Should teachers judge students on clothes or religion?

“In answering this question, I’d like to respond directly to the 12-year-old girl that sent it in. Of course not, teachers should never judge people based on their beliefs or their clothes.

Sadly, teachers are people, and people have a nasty tendency to do things that they shouldn’t. Bias is a way to make us as people feel more secure with ourselves and our beliefs. We then make judgments based on those biases.

In the 1950s, our own government encouraged Communist hatred simply because they were different.

Today, in this very paper, people often submit letters to the editor that use the words of a religion of overwhelming love in order to encourage blind and antithetical hatred. Our only hope is that people like you will continue to dress and believe differently, in spite of those poor people who hate what they cannot understand.

Dr. Seuss (an author who is criminally underestimated) once wrote, ‘Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.’”

Drew Terhune, senior
Roseburg High School



“As long as the student doesn’t cause any problems, then the teacher should not be judging their students at all. It doesn’t matter if they worship Satan, or hate freedom. So long as their clothes are in the bounds of the school dress code and they don’t try to make everyone terrorists during class, there’s no breach of rules that would warrant teacher judgment.

If they’re, for example, slitting their wrists in class, or interrupting a lecture for praises to the dark gods, then the teacher should do something about it, seeing as it might qualify as a disruption, and maybe a little judgment as to avoid future circumstances of a similar sort would be in order.

Teachers are human however, and will not be able to help themselves making judgments. This is all right, so long as they don’t let their predispositions of certain students affect their teaching or willingness to help them.”

Nick Kintop, freshman
Roseburg High School



“One of the most important things about being a teacher is fairness and not judging students because of those things. Judging students based on their dress or religion is called discrimination and is an act that is not allowed by school districts.

It is important that in a classroom or other school environment all the students feel comfortable and having teachers who make judgments about students for these reasons defeats this goal.

If a student feels their teacher is making these type of judgments based on those things the student needs to tell a parent who can then talk to the school and make sure the problem is resolved.

Even if students are not the ones being judged by the teacher, it is important they are willing to speak up and let someone know so that other students are not hurt because of the judgments. Teachers need to be aware of their behavior towards students may be affecting them and make sure they treat all students with respect and equality, no matter how they dress or what religion they practice.”

Dalicia Fennell, senior
Sutherlin High School



“Absolutely not! Having experienced teachers judging me based on religious beliefs before, it hurts. It is really hard to have people judge you for the way you dress or for what you believe in. You walk through your school knowing that people look at you different. All you want is to be treated like other students at your school.

For a teacher to judge you based on religion or the way you dress is wrong. Yes, everyone has their own opinions, but everyone should also be treated equally. So, teachers shouldn’t play favorites either.

A person may dress the way they do because they can't afford other clothes to wear. So, if a student is being judged based on this, it can really hurt them. It is the same thing with religion. Everyone has a right to believe what they want, so for a teacher to hinder that it is wrong.”