I get tempted as the teacher to say “Because I said so”, but I think I’ve managed to resist. When I know it will be difficult to explain or there will be a big argument about it, I say, “I can tell you later if you want. Ask later. I’m too busy.” Or sometimes it’s just, “Because I want it that way, and it doesn’t really matter. Since it doesn’t really matter, and I’m the teacher, I’m choosing.”
My daughter just started high school and the rule about hats is that they are allowed from November 23rd to February 28th. (At least, I think those are the dates.)
A theory: Maybe another reason hats usually aren’t encouraged in schools is that they’re just another piece of personal property that may be stolen or lost? I believe teachers generally prefer things of value to be left at home if they aren’t necessary. Yes, jewelry is valuable, but at least it’s attached more firmly to its owner.
I know that in many schools it’s the gang issue that has pushed hats onto the forbidden list. Remember the stories about British Knights shoes meaning Blood Killers? I also remember Notre Dame hats meaning N_____ Die. My old school tried to enforce a shorts above the knee policy (along with others), also I think on the gang issue. They were largely unsuccessful, though some kids were held in the office for a change of clothes.
I don’t believe that all school board policies are made with reality in mind. I finally accidently saw an official dress code at my school last year, and sunglasses were on the list. Neither I nor the kids I mentioned it to knew it was there. This is in a town that for 2-3 months a school year has highs over 100 and is very bright. It’s also completely unenforced by the administration.
Don’t make rules you don’t really care about enforcing. It just makes you look weak.
That is a very polite and convincing defense of your perspective. To some extent, I agree. I am inexperienced at life, there are people tasked with looking after my welfare, and I’m sure they do a good job at it. The thing is, though, My life experience isn’t going to grow from hearing “Because I said so.” My life experience will grow from hearing the rationalization for the directive, so that I can understand why I am doing what I’m doing, apply the principles in my life, and if what the teachers say about my abilities is correct, find a better or more efficient way to do it. That is, after all, what I go to school for. I think I personally gain more from that than from doing busywork “Because I said so.”
And I do deny your claim. If you’re still on the dope in about 10 years, I’ll prove it 
When I was in school, not only were you not allowed to wear a hat in the building, it would be confiscated from you if you carried it.
We weren’t allowed to have cell phones or pagers, either. Or flip-flops.
On the subway today, I saw a man wearing a grey business suit and a matching baseball-cap-style hat. 
My high school had a no hats policy. It was strictly enforced, however, in that you got one reminder to take off your hat and then it was confiscated until the end of the year. The reasons for this are because 1) it’s a distraction, 2) sometimes kids had issues seeing around the hat, 3) some hats have gang symbols or colors on them, so the gang symbol hats just kind of ruined it for all of the hats, and 4) it’s not polite to wear a hat indoors.
That rule made sense to ME; I was raised by a military father and my mother who had always been a military wife. Once I got into high school I was in ROTC, where we were only allowed to wear our covers outside or inside after school for special formations. If we wore our covers indoors during school hours they were confiscated with the rest of them and we had to buy a new one to make up for our old one - which we got back at the end of the year, of course.
My boyfriend, who was also in the military, won’t wear a hat indoors unless he’s doing heavy labor. He considers it rude.
~Tasha