Hoodies

I don't have anything terribly intelligent or profound to say about the Zimmerman verdict. I don't want to make this a political blog, or one that I use for any kind of platform. I will say, however, that today, when thinking about Trayvon Martin, I thought of my former students and hoodies.

In both of the public schools that I've worked in, hoodies have never been allowed. A student could wear a sweatshirt, but not a hoodie. I asked why at my first school, and the authorities said that they would be worried about what a student could be hiding in there.

I asked my students why they loved wearing hoodies, and often I would hear that they felt safe and comforted while wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Yet it also was the fashion to wear a hoodie.

Like I said before, I'm not feeling like an expert in the matter in any way, shape or form. All I kept thinking about today was that so many of my former students looked exactly like Trayvon Martin, right down to his hoodie.

I, from time to time, have put on a hoodie. Yes, they ARE comfy. Yet when I have done so, I haven't ever been considered a threat.