Michael Korjen's Hat Etiquette

Michael Korjen's Hat Etiquette

Why must students of Hawthorn Secondary College take their hat, cap or beanie off when indoors? Is it to keep in line with the social norm? Is it to respect an age old tradition? This will be my sixth year as student in Hawthorn Secondary College and not even I know why this rule is in place (apart from the overwhelming sense of power teachers get from telling students over and over again to take their hat off). Surly there is no correlation between the wearing of hat�s indoors and the loss of concentration by students, so where's the problem?

If the reason is that hats are to be taken off when inside because it's in line with the social norm, then our school is out of date with what is now the social norm. Everywhere you go you see people wearing hats inside. At Coles and Safeway supermarkets, McDonalds, Hungry Jacks and KFC fast food outlets, bakers delight and brumbies, many different religions's plus many other places. It is obvious that the greater part of society has accepted the wearing of hats inside and I just wish that our school would too.

If our school is trying to keep the tradition of the Hat etiquette alive, then it has forgotten easily like the majority of society has the complex and confusing rules that are accompanied with the warring of a hat. The Hat etiquette is quite a hard set of rules to remember. A gentleman must take off his hat when a woman enters an elevator in an apartment building or a hotel, as those are considered dwellings. He puts it on again in the hall, because a public corridor is like a street. In public buildings, however, the elevator is also considered public, and the hat must stay on. Men tip or lift their hat only to strangers, not to friends. A hat also is tipped to a woman when passing in a narrow space or when the man speaks to her. If a man runs into a female acquaintance, he must take his hat off when talking to her, but can put it back on if they start walking. These set of rules are out of touch with today�s standards and our school community must make a decision to either go with the hat etiquette or catch up with the rest of society.


Students wear hats for many different but all being perfectly right reasons. Some wear hats so as to save time in the morning not having to use hair gel. Others wear hats to match the clothes they're wearing. The list is endless with reasons because hats are surprisingly useful things. They keep your head warm in winter and cool in the summer. This is quite important especially in the winter months as you loose most of your body heat from your head area. This can lead to bigger problems of you having to concentrate on keeping warm which can distract you from your learning. Knowing this, our school has a choice to make. Improve the inadequate heating system that only provides heating to the office area or let the students wear hats and beanies inside and while in class. I believe that wearing a hat or beanie could greatly improve the student's learning capabilities and I'm not alone in thinking this way. "He can't think without his hat." Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot.

There is no reasonable answer to the question of why must students take their hat, cap or beanie off when indoors. You can argue that it is polite but what is reasonable is that it has the potential to improve the learning capabilities of students. Our school must realize that we the students don't ware hats to offend or to make a statement, we simply ware hats because they are ergonomically viable. We the students have no voice in this argument that effects us, but we plead to you

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This document was conjured into being by Michael Korjen, a student at a college that doesn't allow hats, much like our own school. Most colleges allow their students to bear a comfy hat atop their head, but this one doesn't. I hope you enjoyed a nice dose of Michael's medicine. Thanks, Tyler for finding this.

Tyler Durden
McDowell Student Council
http://mcdsc.darkbb.com