Revisiting Prohibition
I worked in public schools before I retired, where rules on allowable dress daily dismayed students. No hats in the building. No torn jeans. No T-shirts glorifying alcohol, drugs, nudity, etc. I was not a militant enforcer of the dress code. But when one of my students came into my room wearing a cap that touted, ‘F**k What You Think!” (The asterisks are my adaptation.) I told him I liked his hat just fine, but recommended he take it off when he left, to save himself a whole lot of grief.
To the best of my knowledge, hats, torn jeans, and reefer leaves printed on a tank top (Oops! No tank tops allowed!) don’t cause bodily harm. But allowing unmasked, unvaccinated students and staff in school during a pandemic invites illness and even death. Yet our legislature outlawed school boards’ rights to mandate masks in schools because, lawmakers opined, parents must have the right to choose. Okay. Makes sense. But why, then, can’t parents choose to send their kids to school wearing torn jeans, a freebie T-shirt from their favorite brewery, and a hat that says “F— you and the horse you rode in on?”
Why can’t children drop out of school at 14?
Why do they have to go to school at all?
Why can’t a parent buy a 12-year-old boy a bottle of booze?
Why can’t the coach throw a keg party on the football field?
Remember those signs: “No shoes, no shirt, no service?” I hated thembecause I liked to go barefoot. Shouldn’t that be my choice—if my Mama says it’s okay?
Why can’t I drive on the left hand side of the road?
Why must I stop my car at a red light? I mean, really. If there’s nobody else around? Or maybe just one or two cars?
Why do I even have to get a license to drive? Shouldn’t it simply be my right to hit the road? Yeah, I might maim somebody if I don’t know what I’m doing. But I’ll learn, eventually.
A fishing license? Get real!
And what’s the deal with rules about behavior on airplanes? I recently read that a man was duct-taped to his seat because he groped flight attendants’ breasts and ultimately hit one of them in the face while the plane was in the air. Maybe she spoke rudely or forgot to give him a pack of peanuts.
Why am I not allowed to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater just for fun? It might be good to get all those people up and running rather than sitting on their arses in a cushy seat for a couple of hours.
I mean, this is America! I’m allowed to do whatever I want, right?
Wrong. Kudos to parents Veronica McClane and Ashley Simmons, as well as the Little Rock and Marion County school districts for filing a lawsuit to challenge the legislature’s careless prohibition of mask mandates. After a mere two weeks of school, the Marion County School District has well over 800 students in quarantine—just a preview of what is to come as the rest of Arkansas schools open in the coming weeks. And Hurrah for Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox, who barred authorities from enforcing the state’s ban on mask mandates while the lawsuit plays out. The school year can start with a great lesson in civics and social responsibility.