Dishonesty = Disappointment

Today's post courtesy of Writing Prompts by Mama Kat.


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No one ever escapes from life unscathed by a teacher.



deadhomersociety.wordpress.org



No one - I hope - ever escapes from life untouched by a teacher, as well.  In a POSITIVE way, people, a POSITIVE way.

But - let's return to the first idea.

I can't say that I've ever been damaged by a teacher in any serious long-lasting way, but there have been a few times that I've been severely annoyed, or "sorely vexed," as a 6th grade science teacher used to say. 



Back in the college days, I had to take a Debate class.  All of us were stunned senseless as the professor entered the room, talking a mile a minute, as though he were involved in a timed debate - but we recovered after he hit about the 50th sentence in 2 minutes, and started scribbling notes furiously in our notebooks.  This would be the pace for taking notes for the rest of the semester, we learned. But it was good practice for our own classroom debates, because as all debaters know, you take notes on your opponent's presentation so that you can refute and poke major semi-truck holes in their arguments.



abriefhistoryofdisbelief.org

Our topic that year was about apartheid in Africa. Please don't ask me now what on earth we dug up to debate, but many of the arguments centered around so many American corporations who were contributing to the negativity of apartheid by selling their products on that continent.  I was fortunate enough to be teamed with a star debater - a beginner, like myself, but Lily really  knew her stuff, and she just sparkled.  With thanks to Lily, both of us received good marks for our part in the debate process in the classroom.  I had scads of notes, but apparently wasn't too organized because one student in the class approached my partner, rather than me, to ask if she could borrow Lily's notes.

Lily was gracious, outgoing, and helpful. She and another student, and I, had many study sessions so we could get through our class tests and exams.  I think, without those study groups, my final grade in the class would have suffered greatly!  So, Lily was helpful and loaned her notes to this other student.

The next class session, the Other Student and her partner were scheduled to debate.  The professor was absent, and there was no substitute on hand to take his place.  Instead, he sent a video camera to record the debate so that he could grade it in that manner.



flickr.com
Sparks shot from Lily's eyes



Other Student and her partner fired up the debate with the other team.  Soon, amidst the scribbling of my notes (all of us were required to take notes) I noticed many classmates looking astonished. They looked from me, to my partner, Lily, and back again.  Their pencils and pens went down on the paper. Almost everyone stopped writing.  Someone next to me said, "That's YOUR debate Other Student is giving."  I looked up.  I actually listened instead of writing.  My partner, Lily, was shooting sparks from her eyes - but no one dared interrupt the debate.



123nonstop.com
Other Student stole Lily's work



Class ended, and a cluster of students surrounded Lily and me, talking angrily about the stolen debate.  Other Student was quick to defend herself, with some such remark as, "Well, we're all talking about the same thing - I just borrowed Lily's notes, I didn't use them word for word," which was patently untrue.  There were enough upset people in the class, including my now, noteless, partner, that obviously something was wrong. 

We were dependent on the video tape providing the proof needed - which one student had been enlisted to return to the professor's office that day.

Reluctantly, we vacated the classroom, which was needed for the next group of students.  The weekend passed with my partner and I in a state of untold tension as we waited for the next Debate class. The professor could barely enter the room before the majority of the students erupted, demanding justice for Lily and me - but primarily Lily - it had been her debate that had been stolen by Other Student.



photos.com
Nyah, nyah.
Other Student



The professor calmly asked for each side to be presented.  Of course - it's a debate class, right?  We explained about the loaning of the notes.  A loan.  Many classmates supported this, stating that the words and phrases used by Other Student had first been gloriously and devastatingly presented by Lily, just the previous week.  Other Student stated she had only borrowed the notes, but had since misplaced them ("So sorry," was her half-assed apology) - but that her portion of the debate had, indeed, been her own.

Lily couldn't prove the debate had been stolen, she had loaned her notes - and the borrower had lost them.  Other Student couldn't prove that she had used her own work, because her notes - along with Lily's - had been conveniently "misplaced."

We said, "What about the video tape?"  Professor could watch Other Student's debate and compare it with the tape of Lily's presentation.

And then the bad news came.

The professor said that the tape had never reached his office.



commons.wikimedia.org



We sat in stunned silence.  All the proof we needed to show that Other Student had defied college rules and committed the gravest academic dishonesty were all out the window. Who was responsible for this tape's delivery?  We looked around the room.  Another student, who sat in a cluster usually surrounding Other Student, raised his hand and said he had, indeed, delivered that video tape to the office.

