BDU Fashion versus Politics

By uttering BDU....I am referring to Battle-Dress-Uniform, or camouflage gear.  Back around 2005, my German son wanted to get new pants, and what he wanted was BDU or camouflage pants.  My wife discouraged this trend.  In the kid's defense, this was the start-up period of a fashion trend.

Over the past five years, if I walk around the streets of Wiesbaden and ride public transportation....I've come to see a lot of BDU fashion statements now.  Kids wear camouflage sweaters and jackets.  BDU pants are now a hot item.....some in green camo.....some in gray camo....even some in pinkish or fluorescent camo.  I won't say the majority wear this, but it's probably one out of twenty kids who dress in some type of camo attire.  Even combat boots or jungle boots....are a fashion item now. 

If you'd told me thirty years ago, that kids would be into the camo-look, I would have laughed.

So this topic came up in a school in Lage (about halfway between Hamburg and Frankfurt).  Lage is mostly non-urbanized, but has a population of 35,000.

The school director got into a rule-making situation, and made up this banning of camo-gear for attire in the school.  No BDU-type shirts or pants, or jackets.

Chief reason?  She says that the migrant kids are traumatized by the military gear look. 

Reaction?  Well....an overwhelming number of parents got into the situation and got pretty negative about this ban.  The parents say....they want a vote.  I'm guessing the director would like to avoid that, but presently....it'll likely occur before the end of the school year.

Issues?

Well, the director can only make up rules for the school.  The other hundred hours a week that the kid isn't in school....they could wear the camo-gear on the streets, on the playgrounds, and in public settings.  So if there are traumatized kids.....the ban won't do much.

Admitting that there are traumatized kids?  That's another issue I see.  If you have such kids, they would need to be in some treatment program.  Is the social program around Lage running such a program?  No one says much.

In some areas of the world....military folks don't wear camo-gear....they wear strictly green military gear.  So would the director go to the next step and ban the color green from school attire as well....even from teachers and staff?

What happens if the kids go to some protest movement and all start to wear pink?  A student movement that threatens the authority of the management? 

It's an odd problem and I doubt if this goes away.