A Texas middle school is banning students from wearing all-black clothing because school officials say it’s associated with mental health issues.

Students at Charles Middle School in El Paso, Texas, headed back to school Monday, days after a letter from Principal Nick DeSantis outlined the school’s new dress code policy. The letter says the school is eliminating all-black clothing because it is “associated with depression and mental health issues and/or criminality.”

Norma De La Rosa, the president of El Paso Teachers Association, explained in more detail why the policy is in place and what clothing is allowed. She says teachers see a sudden change in students going from dressing with color to all black when they are depressed or stressed.

Many parents and community members disagree with the policy, commenting online that clothing color doesn’t define a person’s mental state.

“The color of clothing has nothing to do with your ability to do anything or feel any emotion,” Alex Lucero said.

“Making students wear a different color isn’t going to magically make them a completely different person,” Alexis Contreras said.

  • Darkassassin07
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    1 month ago

    Kids are sad and they display it by wearing black clothing.

    Instead of doing anything about the kids mental health; we ban them from showing they’re sad?

    Brilliance from texas as always.

    • Elise@beehaw.org
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      1 month ago

      I deal with mental health issues and trust me when I say that that’s totally what people think. I’ve even internalized it to the point where I push my emotions down like it’s nothing. Of course that doesn’t work one bit.

      Back in the day you would’ve simply gone for drugs like alcohol or go down the drain some other way.