Soxy Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 School tells kids: Don't think pink Gang fears stir hue and cry over color By Jodi S. Cohen, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporters Karen Mellen and Patrick Rucker contributed to this report Published April 1, 2004 As a fashion statement, pink is a hot color this spring, but at Merrillville High School in Indiana, it also has become a hot-button issue. District Supt. Tony Lux distributed a letter to students Wednesday in which he "discouraged" them from wearing pink because of concerns that it has gang and rap music overtones. Although Lux said dressing in pink could be "suspicious behavior," he emphasized the color wasn't banned. The situation erupted Friday when Principal Mark Sperling announced over the loudspeaker that students should think twice before wearing pink clothing. "It was meant as a gentle reminder that this color has other meanings," said Sperling, who was left somewhat pink-faced as students continued to laugh about it Wednesday at the school south of Gary. His request was misinterpreted as a ban, prompting angry calls from parents asking whether pink prom dresses should be returned. "We all thought it was stupid, so on Monday, a lot of people wore pink," said sophomore Ashley Washburn, who dressed in a pink golf shirt. Ten boys who showed up decked out in matching pink shirts and pink shoelaces were asked to change, Sperling said. After discussing with other principals the seemingly odd increase in boys wearing pink, he decided to make the announcement. If a boy wears a pink shirt, "we will ask him to change," Sperling said. "We will not suspend him. We will ask him not to wear it." There was some confusion Wednesday over whether the announcement applied to girls. Haley Stoica, a sophomore, said her history teacher asked that she put a sweatshirt over her pink long-sleeve shirt earlier this week. "I'm wearing pink tomorrow," she vowed. Merrillville students said pink became fashionable at the school after rapper Cam'ron wore pink in a music video and drove a pink SUV. They said it has nothing to do with gangs. "It is not like guys in pink are flashing gang signs," Stoica said. "They are making a big deal out of nothing." Sperling conceded there has been no gang activity at the high school but said he doesn't want students setting themselves apart by wearing a particular type of clothing. In retrospect, he acknowledged that instead of using the loudspeaker, "perhaps it would have been better to talk to a few kids individually." Various lawsuits over the last few decades have upheld the right of schools to restrict the attire of students as long as they can prove a compelling reason to do so, said Terry Glaub, communications director for the Illinois Association of School Boards in Springfield. In areas where gang violence is a problem, schools routinely prohibit clothing that suggests affiliation with a gang, said David Turner, executive director of the Springfield-based Illinois Principals Association. "You just don't sit down and arbitrarily write a restrictive dress code," he said. "I'm not going to say that all the boys have to show up with button-down shirts and neatly shined shoes. ... You speak to things that are issues in your building--things that are disruptive to the educational process." Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, stressed that administrators should balance concerns about safety with the rights of students to express themselves. "It is that time when people get that sense of who they are, and sometimes they are experimenting," he said. "And dress is often one way that young people think to express themselves." Sperling said he was stumped by the sudden increase in all those pink-clad teenage boys. "Normally, boys don't wear pink. ... Most parents of boys don't go out and buy them pink shirts," he said. "I'm becoming aware that it's becoming a color this spring." At a mall two miles from the school, stores were stocked with pink shirts for men. "As you can see, we have quite a few selections of pink. ...," said Nina Sandoval, manager at Express Men. "It is the really in color right now." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 This was in yesterday morning's paper in Fort Wayne, IN; there was a column about it. I thought the whole thing was kind of funny.... Posted on Thu, Apr. 01, 2004 Pretty in pink: Fad not gang-related Frank Gray Pink is hot. Not everyone, though, might realize that. Take your typical middle-aged man, who gets up in the morning, goes to work, and then goes home to put the dog out before it ruins another rug, worries about whether he needs a new roof, frets about the taxes that are due and watches the market as his nest egg dwindles. He might overlook that pink is hot. But it is. At Hat World at Glenbrook Square, hats have turned pink - NASCAR hats, college hats, pro baseball hats - and they're not just for girls. A guy in a pink Cubs T-shirt came in and bought a pink Cubs hat, the clerk says. At the store Rave at Glenbrook, there's something of everything in pink - pink hats, pink flip flops and heels; pink jeans and pink belts; pink purses and hats; pink undies and pink sunglasses, not to mention the pink slacks and tops and skirts. Champs has pink college T-shirts for men, and a place called Dry Ice even has pink chairs and pink dream canopies for hanging over your bed. If you have a kid who is into fashion, he - or she - will be coming home with something pink, most likely. It was all started by a rapper who started wearing pink, one clerk said. But it's grown way beyond rapper style. Now, there are pink ties, hot pink ties and hotter pink ties to go with the pink dress shirts, and the hot pink dress shirts