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.

  • dactylotheca
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    283 months ago

    Every day I manage to be surprised at how mind-bogglingly stupid conservatives are.

    Well, surprised but also not surprised at all.

    • @Got_Bent
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      83 months ago

      I don’t know that I’d include El Paso in the Texas conservative category you’re probably thinking of. It’s much closer in culture, demographics, and geography to a mixture of Mexico and New Mexico, both of which it borders.

      • @UnderpantsWeevil
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        3 months ago

        I don’t know that I’d include El Paso in the Texas conservative category you’re probably thinking of.

        It’s a classic small-c economically conservative community, prone to embrace these superficial fixes rather than doing anything that might cost money.

      • @FireTower
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        13 months ago

        Maybe it’s got a lot of Blue Dog Democrats but it seems to be left leaning.