We believe that students should be allowed to wear hoods in school. Some teachers argue that wearing hoods could potentially be a safety hazard. This is because a hood obscures part of a person’s face and identity–making it harder to spot an intruder or to identify a student who has done something wrong.It is presumably for this reason that many malls restrict hoods being worn.  In November, for example, a girl was removed from a Pittsburgh mall for refusing to put down her hood when asked to do so by a security guard. Banks, too, often do not allow hoods (as well as hats and sunglasses in some cases.) In 2015, several schools in Worcester, Massachusetts, banned hooded sweatshirts entirely upon recommendation from their area police departments.

Mr. Destino confirmed that there has never been a safety hazard at a Mayfield school because of a hood.

Other teachers noted, anecdotally, that many students wearing hoods are doing so to hide earbuds. It can also, according to teachers, make it harder to make eye contact with a student, therefore making it harder to monitor on-task behavior.

Some teachers believe students should not be allowed to wear hoods because school should represent the workplace, where an employee would not be allowed to wear a hood. A workplace environment, however, is immensely different from a school environment. A key difference between school and work is that school attendance is a legal obligation. On the contrary, work is not legally required. If an employee dislikes the rules or a policy, such as not being allowed to wear specific articles of clothing, they are allowed to leave.

But the most common reason that teachers argue against hoods is based on the personal belief that wearing hoods is disrespectful.

“Wearing hoods is a form of disrespect, especially in a public building,” Paul Destino, the principal of Mayfield Middle School, explained.

From the student perspective, school is where students, until graduation, learn history, science, math, and English. It is where students learn their place in the world and the change that is possible. In order to learn and work at their best potential, students must be in a positive environment; they must be comfortable. Comfort leads to better focus, productivity, and learning, and there is a portion of students who wear hoods without the intent of acting disrespectfully.

Some students wear hoods because it helps them feel more comfortable in class. A hood can act as a security blanket in this way.  On a more extreme scale, students with anxiety disorders or other mental health problems may find it necessary to wear a hood in order to focus or be productive.  According to a 2015 publication from the psychology department of The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, individuals with social anxiety disorder practiced a number of “safety behaviors”–one of the most common being covering one’s head with a hat or hood.

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