I decided to write this upon joining a conversation on a message board about body modification in the school environment. Modifications at school and at work seem to be quite a popular topic at the moment. I know this has always been the way, but to me they seem to be more common nowadays than before. Maybe this is because tattoos and piercings are becoming more popular or maybe it's because I have just become more aware of the situation. But either way, it seems to be something I am reading a lot lately.
At A Glance Author Kloot Contact [email protected] When N/A Location London, UK
On this message board the topic was about allowing piercings in schools. Now I have always thought I was in favour of this. I think it would be great if people could be modified and it wasn't an issue. Jobs wouldn't be any hassle to get and you wouldn't get those crude comments behind your back.
In the schools, the most common reasoning for not allowing jewellery is health and safety. As it has been pointed out many times, body piercings are a lot less dangerous than a lot of things you will find during your average working day. At my job, I often walk out to the back of the food area to find the floor soaking wet ad incredibly slippery. This is a lot more dangerous that my wearing any body piercing. The key time I will agree with the schools on health and safety is during P.E. and sports. Especially in contact games. However what about outside of the games, during normal working hours?
Another argument put forward was the fact that a lot of the children in the schools are under sixteen and therefore no legally able to get pierced. Again, this is perfectly valid and I agree with it. There are a lot of children under sixteen who do get pierced. But what about the people over sixteen who can legally be pierced. Should they not be allowed to freely express themselves and modify their bodies however they see fit?
So in writing my reply, I felt I was making good progress. I was clearly defending body piercings in school. I felt that my main reasoning was that schools did not allow piercing because they feel that it makes the school look bad. They like their students to have uniforms and be neat and tidy. There is nothing wrong with this. The school board would like their students to walk down the street and have people make positive comments on their appearance. Thus creating a good appearance for the school.
However the point was also put forward that where would it stop. I wrote in my post :
Part of my argument when I had my eyebrow pierced was that there were other people in the school, in my year, who had multiple ear piercings and nose studs, and not all of them were discreet. Health and safety wasn't really an issue because once I had my retainer the head couldn't see it, the problem went away.
This is a perfect example of "where does it stop". If other people are allowed nose studs and earings, what wrong with my eyebrow. As I wrote I questioned how you stop this, where does it stop. I then realised it cant stop. Not with a major contradiction to all the progress made. If I was to write, "stop at facial tattoos, schools cant have them" then I would be going against everything I have written on this page. The result is inconclusive. You can't stop it. And if you can, how? And this is the school boards dilemma, and why they say no to begin with. If you don't allow piercings in the first place, then you don't have to disallow anything else and the problem goes away along with any future problems. This is the easy way. But it presents the new question, when do we stop taking the easy way and actually find a solution to the problem?
The whole experience made me wonder weather body modification should be allowed in school. I have been tempted to say yes. But only to a certain extent. But then I question how true am I being to body modification itself. Another part of me says just say no to it all. It makes the whole thing much easier, but that just adds to the problem I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Truly I feel it should be allowed if it is done responsibly. If it puts other at risk, then that is not responsible. We are past the day and age where only gangs and bikers have mods. It has now become a way of life, and being young does not make it any less legitimate. But there are still irresponsible people out there who will ruin it for the rest of us. They should be focused on rather than the majority. Otherwise you're still taking the easy way out.
As I'm sure you all know, the way we have chosen or will choose to live is a hard one, but ultimately I believe it could be a more fulfilling one for it.