Given the company he kept, the majority of us were skeptical.  "Well, have them present the debate again," we clamored.  The other team was willing, they didn't mind re-stating their side of this debate topic, as well as helping to prove that Other Student was a liar.



en.wikipedia.org
the irate posse



The professor demurred.  "We don't have the luxury of time," he stated.  The rest of that session was a wasted effort on his part. After hearing those words, no one could concentrate.  A posse of irate students followed the professor to his office after class, demanding a do-over, and a failing grade for Other Student for her blatant theft of my partner's words.  The professor stopped at his office door long enough to tell us he would be taking into account all the information he had, and closed his door.

My partner and I, for the remainder of the semester, did our best to complete the requirements of the class.  Lily went on to enter many Forensic competitions and came away with many awards.  She aced the class.  My grade was less than her stellar example, but I still did all right.  Other Student continued to attend class, looking smug and secure in the front row, Video Tape Delivery Boy sitting right alongside her.  Classmates who were assigned to debate Other Student and her partner were absolutely ruthless.

It was very disappointing and an extremely difficult lesson to absorb that in a university setting such dishonesty would be allowed.  Many of us lost respect for the professor after that incident, and I wonder if he ever depended on a video tape to monitor his classes when he had to be absent. 

Was there a time when you were disappointed by a teacher? Was there a time when you were inspired by a teacher?

Curses! Writing Again!



etsy.com



Those of us who are of a certain age remember being in early elementary school and learning how to do cursive writing.  Cursive writing was a major milestone, akin to having learned the multiplication tables or how to tie your shoes.



Cursive writing and multiplication tables were drilled into my brain in the 3rd grade.  I had a teacher who was probably a former nun (my mom tells me that the good Sisters in the parochial school she attended all had beautiful penmanship). Her handwriting was beautiful, consisting of fabulous loops and swirls, all looking very artistic and like calligraphy as she chalked each letter on the board (yes, with actual chalk. I was in 3rd grade back in the 1970s) for her students to attempt to imitate on their paper.

It was a wonderful thing for us to finally be able to actually write our papers, instead of printing them. We begged. We looked forward to it so much.  We would pretend we knew our cursive letters and scrawl squiggly and loopy notes to each other.  By the end of our third grade year, all of us were proficient with cursive writing.

Being able to do cursive writing meant entering the adult world.  Grown-ups wrote in cursive.  Now, I could read Grandma's letters without help. Reading cursive writing went hand in hand with learning how to write in cursive.  Until that point, anything written in cursive was pretty much a mystery.  Learning to read and write in cursive opened up a whole new world for a kid.

In today's world, cursive writing tends to bring on more curses from kids than anything else.  Well, they'll groan and complain a lot, but I'm very sure they're cursing under their breath as they wait for one brave soul to raise a hand and ask, "Do we have to write it in cursive?" 

During my first year spent with upper-elementary kids, I was aghast at this question.  "Are you kidding me?" I thought.  "Why wouldn't you write in cursive?"  Turns out many of the kids weren't too fond of cursive writing.  Many of them found it difficult, and had trouble connecting the letters, one to the other. 

imitation of student handwriting


Apparently, more emphasis is placed on "technology skills" than on the practice of cursive handwriting.  This is understandable to an extent, because kids have to learn to be computer savvy at an early age.  Computers are in classrooms, schools have computer labs, many libraries have given up that dinosaur called a card catalog in favor of having everything on the computer system. 


A real, live card catalog used to live in
that big brown set of drawers.
See libraryhistorybuff.com



Even photo reprints are done with the help of a computer.  Rarely does one drop a canister of film in an envelope and hand it to the clerk behind the counter.  Now, you use your disk (or whatever) to reprint your own photos - via computer.  Businesses shut down when the computer sysem is down.  Nothing is done "by hand" anymore.

All that aside, cursive writing is going by the wayside.  I'm sure people had qualms about handwriting when the typewriter came along, just as people wondered about the fate of the handwritten letter (and the U. S. Postal Service) when the Internet came along and e-mail became the way to communicate.  Now, people complain that texting has taken the place of face-to-face commnication (but that's a blog for another day). 

