ARLINGTON, Texas - The school district here has expanded its dress codes to include mouths — and earlobes.
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Students may no longer wear mouth jewelry known as "grillz" — shiny teeth caps — or the earlobe-stretching practice known as "gauging."

"The district is having to respond to fads because they've become distracters or a safety hazard for those around them," said Malcolm Turner, the district's executive director of student services.

The nearby Irving, Grand Prairie and DeSoto districts also ban grillz, and some also address gauging — the process of placing increasingly large items in the ears to stretch the lobes.

But students said the body modification is simply self-expression.

"Really, a grill is just like an earring. It's fashion," said junior Devonte Wright, 16.

But school officials said they hoped to teach students that life would require them to follow specific regulations in specific settings.

"We want to instill in them a sense of modesty and a sense of community," said school board trustee Gloria Pena. "We're preparing them for the work force, and in the work force there are rules."

Any opinions? I don't really think a kid needs gold or platinum teeth to create an image for himself, and some guaging is kind of foul to look at and a teacher might actually find them both distracting too.

Hell yeah it's distracting! It's hilarious! Would you be able to seriously teach staring out at a bunch of kids with mouths full of gold- and diamond-plated teeth and giant stretched-out earlobes and not laugh?

You know, when I was in high school, we just wore ridiculous things. Now kids are actually doing ridiculous, semi-permanent things to their bodies. I wonder what's going to happen in 10-15 years when my daughter is in high school. Will kids be cutting off fingers or gouging out eyes and stuff as "self-expression"?

oh, i remember the good ol' days when the school board didn't wants us wearing slap bracelets...

i remember when girls had to wear shorts no shorter than where their thumbs reached when their arms hung loosely at their sides.
good god, i am fucking old.

Good thing Paul Wall isn't in school anymore.

I lived in Arlington from 1996-2000, but did not move away due to grill persecution.

You can call me George Foreman b/c I'm selling everybody grillz. (Or b/c this is a Nelly track is it errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrverybody grillz??)

A guy who works with my wife said he was tempted to slap the shit out his own sister when she bought her 9 year old a grill with katrina $$$.

What's funny about this is that I can't imagine a kid with BOTH a 'grill' and stretched earlobes... each of these two modifications are usually found in very opposite groups; i.e. punks and 'hipsters' with the ears and the gangsta crowd with the grills...
In my high school, guys couldn't have earrings at all, or long hair. No one in my school had stretched their ears.
One point of clarification, 'gauging' (which isn't really the correct term) is not supposed to be done with just "increasingly large items", there are specific tools to use; also, it's not permanent if the holes aren't stretched too much. I have 2 gauge holes in my ears, and if I took my plugs out, they would shrink back up to probably a 10 gauge, which isn't that big at all. Though once you go beyond a 0 or 00 gauge, you're getting into more permanent territory.

People had green hair at my high school and pretty wore whatever they wanted.

I do remember my friend's brother getting "spoken to" for coming to school with makeup on.

I went to a parochial school and the same was true there.

You also couldn't have facial hair and I got into trouble over that once. It's a pretty ridiculous rule though because most of the male teachers had beards.

I remember this one guy got sent home for wearing a "I bet you didn't know I'm a lesbian" t-shirt. Also the first kid I knew who was into Can & Wax Trax!

and another guy for wearing a "fuck edmonton" Kings shirt

haha americans

Fucking Arlington!!! I can say that cause I live here. You can say it too. I really don't care.

Actually the newish thing in school (even middle, maybe elementary I don't know) is jelly bracelets and the colors tell you what the girl is into sexually.

Black: Sex
Blue: Blowjob
Pink: Make Out
Yellow: Hug
Purple: Kiss
Red: Lap Dance
Green: Eat Out
White: Flash