Indiana High School’s Purse Ban Rankles Students

Pamela Jones
CBS 2 Chicago
September 10, 2008

CEDAR LAKE, Ind. (CBS) ― An Indiana high school is making a bold move to create a safer environment for students — they’ve banned students from carrying bags including purses, during the school day. Female students are upset about the changes.

CBS 2 Northwest Indiana Bureau Chief Pamela Jones reports the principal and district administration of Hanover Central School in Cedar Lake would not discuss the matter.

But parents say the bag ban has actually part of the policy here for about three years. It’s just being enforced now. Students are buzzing about a rule at the school that bans purses.

“It’s kind of stupid,” said junior Natalie Goetz.

They say the principal made an announcement on the first day of school notifying students that all purses — and backpacks, for that matter — would have to be left in lockers.

“They said that it was a threat to the students,” Goetz said. “And that they needed to stay in the lockers.”

“People even got yelled at for carrying fanny packs and too big of a pencil holder, which is ridiculous,” said sophomore Emily Brown.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Kathryn Griffin has to return to her locker to get things she normally keeps in her bag, including personal hygiene items.

“We have that time of the month, so you know we need our purses,” Griffin said.

With purses, they say they don’t have the embarrassment of disclosing that information.

Student Kim Reppa is running for president of her class and says bagging the bags can lead to distractions in school.

“My purse was my source of organization,” Kim Reppa, a sophomore, said. “And I held all my notebooks in there because it was easier for me to have them in my purse rather than go to my locker between every class.”

FULL ARTICLE

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This article was posted: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 5:30 pm

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