Somehow, the doom of handwriting never happened after popularity of the typewriter waned.  I wonder, though, if cursive writing is doomed to become a thing of the past - like walking uphill both ways to school, barefoot, in the snow.


cae2k.com

When Big Sister started elementary school, I looked forward to the day she would learn cursive writing.  At her school, cursive writing was a sporadically taught subject, at best.  Only some of the 2nd grade teachers taught it.  Others waited until 3rd grade to begin instruction. As a result, Big Sister got some instruction in grade 2, and next to none in grade 3 - because the grade 3 teacher thought the grade 2 teacher had covered all of it.  Pity the kids who didn't have a 2nd grade teacher who taught cursive writing.



cxlc.pbiufg.co.cc



When Fuzzy began 2nd grade, there was no talk of cursive writing.  That, I was informed, was a 3rd grade activity.  Sure enough, Fuzzy is now bringing home cursive writing drills. You must remember the worksheets with endless loops of lowercase "l" and so forth.  Those currently grace the refrigerator door, a place of pride for all good schoolwork.

Still though, there are far too many older kids who say, "I can't read that," when instructions are written in cursive writing.  I believe this is a function of too little practice with the skills of cursive handwriting.  When you practice the formation of the letters, practice words, write sentences and - gasp - entire paragraphs using cursive writing, you learn how to read cursive writing.  

Cursive writing is not taught as an actual subject in many elementary schools.  I suppose there isn't time for it in the curriculum, because much more time is devoted to the "three R's."  This is all well and good, devoting more time to reading, writing skills, and arithmetic - and it's also fine to devote time to learning technological skills.  I just wish that kids, by upper elementary, would have a solid grasp of cursive writing and the reading of cursive writing.



handwriting hybrid



According to one article, a kid's handwriting legibility peaks by about 4th grade, and most adults write in a printed letter/cursive letter hybrid.  That is, most adults mix the printed letters with the cursive ones.  Think about it. When you sign your name to something, does that pen tip lift from the paper before every letter is formed? Are you using that cursive "S" to begin your name, or the printed "S"?

Whatever your signature style is, I'd bet you have some printed letters mixed in with your cursive ones  - unless you're really old-school, and have stuck with the "everything cursive" mode of handwriting!



karencarpenter.com



johnhancock.com

I would be sad to see cursive writing disappear entirely.  To me, there is something elegant about it - even in its hybrid form - and there is something to be said for an actual, handwritten, cursive-writing signature.  Would you take seriously, on your bank loan or your divorce papers, a signature that was printed? Might as well just put an "X" and be done with it.  Seems like a cursive-written signature is the official way to sign something important. How dull it would be to have an autograph book full of celebrity autographs, printed. Would anyone ever have said, "Put your John Hancock here," had Hancock simply printed his name? 




richardsimonsports.com



civisions.com

 What fun is an autographed baseball full of printed names? Autographed photos? Baseball cards? Probably, I'll have to appeal to the kids' sense of vanity when it comes to cursive writing.  "When you're a famous athlete/author/actor," I'll say, "You'll need to know how to do a signature right."  For a while, this will result in ridiculously scrawled names, done in "doctor style," so as to be illegible. But at some point, a seriously nice signature will appear.  I hope!

Do you think cursive writing will go the way of the dinosaur?  What are your thoughts and memories of cursive writing?







Sometimes, Big Boys are still Little

Mama Kat is an inspiration for post ideas for many bloggers, but today she's hit on a really good topic, telling about how her "little guy" is now growing up and how this makes her interactions with him a little more grown-up, too.

It struck me, as I was commenting on her post, that this is something that all parents go through, and really, anyone who interacts with your child.  They reach a new stage of development and suddenly, everyone quits addressing your child in baby talk. They are now "big kids," learning "big kid" things like potty training and riding a bike.

One thing that doesn't work for me, though, are the styles of clothing available for boys.

I'm talking boys here, not young adult men, or even nearly pre-teen boys.

davincicrib.com

My "little guy" was one of those large kids right from the chute.  At nearly ten pounds at birth, there was no way he was ever going to be wearing those dinky little newborn diapers.  At least, though, he was still "baby" enough to be able to wear all those cute little baby outfits - even though he started out wearing them in a 3-month to 6-month size. 

The problem with boys clothing enters around age 7, for the larger-than-average boy.  By age 7, my "little guy" was wearing a size 10/boys.  I don't know if that's so unusual, but I found that the fashions available for a 7 year old, size 10 boy were not necessarily what I wanted my son to be wearing.

