Many students express themselves through different artistic means. A plethora of students draw on themselves to stimulate their brains or cope with emotion without knowing. There are teachers who will lecture students who do this and oftentimes make them stop or wash it off. Drawing on yourself doesn’t directly harm anyone around you or yourself and shouldn’t be shamed.

In the Ovid-Elsie dress code it states nowhere that drawings or art of any kind don’t have a place on someone’s arms or hands. The dress code only states, “Clothing that displays or promotes lewd or sexual innuendo, violence, obscenities, profanity, racial-ethnic slurs or symbols, tobacco, alcohol, or drug-related products would not be allowed.” This specifies only clothing but can carry over to the art on someone’s body. As long as the art isn’t inappropriate for school it should be allowed to be on someone’s body.

Many people suffer from mental disorders such as depression and have trouble coping with it. Directly shaming a person for the sketching on their arm isn’t reasonable, especially if they are doing it as a coping mechanism. Many people do art on themselves without realizing it is a coping mechanism. Drawing on oneself is a healthy way to deal with problems and is comparatively better than self-harm. It is one of the better alternatives to self-harm and shouldn’t be denounced, especially in a place that is supposed to be welcoming.

Some teachers could argue that students drawing on themself could take away from their concentration in class. Drawing or sketching in class on yourself is not disruptive and much less a distraction. It is the same as a kid playing with their hair, or a kid cracking their knuckles. A student can fully listen while drawing in class. This can help people focus, making it a positive thing even.

Calling out students for drawing on themselves in class or at school may not be an action conceived in malice, however, it is important to think if it really causes trouble for you. The art may look weird on the person’s skin but is better than seeing them cope in an unhealthy way. Encouraging students to express themselves isn’t always a bad thing and drawing on oneself shouldn’t be an issue of needed discipline. As long as the students aren’t purposely being an issue there isn’t need for trouble to be added over such a simple thing.