If you teach middle or high school, you know thereâs always going to be students who LOVE a provocative T-shirt. And these things seem to come in waves. Right now, the hotly debated clothing in our Principal Life group on Facebook are shirts that say âI Heart Hot Momsâ or âI Heart Hot Dads.â And the leaders in our group are conflicted on how to handle this trend. Some say itâs not worth fighting, while others feel itâs an obvious disruption to learning. Weâve gathered some of our group membersâ advice on âI Heart Hot Moms/Dadsâ shirts below, but weâd love to hear your thoughts tooâplease share in the comments!
âUnless you have a documented incident of these shirts causing a disruption to the educational environment, I think youâre in a slippery slope situation.â
âTinker v. Des Moines is pretty clear and has been case law for decades. Itâs clear that you may only limit dress if it has caused a disruption or has clear potential to cause disruption.â
âIâve had a lot of positive experiences one-on-one with students just listening to why they like the offensive clothing, and respectfully explaining why it can cause divisiveness or cause others to feel uncomfortable.â
âI told them that I probably couldnât make them stop wearing it, but I just ask if they would reconsider. It works best when you have a good relationship with the kid.â
âWe allow it. Itâs not worth the conflict.â
âI laugh with them and move on. There are bigger issues.â
âIt could be problematic.â
âI would say whenever you have something that suggested an adult-child situation where either side is sexualizing the other, you need to think twice.â
âI hate dress codes, and Iâve found that often if the adults donât make a big deal about it, itâs not a big deal.â
âItâs stuff like this that takes precious time away from the business of educating students and running a school.â
âI told one of my biggest behavior-problem students who wore an âI Heart Hot Momsâ shirt âthanks for being a fan.'â
âHe said, youâre not hotâI replied that all moms are hot or at least by definition were at one time. He never wore the shirt again. (Not a conversation I would have with all kids, but he and I spent A LOT OF TIME TOGETHER!!!). Not a hill we wanted to die on since it didnât break our dress code.â