Maybe it was the stores I shopped.

Maybe it was a lack of understanding on the part of those who manufacture the clothing.

Maybe it was an issue with whoever purchases the clothing for each store.

I don't know.



astore.amazon.com



I just know I was frustrated that the selection in my son's size consisted mainly of items like this t-shirt.

Now, skull & crossbones are fine if you're a pirate in training.  It's even fine for "now and then" wear. But, this was what I'd find, place after place after place - some variation of skull and crossbones.

For some 7-year-old-boys, maybe this is a dream come true.  For my 7-year-old-boy, it was a reason to wrinkle his face in bemusement and say, "Really, mom?"  As if purchasing this shirt would even be an option for him.



bizrate.com



cafepress.com



In many stores, the "little boys" department ends at size 7, and thus ends, typically, character shirts like Spiderman, Batman, the latest animated movie or television series characters.  You move into generic stripes or solids, because we know that most size-8 boys either wear this stuff or - skulls & crossbones. Right?

Not.



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I happen to have a litte guy who likes Snoopy. But, try finding Snoopy in anything but the mens department, usually around Fathers Day.  Snoopy might exist in the baby and toddler department, but not in little boy or bigger boy departments.  It's downright frustrating.   I understand perfectly that no matter what our preferences, we'll never find exactly what we want when we go shopping.  I have to admit I'm grateful that the animated shows that my son likes are also popular with the older set, so he can enjoy such garments as this "Phineas & Ferb" t-shirt.

Little boys, though they may be big "size-wise," don't always want to wear what styles are available for them.  I really wish that clothing manufacturers would quit believing that any boy who is a size 8 or larger must surely enjoy having grown out of character shirts, and into skeletons, etc.  Is it so difficult to have a wider variety of clothing available for younger boys who happen to wear bigger sizes?

My child might wear a size 10/12, but that doesn't mean he is already that age. For pete's sake, can't he be a kid while he's a kid?

I see lots of elementary-aged boys wearing the wide-legged, loose-cut jeans - the kind it is fashionable to wear without a belt, so the crotch of the pants hangs to the knees, and the waistband hangs almost below the buttocks. Imagine the pants of "Pants on the Ground" fame.

walmart.com



spirithalloween.com



I've got nothing against being stylish, though heaven only knows that I could use some help in that area, myself. However, it's oh so refreshing to see elementary-aged boys also wearing jeans that fit - the pair pictured here can be found at Walmart, and they have an adjustable waist - which is still a great option to find in jeans even if your kids are out of the toddler sizes.  They don't fit quite like the gems our grandfathers wore, but sit higher than the bottom end of the . . . bottom, at least. 

What are your issues with the clothing available for boys? Where do you find decently priced, decent and age-appropriate clothing for your kids, boy or girl? 



November 15: National Holiday, and Other Musings

Another early post, this one first appeared in November, 1999 at the site of my gracious host, Spanitz.com.  You can thank that Krazy Kat woman at Mama's Losin' It for this idea: Show your first post, and include your comments and thoughts on it, now.

This was my first foray into the blogging world, when I was called a "content provider." Not much has changed since this first post, I think - I still post about things that absolutely annoy the hell out of me, and I'm positive some of those things still resonate with other people, too.  New comments from me are italicized within the article.


 Here in Upper Michigan we're preparing to celebrate what has become a holiday of almost state-wide proportions: opening day of deer season, which is November 15. In my household, it was a shameful thing to forget which day in November it was that was set aside to legally bring down a deer with a firearm. Schools around our area of Upper Michigan close on opening day--we all know why--under the guise of "Principal's Day" or "Safety Day." I suppose for those kids in rural areas who have to wait for a bus it's probably a good idea to call it "Safety Day," and sleep in for a few hours, rather than wait on the roadside and chance being hit by a stray bullet.


one big-ass game hog,
rom tonyrogers.com



My father is a hunter, my brothers are, my in-laws (both male and female), and so is my husband (and, in recent years, my sister). And before all of you anti-hunting folks out there get all up in arms, let it be said that they are responsible hunters. The guns and ammunition are locked up and safely put away when not in use, and everyone in this clan follows the rules for hunting to be sure it's a safe time in the woods for all involved.  And nobody in this family is shooting to kill for the sheer pleasure of it - we really do eat what we kill. Except for a turkey I hit with the car one day, but that's another story. Oh, and the skunk. And porcupine. Perhaps a squirrel or two.