for businessmen at Marshall Field. For the sportsman, there are pink overshirts. In other department stores, there are pink business suits for women, pink tops, pink skirts and pink Capri pants. Pink has become mainstream. Some of us will say, "I want a pink shirt" and people will laugh 50 years from now when they see pictures of you, and you'll say, "Oh! Pink was hot back then!" Others will say, "Gimme a blue shirt." In Merrillville, though, school administrators saw all the pink and reacted differently. They thought, "gangs." And they banned pink. When you see a bunch of kids wearing one pant leg rolled up and identical bandannas and you start expelling them because some of them have guns, it's logical to think gang. But pink sweaters or shoelaces? America is walking on eggs these days. We've weathered the gang wars only to be confronted with terrorism. An abandoned backpack will prompt an evacuation in any major city. We keep the doors to schools locked these days to keep out intruders and abductors, and metal detectors and armed guards stand at the entrance to public buildings that can't be locked. These precautions might be quite necessary. Experience has taught us that a madman can pop up almost anywhere. But we can't get paranoid, and that's the best way to describe the sudden fear of pink. What Merrillville has done is done, but before skittish administrators in Fort Wayne and surrounding communities allow that school system's actions to put any ideas into their heads, take a trip to the mall, and visit the places where kids buy their clothes. Familiarize yourself with what the real world's doing this season. Don't become terrified by a color that happens to be hot this season. It will be replaced soon, anyway, probably by white patent vinyl. That'd be a much better reason to get upset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 They obviously haven't been watchin Queer Eye and Carson in that high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Tizzle Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 "It was meant as a gentle reminder that this color has other meanings," said Sperling It sure does: "PINK IS IN BOYS!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreye Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 My wife went to that high school and is good friends with Lux's daughter. Some of you may remember when Northern Illinois went to the NCAA tournament and had a kid named TJ Lux. That's his kid. Anyway... I hate this crap. Why should he have to conform for the gangbangers? Where does it stop? If it becomes a gang symbol to double tie your shoes, will they ban that? OK, it's pink. Big deal. Pretty soon, we'll all have to wear transparent clothing. On second thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSteve Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Good thing I would never wear f***ing pink anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Good thing I would never wear f***ing pink anyways. No Pink Wrestling Attire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSteve Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 No Pink Wrestling Attire? Whoa, whoa, whoa....I wouldnt quite go that far... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen Prawn Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 After growing up in a gang infested neighborhood, I see this as a step in the right direction. The best thing they can do is what the public grammar school my brother and sister did - institute a dress code - dark pants and a paticular colored polo for the boys (I think it was white polos for them) and dark skirt or pants for the girls and white blouses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 No Pink Wrestling Attire? I was thinking the same thing I think pink wrestling tights look good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Pink Mafia taking over MHS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mreye Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Pink Mafia taking over MHS Weren't the chicks in Grease called the "Pink Ladies"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldmember Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 I think pink wrestling tights look good just imagine that on supersteve.... what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Are you talkin' about the girl or the tights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldmember Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 Are you talkin' about the girl or the tights ...both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocking Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 you know what pink means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 you know what pink means. Bad music Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocking Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 One guess left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxy Posted April 2, 2004 Author Share Posted April 2, 2004 One guess left. It's spring so pastels are back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldmember Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 pregnant/not pregnant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Tizzle Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 One guess left. Close? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocking Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 haha those were all good but still missing one very inportant pink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted April 2, 2004 Share Posted April 2, 2004 haha those were all good but still missing one very inportant pink Not my favorite....but PINK Floyd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.