!! What ? Are pampers showing too much skin?
Thank you Ms.T
Your comment is very truthful. Women need to be more mindful. It is not hard. And Im glad you said it “takes BOTH” the responsibility of men and women. Ignore the negative comments.
Peace 🙂
Unfortunately it is hard to ignore ignorant comments like @Ms T. Sad.
2:05 pm: I believe that Ms. T is being sincere, although what she said does not reflect the “truth” of the dynamics of sexual abuse.
Let me tell you about my experience:
As a child I was targeted by an uncle from the time I was maybe five or six. By the time I reached 10 or 11 years old, he pounced. I was invited to his house for the weekend and after I had gone to bed, with his wife in the house, he sneaked into my room and physically molested me. I won’t go into details, but it was quite serious and I had no idea of the physical damage he had inflicted until years later — not to mention residual psychological impacts. I cried, got up, and dressed and asked to be taken home. Years later when he visited Cayman he had the audacity of asking if I remembered.
That was a prepubescent child. Even as a teenager I was skinny and flat-chested and there was nothing precocious about me — either in the way I dressed or in my physical development or in the way I conducted myself.
There were other episodes of this with other family members (yes, this is all going on in families) and even men in the community but I won’t go into those. I was probably targeted because I was a quiet, compliant child without a father around and he and others had opportunity — not because I invited any of this in absolutely anyway.
I just want to make the point that men such as my uncle are attracted to children and the psychological dynamics have nothing to do with the sexual provocativeness of the child or adolescent.
I think it is really important for us to try to inform ourselves so that we can have a more enlightened attitude and position on these abuses of children and adolescents. This is important for the protection of our children.
Because the reason few of these actually get reported is that as a society we tend to give men a pass on sexual misbehavior — that is their nature, they are provoked, it is the little Lolitas who lead them astray.
Even when persons in positions of trust violate that trust we find a way to blame the victim — they caused it and got the man in trouble.
These attitudes leave children vulnerable to this continuing plague of child abuse.
Possibly this is an area of education and sensitization that needs to take place more formally in our society — certainly as mothers and fathers we must be alert to these possibilities and we must communicate with our sons and daughters on this subject and make sure that they understand that we will believe them and stand by them.
Ms. T, you and others of your point of view mean well, but you are wrong, sincerely wrong.
You state, “I just want to make the point that men such as my uncle are attracted to children and the psychological dynamics have nothing to do with the sexual provocativeness of the child or adolescent.”
Hooray! You made your point.
So that means its ok for little 10 year old school girls to go walking down the street wearing bikinis in public?
I understand Ms. T clearly
10:51: your comment is almost not worth replying to — but I will. Why would ten year olds go walking down the street in bikinis? I would expect them to be on the beach.
But even if they did walk down the street in a bikini, so what? Is that supposed to make them vulnerable to attack by perverts?
You have the whole argument totally wrong. Young girls are not causing themselves to molested. They are to be protected. It is the sick perversion that causes it.
Your position is not only wrong, it is dangerous.
9:49 am is sharing a personal experience that should make a difference. I shudder at the ignorance of CNS readers. Boggles my mind.
With attitudes such as are displayed here, no wonder so many of these child abuse cases never get prosecuted.
I hope this is not represesentative of the general population. But I suspect that Is a vain hope.
And if you can’t comprehend in your thick skull what Ms.T is saying, then your hopeless.
One major way of protecting children from perverts is having them dress decent in public.
Common sense!
Ms T how about burkas and maybe even niquabs as well?.
By your reasoning Ms T then rich deserve to be robbed? They are flaunting their wealth by living in a nice home, driving nice cars, wearing jewelry and eating at restaurants. Right?
What a dummy.
How can you compare them to the rich. If you take walk downtown getto Kingston with gold rings, bracelet, diamonds, parading your wealth, hell ya you gettin rob!
As someone who cares, I will tell you not to flaunt your richness in certain places. Doesnt that make sense?
Ms T: I don’t suppose you are aware that the scourge of sexual abuse affects children of all ages — from babies in arms and onward? That the prime age for children who are sexually abused is between 10 and 14 years —at the height of innocence—hardly the period known for curves or display of skin, as you put it?
And that most predators are persons known to the child and very often living right there in their homes and should be protecting them rather than preying on them? That outside of the home, predators are usually persons in positions of trust—soccer and athletic coaches, Sunday school teachers, priests and pastors, etc?
That they are very rarely total strangers that fall victim to beguiling children, as depicted in your misguided world view?
The reason these predators are successful is that the child accepts them as powerful authority figures and even love them. Hence why children so frequently fail to report the incidence.
The more I think about it, the more I agree with 8:22 am on 22/8. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I don’t agree with the short hair for boys being the apparent ‘culture’….incredibly sexist
You know nothing about Cayman!
Great news!
Some the ways our students attend school is atrocious, and I wonder what goes through the minds of their parents when they allow them out of the house.
A “uniform” should be just that, uniform.
I understand the desire for individuals to express themselves in their unique way, but there is a time and place for that and frankly, childhood education is not either.
So long as students are not discriminated against on religious grounds, e.g. Rastafarians, I am in complete support of this development.
Students, this is a time to learn, expand your perspectives, learn the skills, and make the grade.
Be patient and you’ll be able to express yourself in whatever manner you choose soon enough – often to your own detriment, but some insist on being “hard-ears”.
– Whodatis
*Re: “In keeping with the cultural norms of the Cayman Islands, hair of male students should be cut short.”
I must say, the above excerpt did rub me the wrong way (not for personal reasons) and I believe would have been best excluded from the guidelines.
I suspect we are about to see why in this very thread …
Tony Blair was a Rastafarian.