There is a certain amount of pride when one bags the trophy buck, but this clan prefers to celebrate the occasion by taking a picture rather than driving around town with that poor deer strapped to the hood of the pick-up truck, eyes dull and tongue swollen and hanging out.

A fellow at a neighboring camp made the mistake of showing off the trophy buck, shot on opening day by his teenager, and paid no heed to the ever-warming temperatures that particular season. That deer was wasted, rotted before they even had a chance to skin it.

 



thegreatscavengerhunt.com
What the deer would like to see, and what
we'd like to do to those who parade about
town and waste perfectly good venison.



Other potential show-offs strap their trophies to their pick-up trucks, park at the local bar, and, coming out hours later to claim bragging rights, discover that someone has helped himself to their kill.

So, a few tips: If you wish to show off your dead animal, take a picture. It lasts longer. After you've gotten your deer, don't spoil the hunting for everyone else by loudly blasting your stereo and roaring around on your four-wheelers.

And just because you're at "deer camp" doesn't mean you have to smell like it. You can still shower and not scare the deer away by smelling clean.

caromny.co.uk
Whatever happened to
"one car length distance"?

For those of you who head to our area of Upper Michigan for the opening day, allow yourselves enough driving time. Our U.S. - 23 Highway north of I-75 is bad enough. It's two-lanes in most spots, passing through small towns most people would miss if they blinked. Some of us live in those small towns year around, and don't appreciate those of you who like to take out your lack of planning on us by riding on our bumpers (even though we are driving over the speed limit, too), or running us off the road in your haste to pass (only to slam on the brakes to make a left-hand turn, and thus holding up the line of traffic you just passed).  Even with the additional passing lanes, this highway is still a royal pain in everyone's ass to drive.  Why? Because people see a passing lane and for some reason interpret that to mean "I must drive 85 mph," when the rest of the time, they're driving below the speed limit. 



virginiadot.org - now picture this
with snow, with pick-up trucks hauling
trailers and snowmobiles on a 2-lane road,
and you'll have "up north, Michigan."



Our local and state politicians fight the expansion of our U.S. -23 Highway, saying the loads of traffic it bears is only "seasonal." For anyone who has traveled to Upper Michigan by way of U.S. - 23, you know the "seasonal" traffic is a problem year 'round. We have bow-hunting season in October, firearm (deer) season in November, bow and musket season in December, small game seasons in January, February, and March (and don't forget those outdoor winter sports like skiing and snow mobiling), April brings the opener of trout season and other fishing, and is also the start of the summer holiday and vacation traffic, which doesn't let up until the end of September.  When, of course, you get perhaps a couple weeks' respite and then - it's time to prepare for hunting season, which starts in October.

So if you're in a rush to get from point A to point B during any of our "seasonal" traffic tie-ups, get used to stop-and-start traffic and plan ahead to allow yourself enough travel time.  This goes for any time you are driving, any where. Give yourself enough time. That way, when you're in a hurry, you don't have to crawl up my ass when I'm driving five miles or more over the speed limit already.

funnytypos.com, or
should that be funny "typo's"?

On other topics, what is it with people who pay for advertising that is grammatically incorrect? Our downtown has paved sidewalks with lovely brick aprons at each corner to make them wheelchair and stroller accessible. To get the message across to would-be skateboarders, skaters, and bicyclists, one brick in the center of each apron reads "For Pedestrian's Only."

Has no one explained to the maker of this brick the difference between a plural and a possessive? Possessives ( apostrophe "s") show ownership. A plural simply means "more than one." The brick could be correct in the following ways:


pensivegirl.blogspot.com



"For Pedestrian's Use Only" or "For Pedestrians Only."

The sad thing is that our city leaders paid MONEY for that set of bricks to be manufactured and put in place. Doesn't anyone proofread anymore?

My sister, who lives in Illinois, read this one on a television advertisement for an attorney. "Don't be a victum." Um, I think that attorney was a victim of poor spelling and poorer proofreading.



funnytypos.com



"Your on Camera" reads a sign, painted on a local business. Obviously, this popular sign isn't limited to just our local businesses. "Golf Coarse" was on a local billboard, until someone kindly pointed out the difference between "coarse" and "course."



