FHN is not the only school at FHSD that allow students to wear hats. However, this freedom does not include hoods. Despite this, students are often seen in the halls or classrooms with their hoods on. Some feel that the policy against hoods restricts their freedom to express themselves; however, there are many plausible reasons to restrict the wearing of hoods.

Hoods make it more difficult for students to be recognized in the halls. If a teacher or administrator needs a student, it is much easier for the student to be recognized without a hood. When a student wears a hood, only the front of their face is barely visible. In addition, if schools allowed the wearing of hoods, it makes it easier for an intruder to blend in. To be safe, it is better if everyone is easily recognizable.

Hoods make communication difficult. Students wearing hoods have the appearance that they are closed off to whatever is around them. It is important that communication between the students and the staff is efficient. It is harder to get a student’s attention since he or she isn’t able to see as much while wearing a hood. Keeping hoods restricted would ensure that the communication between staff and students remains efficient.

Hoods would be a problem in classrooms. It would be easy for a student to skip out on a lesson by putting on earbuds, and then putting a hood over the earbuds. This makes it difficult for the teacher to know whether or not a student is engaged in the lesson. If students are left free to completely ignore a lesson or two or three, it is more likely that they will perform poorly in that class. Teachers need to be able to know that their students are engaged in class to help them succeed.

There are some who will argue for wearing hoods. They will say that the ban on hoods is an unnecessary rule that serves no real purpose. Others want the personal freedom to wear a hood whenever they want. In reality, there is no reason to be wearing hoods indoors. Students were recently granted the privilege to wear hats at school, which provides more choices for students on what to wear. Hats don’t conceal students from others like hoods do. They also still make communication easy with everyone, and hats do not allow students to skip out on lessons as easily. Hats give students the benefit of personal freedom to students while avoiding the problems of hoods.

The current policy regarding hats and hoods gives students and staff benefits. Students are free to wear hats whenever they want, teachers can ensure class participation is good and students can be easily recognized in the school without hoods. Let’s stop wearing the hood so we don’t lose the privilege to our hats.