# Why don't public schools teach good looks? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 7, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465 "2016-04-07T18:20:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/21 "2016-04-07T19:57:38Z")
Apparently this might explain my Punjabi nose! I had allergies so too much blowing I guess? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/22 "2016-04-07T20:04:16Z")
Since this is not a factual question, let’s move it to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/23 "2016-04-07T20:06:38Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Apparently this might explain my Punjabi nose! I had allergies so too much blowing I guess? I assumed you or someone was punching and jabbing at it. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/24 "2016-04-07T20:27:26Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I am a naturally ugly man but by hard work and personal development I have reached the status of interesting looking. [I imagine this is an ability you share with most other people.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvjw5xJF8WQ) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/25 "2016-04-07T20:30:58Z")
Wow. The internet burped and we get _this_? Which of the gods of IT did we piss off? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/26 "2016-04-07T20:31:50Z")
What are they supposed to “teach”? I look this good when I wake up in the morning. It’s not like I do anything to my hair. It just dries like this. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/27 "2016-04-07T20:33:46Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But leaving that aside, why should it be the school system’s responsibility? If this kind of thing existed, it seems like an issue that should be handled within families. Yeah, that’s what they said about sex education too, and look how that worked out leaving the families to handle it. ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/28 "2016-04-07T20:34:42Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > I thought the whole point of public school was to teach people that goods looks can get you by in life and that the homely ugly people were fodder for your follies. Isn’t that what cheerleading, home coming courts and prom queens are all about? Being good looking and popular is the goal. Can’t find the quote, but Kurt Vonnegut said something along the lines of “the closest thing to modern American life is high school.” ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/29 "2016-04-07T20:37:15Z")
How 'bout if I push everything on my face back where I want it to go and hold it all in place with a bungee cord? It’s got to be a two-way street with this malformation thing, right? Cheaper than plastic surgery, too! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/30 "2016-04-07T20:41:12Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > Makes me want to punch someone in the face. Don’t do it. Punching people causes bad breath and cowlicks. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/31 "2016-04-07T20:43:33Z")
I thought this rung a bell: > **[Sleeping on the side and cheekbones](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=721140)** > > Does this guy never sleep on his side? http://s19.postimg.org/julc5a61v/images.jpg I think sleeping on the back really has to do with making the face more physically attractive. There is no pressure put on your face by a pillow or the mattress so... ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/32 "2016-04-07T20:49:52Z")
I’m attractive. It’s great. As a child, I spent countless hours squishing my face and head just-so. Took a couple decades to pay off but man was it worth it. To be fair though, I didn’t learn it in school. Which is the OP’s point, I guess. My parents showed me how because they love me. I just assume all ugly people (and there are a lot of you) were adopted. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/33 "2016-04-07T21:01:26Z")
This sort of thing is an argument for being born via Caesarean section; avoids all of that nasty squishing while going through the birth canal. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/34 "2016-04-07T21:22:48Z")
> [@TheSundial](#): > > We pick up these bad habits, then we are oblivious to how this habit changes our looks. I don’t know if Henry Cavill or Casper Van Dien, were told about it at an early age or just never picked up the bad habit? It’s not that these two actors have jaws of steel, they are just defined perfectly while most of the population has jawbones that are receded significantly from rubbing the eye etc. Also you can learn to be taller by scratching your arse. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/35 "2016-04-07T21:37:57Z")
Public schools should probably concentrate on educating people like the OP about reality. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/36 "2016-04-07T21:43:53Z")
Schools do teach the importance of wearing stylish clothing and getting your hair cut in the correct way. But it’s not taught by the teachers. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/37 "2016-04-07T21:44:51Z")
> [@TheSundial](#): > > They aren’t everything in life although looking good can boost your mood on a daily basis, let’s “face” it. > > Rubbing the corner of the eye, rubbing the inner ear, scratching the back of the head, always grabbing the nose in a certain way. All of these can flatten a face and make it less defined, bringing in the jawbone. > > How many better looking people would there be if we were simply told not to touch our faces/heads? at an early age? > > We pick up these bad habits, then we are oblivious to how this habit changes our looks. I don’t know if Henry Cavill or Casper Van Dien, were told about it at an early age or just never picked up the bad habit? It’s not that these two actors have jaws of steel, they are just defined perfectly while most of the population has jawbones that are receded significantly from rubbing the eye etc. The habits you decry only cause physical disfigurement in Narnia. Well, and Oz. Now one might make an argument that the public schools should do more to teach good grooming habits. But really that is something the kids are best taught by their parents. I expect that many kids would rebel against a class that had “Basic Hair Combing” in the syllabus. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/38 "2016-04-07T22:15:01Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > Golly, now I am to blame for my own ugliness? Makes me want to punch someone in the face. Punch yourself – it’ll clear up that pesky unbalanced jawbone issue you didn’t know you had. > [@Sage Rat](#): > > The added mass should increase the amount of gravitational pull towards the back of your head, flattening the whole of your head by oh, say, femtometers. This is measured using a physiognomometer. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/39 "2016-04-07T22:33:21Z")
I remember the first time I did acid. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465/40 "2016-04-07T22:50:23Z")
I agree with those who think the OP is nonsense. Even if it wasn’t, the schools have enough problems teaching kids to read, write, and do math. It’s not their job to teach stuff that parentsor guardians are supposed to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-public-schools-teach-good-looks/751465.md?page=3)