Rabu, 18 Mei 2011

Should Long Nails in School Be A Problem?

School rules has always been criticized by students. These students seem to have their own arguments and justification to defy the school rules. One that we should think of is the rule saying that students shouldn’t have long nails. This rule has been so common and been there for as long as school has been around that we barely think of the fundamental reason for applying this rule or whether it should be applied or not after all.
School is a place for students to study, not only the knowledge and science, but also social life and how to fit living in our society today. According to the second function of school, school must pretty much show and mirror what it is like in the society today. This concept of living is taught to students not only through theory such as in religious education lesson, but through school rules which must be obeyed by students. On another word, school rules also have to showed the rules / concept living that are applied in the society in order to give students concept of living which will be important when they enter the society. By doing this, students who have to do these rules daily, without excuse,  will finally be accustomed to do these, even when they finally enter the society. By the time they enter the society, they won’t have any problem regarding the obedience of rules which are applied in the society because they have been doing those also in their daily school. Having a short nail is not exactly the concept of living in the society, neither it is the rules that should be obeyed by good citizens. In fact, we can see that lots of people do have long nails. Not to mention the manicure and pedicure service that is offered in the society to keep one’s nail beautiful, and it is not necessarily short. In the big society, having long or short nail is a free option. We can choose freely without getting a major result that will harm us. We’re not going to be fired from job or hated by people because of having long nails, right? These condition in our society implies that long nails isn’t bad at all and against the concept of living in society, which means that school shouldn’t have this rule after all. This rule doesn’t show the real concept of living in the society, it’s even an opposite of the society rules. School has completely no basic judgment to apply these rules, because after all it is against the school’s function itself which is to show the condition of society living itself. These appliance of rule of course won’t give any major harm such as the changing of the student’s perception toward people with long nails, because as these students join the society, they will also learn to adapt with their surroundings. They are not going to hate people with long nails in the society because it is against their school rules. But the problem in here is that the rule of not having long nails have no base at all. And if so, this rule violate the student’s right to have long nails. Students do have rights, just like every of us in the society who has the right to choose to have either long  or short nails. It is actually a human basic right to decide what to do about ourselves. As long as it doesn’t give harm toward our surroundings and ourselves, we’re actually free to whatever it is they want about our nails, our hair, our body, etc. And having either long or short nails doesn’t give any harm toward society or ourselves. This is supposed to be applied in school as well, because after all, there’s no point in the rule of not having long nails. It doesn’t teach students anything in the society. On the other hand, it violates the student’s rights.
If the school worries about personal hygiene or safety and violence in school, it is actually a little bit absurd. High school students, who’s been mentioned as young adults, is believed to have been able to take care about their personal hygiene and safety everyday. They have been able to clean their nails or even cut it short when necessary. How many case of getting harm because of dirty nails and broken nails that we get in school every year anyway? So little, and mostly are just accidents with the ratio of one in a lot. If school wants to do something, it can teach students to take care of the hygiene and safety of nails, not by forcing and harming student’s right to have long nails. In the case of younger students, they do have parents to take care of their nail’s hygiene, or in some case parents just cut their children’s nail short, but that’s all right since these younger students are too young to choose. About the crime, it is actually the school’s job to teach the students not to fight between each other. It’s not the problem of having long nails as weapon since these students can also use other tools as weapon for fighting. It is actually the problem of having fight between one another, and the school should be able to teach them not to do that since it’s of course not the concept of living in society. If the students are taught well and accustomed not to fight with one another, having long nails won’t be problems. No fighting, no using long nails as weapon.         
It is true, that in particular condition, people are advised to have short nails, for example when they have a young baby to take care of. Still, it is an advice and a particular condition, and these students are not in those particular condition which means they don’t have to follow the advice or moreover being forced to do that.
Having short nails doesn’t have to be a rule. It’s enough that students know that short nails are necessary in particular condition and that long nails need to be taken care. But that’s all, let the students to decide the rest, whether they’re about to have long or short nails.