My students used to say, "I let the computer do the proofreading. My computer has spell check, ya know." While this is true, there IS something to be said for the ability to proofread and spell without the help of a computer.   Yeah, yeah - you'll find errors in my posts, too.  I simply cringe whenever I find them and attempt to fix what I can.  To err is human, after all - but for pete's sake - why are we paying good money for the errors?

This is it for the "maiden voyage" into the wide web world of commentary. I welcome your responses, just keep it clean, and realize that the opinions stated here are not necessarily the opinions of http://www.spanitz.com./ Your replies or comments can be sent to the e-mail on this page. Please put in the subject line "Idle Ramblings."

And now, of course, you can post in the "comments" section on this page.







© Copyright 2000-2008 Spanitz Consulting, Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Pimps & Sleaze: How Halloween turned into a Quest for Another Kind of Booty

This article originally was posted at Spanitz Consulting in 2006.  It's getting closer to Halloween time, so I thought I'd share my response to my daughter's elementary school Halloween parade that year.  For the complete, unedited article, click the link above.  Changes to the article here are in this dark orange font.

Ok, so it wasn't just me being a prude as I watched the kids file by in the hallway of my child's elementary school yesterday afternoon.

halloweencostumes4u.com

The children were dressed in typical Halloween fare (ghosts, Jedi knights, Darth Vader, witches, princesses, Ninjas (including the Teenage Mutant Turtle variety), a few grim reapers were on hand, baseball and other sports heroes).

The adults and their high school aides were dressed in orange and black or in a simple Halloween costume.

But one costume wearer couldn't help but catch everyone's eye as she marched down the hall next to the youngsters.

bizrate.com

Thankfully, the wearer of "Dorothy the Tramp from Oz" costume**, as I dubbed it, declined to wear her thigh-high stockings to an elementary school, but little else was left to the imagination.

And that was just the front view of the costume. Not only was the cup about to overfloweth from the neckline of the adult Dorothy outfit, but there was a tattoo snaking up from the breast of the wearer, which drew even more attention to the cleavage revealed from the skimpy neckline of the blouse.

The back view revealed a lacy hemline that barely skimmed the buttocks of the wearer--perhaps it extended an inch or two below the butt--

BUT I was hoping, as was one male observer nearby(though I expect it really would have been an answer to his prayers), that the wind wouldn't catch that skirt as she exited the building. I was hoping she wouldn't have to bend down to tie any shoelaces because I really didn't want to see if she was wearing the standard granny-white underwear or a thong or perhaps nothing.

Not that I wanted to look, but it was getting increasingly difficult to tear my eyes away as my mind was contemplating all of the appalling possibilities.

Other parents mentioned to the school secretary the tastelessness of the Dorothy from Oz costume. I can rest assured it wasn't just me thinking there was something amiss. The secretary cringed and told me that the wearer of the costume was a PARENT who had come in to help with the Halloween party.

Yikes.

wizardofozclothing.com

I think had that been my child's class I'd have asked the parent to go put on some clothes.

In true child form though, the kids were more entranced with Dorothy's huge shoes (see photo, below, and at right) than they were with any other part of the costume. ("Mama! That lady's not wearing a seat belt!" said the child, of the naked woman zooming by in her automobile. . . .)

While this particular Dorothy may have been welcome to tread the yellow brick road to any number of homes to trick or treat, it is my opinion that this particular Dorothy really didn't belong at school in that get-up.

And I also think it's kind of scary that a parent chose to wear that outfit to an elementary school Halloween party. Save it for the bedroom, honey, or for your no-kids allowed Halloween parties. I think, aside from a handful of fanaticists, this is one reason why schools ban Halloween costumes and resort to having "autumn parties" instead of "Halloween parties."

bizrate.com

I don't know. I'm sure the woman thought she looked quite nice, and thought the outfit really cute. And, it's a character from a children's story after all, so that makes it all right. But, let's examine the reality, here.

Here is the Adult Dorothy (bright blue, at right). The only differences from the "Teen" Dorothy  is that the adult Dorothy has a fitted waist line/bodice and thigh-high stockings.

bizrate.com, teen Dorothy

The Teen Dorothy has a looser bodice and waistline and (presumably) one-piece white tights, and a less-fitted skirt. Are the one-piece tights a bow to virginity, vs. the thigh-high stockings?

