A Texas middle school is banning students from wearing all-black clothing because school officials say it’s associated with mental health issues.

Students at Charles Middle School in El Paso, Texas, headed back to school Monday, days after a letter from Principal Nick DeSantis outlined the school’s new dress code policy. The letter says the school is eliminating all-black clothing because it is “associated with depression and mental health issues and/or criminality.”

Norma De La Rosa, the president of El Paso Teachers Association, explained in more detail why the policy is in place and what clothing is allowed. She says teachers see a sudden change in students going from dressing with color to all black when they are depressed or stressed.

Many parents and community members disagree with the policy, commenting online that clothing color doesn’t define a person’s mental state.

“The color of clothing has nothing to do with your ability to do anything or feel any emotion,” Alex Lucero said.

“Making students wear a different color isn’t going to magically make them a completely different person,” Alexis Contreras said.

  • Elise@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    3 months ago

    Thanks for expanding on that. Can you say something about the difference between a bell curve and a gaussian curve?

    • dactylotheca@suppo.fi
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      3 months ago

      Oh there’s no difference, “bell curve” is just a more colloquial term for a normal distribution. “Normal distribution”, “Gaussian distribution / curve” and “bell curve” all mean the same thing.

      Wouldn’t be math if there wasn’t 736 different names for the same thing 😆

      • Elise@beehaw.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        3 months ago

        Oh sorry, I quick read over the first sentence and missed it. Long day yesterday!