Spoiler alert: It doesn't.
If I'm being honest, focusing on hats (or hoods, or dress codes, or passing fads in middle school, etc.) may actually harm learning...and future success. Hear me out.
Following the chatter on Twitter these days, there seems to be a widening chasm between "getting back to [gulp] normal" and ditching "the way we've always done things" (and by that, I mean school) [double gulp].
Without going down either of these two rabbit holes, can we address the matter of "hats in school"?
I have been a longtime baseball cap wearer. I have worn them indoors, at times getting called out, and learning some valuable lessons about how adults feel about hat wearing.
But here we are, 2021. Kids have experienced the wrath of an uncertain virus. They've seen how it impacts some family and friends' health. And they've seen how it in some cases, has impacted family's financial circumstances, living arrangements, and access to basic life necessities. Some (like where I work and live) have experienced an organized and empathetic, safe and healthy return to school.
Others have not. And all around us, we all watch the world cope with mounting societal challenges.
So, why is it that we are we still talking about HATS in school?
Here's my take.
There are some valuable lessons to be learned in school. Some are part of the curriculum and are written in the lessons plan book. While other lessons are learned, through experience. Students watching how adults treat and talk to one another. Students learning to navigate conflict and manage challenges, disappointment, and joy. Students are very observant. And what they see, they do.
They learn what's really important - in the building we call school, and experience called life.
They're not the same, by the way.
So back to hats. And hats in school.
As a both a teacher and a principal, I've long held an appreciation for clear expectations, for safety "rules", and for developing trusting relationships. Together, these make for a meaningful school and life experience, for kids, over the span of some 13 years.
But hats, why are hats such a hot topic?
In middle school, we see "kids today" wearing hats...wearing hoodies...and wearing MASKS.
My thought:
If I am going to be grateful to continue to run a safe and healthy school, because the vast majority of students, without being asked or reminded, wear a FACE COVERING "over their mouths and noses", can I REALLY, without hesitation, ask/tell them to remove their HATS?
No. I can't. Not if I expect to model, uphold and build mutual respect between students and I.
And can I do this, if there are occasions when I see a student who has been told by one period's teacher, that he cannot wear his hat, walk out of another teacher's class, WITH A HAT ON HIS HEAD?
No. I can't. Not if clear and consistent expectations are important for a student to understand.
And finally...
Can I do this, if we STILL have students coming to our school with "bed-head", a "bad haircut", or in several cases through the years, a medical condition that temporarily changed their appearance, leaving them feeling even more self-conscious than the typical adolescent (who by the way, may also have bed head and a bad haircut)?
No. I won't.
Hats, it turns out, in the grand scheme of things, are just not as important as we once thought they were. Ok, for the die-hard traditionalists out there, sure, hats in school are still important. So I'll add it to the list of "important things in school": number 500 of 1000.
And we can get back to talking about hats, say, after the other 499 more important matters are resolved.
And until someone shows me the supporting research on how not wearing a hat in school leaves you in a better position to succeed academically, at school and for life.
Until then, let's stay focused on school's urgent and important matters.
Hat's Off, to those educators out there, focused more on things that matter more than hats.
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