Otherwise, there isn't much to distinguish the "adult" costume from the "teen" costume. Which is rather shameful, unless you don't   mind your teen daughter looking like a stripper in training for an Over the Rainbow strip club.

costumes4less.com

It has been in the news recently that Halloween garb is getting a bit more. . . risque, and it doesn't seem that it's limited just to the adult set. As you can see from the outfits pictured here, the "teen" costumes are getting to be a bit skimpy as well. My sister remarked that a third-grade child at her school was dressed as a Geisha - with skimpy skirt and extremely high-heeled shoes. "Cute idea," she remarked, "but the costume was definitely too adult-looking for a kid that age."  The costume wasn't nearly as modest as the one pictured, here.

vintage 1970s devil at
goblinhaus.com

Does anybody remember when Halloween costumes were composed of whatever you had lying about the house? We used to feel sorry for the kids who had store-bought costumes -especially the ones that were like plastic bags and had the character and name of the character you were supposed to be dressed as, performing some heroic deed. Picture Spider Man in all his red and blue glory, splashed across the front of something equivalent to a kid-size white garbage bag, with his logo in big letters, scaling the side of a building while rescuing a kitten stranded on the rooftop. You get the idea. They really looked bad, bad, bad. Tsk.

komar.org

Halloween merchandise is a really big deal now, though, and people spend just as much on Halloween as they do on Christmas. Decorations, light and yard displays, and so of course, costumes must keep up with the Joneses as well. I have no complaint over the improvements made to store-bought costumes. But home-made ones can be just as nice, with a little bit of effort.

Maybe dressing as a hobo isn't  all the rage anymore -  our popular culture and the times have changed and hobos aren't  aound so much as homeless people, who I guess would be their counterparts in this day and age. Witches are still in vogue, as are princesses, grim reapers, and licensed characters such as Mickey Mouse and Super Man.

areyouinmyphoto.com

As a kid back home, admittedly reaching the dark ages now, our Halloween costumes consisted of a few basic pieces: black skirt, cape, dad's  old coveralls, old flowered fabric that often doubled as a cape for a gypsy, red kerchiefs pilfered from dad. Accessories were then added. Witch? Get a black hat and stripey socks. Hobo or bum? Smudge some dirt on that face and wear the coveralls and an old flannel shirt. Clown? Coveralls worked again, with colorful ruffles around ankles and wrists.

childparentingabout.com

I recall being a robot one year - tin foil and a box, and a mask were just fine. 

Ok, we weren't top-notch stage costume experts, perhaps, but we still had a lot of fun. And the majority of the kids who tricked & treated at our house were dressed in similar fashion.

I don't  object to an "upgrade" in costuming, I  just wish, much like the daily clothing that is considered in style these days, that kids could still be kids and not have to select a costume from something that is inappropriate for their ages. Certainly some of the costumes available are looking a little too sexual, and that really sends a mixed message when an adult purchases a costume that is too adult in looks and tone for their elementary aged daughter (or son).

free4allcity.com

There are those who object greatly to the dressing up of children in any costume be it scary or not, and asking for candy door-to-door. So let's  give them more ammunition to just outright cancel the day, shall we? Let's  continue to cave in to marketing and purchase sleazy costuming.

My son's preschool (about four years ago) was an entirely costume-free zone on Halloween. None of the kids minded,  they understood that  costumes were an after-school thing, and they were happy to have their party all the same. They indulged in the usual party games that school children do - they just do it without the costume.

After witnessing a few get-ups at my daughter's school, I'm thinking that costume-free Halloween school days are not a bad idea. Especially if the adults don't have enough sense to wear something appropriate.

gigaweb.com - Mistress Dorothy

electricboutique.com

Ok, my mind and eyes are done reeling from the assault they suffered that Halloween afternoon. But if you're not attending your kids' Halloween parades at school, you just have no idea what on earth you're missing! And if the trend toward risque costuming continues, I suspect attendance at elementary school Halloween parades won't be the only thing going up next year.

**May I add that the commentary here is just that. COMMENTARY. I do not know the person who wore this particular costume, and have no idea of what kind of morals and standards the costume wearer follows or possesses. The costume wearer may be the most moral and upright citizen for all I know. The commentary here is strictly my own OPINION and is not meant as an attack on any individual or group of individuals, tattooed or not. Tattoos can be beautiful expressions of individuality. I have no issue with tattoos. My "issue" is with appropriate dress, as regular readers of this space may already know.


Thank God nobody showed up like this, however:

yeselguapo.com