I have finally become old. While grabbing lunch today I was frightened by the looks the local High school kids were sporting. The piercings, crazy hair, etc. I find myself thinking "no one will ever take them seriously" and "where are their parents" I remember my grandma saying those exact things. Seriously, is it just me or are there a bunch of mutants running around posing as high school students? Their parents honestly let them out of the house in that and looking like that. I remember some arguments against school uniforms were that kids would loose their self expression if they couldn't do it through clothes. What exactly is it they are trying to say? "I am lazy and just rolled out of bed and put on the first dirty thing I saw" "sorry this is not an important enough occasion to bother to put down my cell phone and pull a comb through my hair" "I forgot to put clothes on this morning" "Look at me!". In a way I think we have taught kids instead of using their brains to think of ways to express themselves we have allowed them to think that clothing and looks reflect who they are. In a world where we are constantly hearing how we shouldn't judge on looks, we shouldn't see color and we shouldn't discriminate. We are saying look on the inside, while also telling them it's all about what is on the outside. Reality is that people do see what is on the outside, you do send a message how you look. Fair or unfair people do judge, me included.