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Old 07-30-2009, 11:25 AM
 
Location: M-51
95 posts, read 251,525 times
Reputation: 31

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How are local attitudes toward teenagers that choose to dress differently? If a kid dresses "punk", is he labeled by school administrators and local police as a trouble maker just for looking different? Or are communities such as that in Hanover more tolerant?

Is he able to find friends in the community?

Thanks.
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Old 07-30-2009, 11:31 AM
 
Location: Monadnock area, NH
1,200 posts, read 2,211,566 times
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I doubt the school and police label you as a "trouble maker" simply because of the way you dress.

If you want people to take you seriously don't dress like a d-bag.
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Old 07-30-2009, 11:58 AM
 
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Image matters, it is all that we, as humans, have to initially evaluate contact with a person ("he looks like a trouble maker". This perception can be altered through actions of course ("he looks like a trouble maker, but is a real good kid who volunteers a lot and makes good grades"). But don't expect the world to turn a blind eye to appearance initially.

There is a reason that in business they say "dress for the job you want".
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Old 07-30-2009, 03:23 PM
 
1,384 posts, read 4,443,307 times
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If you are worried about being 'profiled' don't intentionally put yourself into a category which provokes attention. If you choose to dress in a non-mainstream style, then you should take responsibility for whatever backlash you may get because regardless of the place, there will always be people who will judge you based on such an affected appearance. It's as simple as if you can dish it out you'd better be able to take it.
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Old 07-30-2009, 03:40 PM
 
Location: Monadnock region
3,712 posts, read 11,003,289 times
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Or in another way of looking at it: if you choose to dress ina manner that a majority may find threatening, be prepared to live an exemplary lifestyle so as to change their minds about it. If you wish to wear torn clothes, chains, multiple piercings and shaved, spiked hair in neon colors, make sure you are always ultra polite and give no reason for anyone to think otherwise of you. They will then eventually accept you as being a 'nice' boy/girl/whatever who is a bit eccentrically.
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Old 07-30-2009, 06:05 PM
 
Location: M-51
95 posts, read 251,525 times
Reputation: 31
I didn't ask for a commentary concerning the meaning of one's apparel.

Clearly the replies illustrate that many of the the respondents have well prepared collections of preconceived notions and stereotypes concerning people who do not dress according to their expectation, yet cannot actually answer the question.

Saying, "he looks like a trouble maker", already implies someone has a clear idea of what a trouble maker looks like.

"If you choose to dress in a non-mainstream style, then you should take responsibility for whatever backlash you may get because regardless of the place, there will always be people who will judge you based on such an affected appearance", clearly implies a person outside the mainstream is responsible for whatever reaction some bone-heads inflict on him/her because he is different.

Finally, "I doubt the school and police label you as a "trouble maker simply because of the way you dress"... incredibly naive. "If you want people to take you seriously don't dress like a d-bag", implies a kid who dresses punk is dressing like d-bag.
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Old 07-30-2009, 07:05 PM
 
1,771 posts, read 5,054,155 times
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Sorry if it offends you or you consider it wrong but in this world we are judged first based on pre-conceived of our appearance. This holds true in any locale, world-wide.

I'm not saying the police or school will hassle the individual, just that they may not have as positive a pre-conceived notion of them.
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Old 07-30-2009, 07:33 PM
 
Location: M-51
95 posts, read 251,525 times
Reputation: 31
Quote:
Originally Posted by BF66389 View Post
Sorry if it offends you or you consider it wrong but in this world we are judged first based on pre-conceived of our appearance. This holds true in any locale, world-wide.

I'm not saying the police or school will hassle the individual, just that they may not have as positive a pre-conceived notion of them.

It is true that in this world things, and people, are judge first by appearances. However, if one reads my post, my question was not about the nature of people's visual interpretations. It was plainly about what the kids in that town go through if they don't look like what some people think they should. It would appear that most of the respondent's content did not respond to the specific question. This implies to me that the "community" is not prepared to respond to the question, but can only "reacted" to the question, which begins to tell me something about New Hampshire. Should I generalize people in New Hampshire based on a few people's responses?

I would conclude from the some of the comments made in the replies, that the respondents don't have much experience with people that are different from them and as a result cannot provide, or even fully understand, the issue questioned. I've lived in 6 states and 8 cities, and as a result I've seen all kinds of people. Some I like, and some I dislike. However, because I've had these experiences I no longer stereotype large segments of the population as I would have many years ago. I dislike some styles, but I've learned to separated my prejudices from the facts on the ground before me.

Clearly, teachers and police officers should be able to work with teenagers on a level that is above their preconceived notions of the styles such kids may choose to tryout. If they can't, they should not be teachers, or police officers that work with teenagers or come in contact with them.

I would expect more from such adult professionals.
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Old 07-30-2009, 08:29 PM
 
680 posts, read 2,434,959 times
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New Hampshire is relatively conservative in some ways and even our "big cities" are pretty small. There is no local equivalent to the East Village or Berkeley where a person wearing punk clothes won't draw any raised eyebrows. That said, it's also a fairly libertarian state which means that most people seem to take a "live and let live" attitude towards others' harmless choices. And of course, it's a state with teenagers, which means that kids rebel or try to express their individuality in funky ways here, too. It's very hard to generalize across the entire state or make guesses about how people in any given community will react to any given scenario. I would guess that a kid who dresses "punk" would have the best luck in artsy towns like Peterborough, Hanover, and Portsmouth, but I don't think anyone can ever guarantee that ANY teenager is going to easily make friends without ever butting heads with the school administration or local bullies - not in New Hampshire, not in New York, not anywhere in the real world. A lot depends on personality and on luck - who he happens to meet first, what kind of day the police officer is having, whether the school principal has a cousin who dresses punk or nurses a secret fondness for Nine Inch Nails himself...
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Old 07-30-2009, 09:35 PM
 
Location: Kensington NH
758 posts, read 2,883,669 times
Reputation: 657
Quote:
It would appear that most of the respondent's content did not respond to the specific question. This implies to me that the "community" is not prepared to respond to the question, but can only "reacted" to the question, which begins to tell me something about New Hampshire. Should I generalize people in New Hampshire based on a few people's responses?
The irony here is that the very question you are asking of us is to "generalize the people of NH" in the way they would react to someone who dresses differently. One kid might go through something different than another.....any personal experience is simply applying that experience to the whole populace...which is stereotyping...something you obviously have a problem against.

NH is a small state for sure, but no one on this board is going to give you an accurate idea of how some segment of the 1 million plus population of an entire state is going to react.

99% of the entire state could care less and treat the person with total respect, but your neighbor could end up being an a-hole and treat the person like crap, the local cop could have delusions of grandeur and give the kid a hard time, a teacher could do the same. 3 people don't represent an entire state or even community any more than a kid who dresses alternative represents a "troublemaker" or any other stereotype.



Quote:
Clearly, teachers and police officers should be able to work with teenagers on a level that is above their preconceived notions of the styles such kids may choose to tryout. If they can't, they should not be teachers, or police officers that work with teenagers or come in contact with them.
Agreed....they shouldn't. But the world is the way it is. Lots of things shouldn't be the way they are. That doesn't mean you or I have to accept or condone them, but you do have to understand the repercussions of your actions and not play the victim. I would expect at least that much understanding from someone who seems as enlightened as yourself. This isn't something endemic to NH, but rather human culture. Sorry, it sucks, but it is what it is....
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