Seriously doubtful this will be properly enforced.
Teens are already having problems with authority– it is part of the process of growing up — they are beginning to think for themselves and find their own path.
Why pick unnecessary fights with a big long list — pare your list down to the essentials, and get rid of the repetitions. And don’t put ideas in their heads. Teens are natural oppositionists — So don’t go out of the way to give them options to oppose.
The key to compliance with teens is to gain their trust and build a relationship of understanding with them.
This does not mean that we should allow behaviours that are dangerous or that would fail to meet certain sensible standards.
But let us not start unnecessary resentments and fights.
If females are given the opportunity to maintain a length of hair it is only acceptable that males be given that same choice. Long hair is a part of culture for many people who decide to live with it and is not only biased toward females. I suggest the government schools drop the sexism act unless they want to be met with sexual discrimination lawsuits. All genders should be given the same opportunity without being discriminated on the basis of their sex. Sexual discrimination occurs when a person is treated unequally due to their sex and this a perfect example of such a situation. Equality for all.
6:05 am — I do believe it is possible that sexual discrimination lawsuits could come from this. It is not as if these are private schools and people can pull their kids if they don’t like the rules.
One rule for all when it comes to hair, I say. Otherwise, it is sexual discrimination.
Who are these old school (lol) set devising these rules. Lighten up!
Happy days Cornerstones!
Many girls wear makeup. I don’t agree but short of forceably removing it what in Gods name are we to do?
The 29 who gave this comment a thumbs down, would you like to enlighten the teacher as to how to handle this?
Send them to the lavatory and tell them to wash it off. Send them home if they don’t. This is not hard.
Seriously beads are not allowed. What do you suggest should happen fMrs Minister of Education. What arc did you crawl off. Hair beads do not disrupt a class or prevent a child learning, but poor teaching does.
Small children choke on beads. Death also impacts learning.
If a child turns up inappropriately dressed are we then to phone the parents for the parent to remove the child? If the parent refuses to turn up, what do we do to the child? Keep them in seclusion to teach the parent a lesson and further disadvantage the child?
Yes
Let me tell you what will happen. The parent will phone the Dept of Education and complain, or they will be an influential parent who can make waves, then the teacher becomes the problem.
Getting a good education is surely the first one, then there is the thorny issue of turning up for interviews even when its raining, being prepared including being dressed appropriately.
Bollocks! Most children are turned out reasonably. Concentrate on getting the teaching right, supporting parents in their parenting role, removing children from homes where there is abuse in all of its guises that is what will improve educational outcomes not whether a child remembred to tuck in his shirt. Also the Education Council is now by default the Ministry of Education since it thinks they know better than people who have spent a lift time in education. Cannot wait the return to work show, it will be amusing to say the least.
“Pants” means underwear; do you mean trousers?
Seriously, this aint England!
For many Brits / English, England is wherever they happen to be.
Underwear means underwear. Caymanians don’t say trousers for pants. We say pants.
A good start. Better start would be if parents followed the Golden Rule of “Respect starts at Home”.
Parents should be shame of themselves to let boys have long hair.
11:06 pm — are you for real?
i thin these are the same rules as before…..’lucky’ for the kids no-one in cayman believes in enforcement.
These rules were definitely in place when I was in school here over 30 years ago..
About frigging time! I lived in Bermuda and I can tell you the kids all dress so smart for school. We are two jurisdictions often compared but this is one area where we are not similar. When Id pick my daughter up from school over there all kids were dressed smart! Here you see long nails whacky hair styles boys with pants to their ass!
Let’s hope it’s enforced dammit!
With that kind of vocabulary I am surprised you care about uniforms and hair length!
Thank you. Finally someone who is taking education serious. I can’t tell you how embarrassing it is when a young person comes into my office for an interview and they look ridiculous. There is no way I would let them represent my company when they look like slobs.
Dress for success is the first key to getting a job.
Question. And please be honest. Do you explain that to them or just give the job to someone else?
Answer, honestly, I explain the requirements. If they ask for a second chance to represent themselves better, I am more than willing. Truth is, they weren’t interested in the first place or they would have taken everything serious to begin with.
Your schools are failing to teach but it is so important to look like they are smart. Can’t fix it so make it look better is not the sign of good management.
Though I totally agree with a strict uniform policy, I think that neatness is the key. I have seen boys with hair tied back tight in a ponytail and it looks fine, even neater than some girls. I would hire an adult with that style in a heartbeat.
Very true, 7:23 am — employers can’t dictate hair style, but they can require neatness.
Below is the edited list that as a parent I would have no objection to. When you make your list so long it contributes to poor management both by the parents and the school. Also, we can be so focused on the minors that we lose sight of the weightier matters — like creating an enjoyable and productive learning environment in the class room rather than a punitive environment where teachers are constantly having confrontations with teens about foolishness.
Here is a more reasonable and practical list, even if it still requires a certain degree of individual judgement:
-Skirts are required to be knee length. Pants are to be worn waist height and shirts should be tucked in.
-All students are required to wear black shoes/sneakers that do not contain other colours.
-Students are permitted to wear a watch only. No other jewellery is allowed.
-Items that display connection with gangs are not allowed, e.g. badges, tattoos, colours or tagging.
-Girls and boys’ hair should be neat and well groomed.
-Makeup, nail polish and false nails are not permitted.
Move on folks, there is nothing to concern anyone here except for the bigots living in la la land of old times. I actually agree with a uniform policy but this one will go the way of all others.
Thats rigtht, you can put it on yor resume that you dress smart. The dingy looking person with the qualification will still get the job, but you have the individual satisfactions that you look smart.