I quite honestly think all students should wear uniforms.

As @thriftymaid implied, that is one of the big reasons why schools have mandatory uniform policies.

Hey as long as they do not ban “Whale Tails” I’m fine with it !

Yes, I agree with it 100%. It should be outlawed just for looking beyond ridiculous, if nothing else. I know people like to be individuals & express their “style”. but a little bit of common sense would go a long way, too. Same goes for the offending t-shirts out there. Some people have no self respect anymore.

Ambivalent. It seems to me that most schools have a policy about showing too much boob or leg, so I don’t see why butt crack should be any different. On the other hand, some students do dress this way to self-identify so I think I would make a distinction between low pants and underwear or butt crack showing and draw the line, ast it were, there.

@jbfletcherfan Isn’t the point of being a teenager to look “beyond ridiculous”?

Bring on the ban!! Wearing a uniform did me no harm & if my tie wasn’t straight I got my ear twisted!! OK that hurt but it taught me to have some self respect! ;-)

I think the baggy, almost-all-of-their-boxers-showing pants style is extremely unattractive. Same goes for girls with their asses hanging out with their short shorts. It’s pretty disgusting.

School uniforms would probably be a very good thing for my highschool. I’m sick of seeing it.

When I was in middle and high school, we were not allowed to wear skirts more than 1” above the knee or tops that showed any cleavage, boys couldn’t wear wifebeater tanks outside of gym class, and no one was allowed to wear shorts. This “no low-riders” rule has nothing to do with culture and everything to do with not potentially having to see someone’s underwear or arsecrack. Seriously. They can wear those jeans at any other time.

There are times when teens need to conform. Wearing proper clothing to school is one of those times. In NYC, there are many young men of all colours who wear low riding jeans. And anyway, there are jeans with the low-riding style that actually goes up to the waist. You just wear the baggy t-shirt over it, so I don’t see what the big deal is.

I don’t want anyone to ban it. I just want some students to make a database of guilty individuals so I’ll know not to hire them. (Of course I think all schools should be private schools and then a private school could choose to enforce or not enforce whatever dress code they wanted.)

Why does it have to become law or policy in the first place? . . . Parents should have instilled this in the minds and behaviour of their children, from the time they’re able to dress themselves and until such time that the kid relies on the parent for clothing and shelter.

I support it like a pair of sensible suspenders ;)

I am for uniforms, and as you might guess if there is not a uniform I am for dress codes in school.

I think a campaign should start where if a member of the public spots somebody walking around with baggy pants showing their underwear, they should quickly move up behind them and a) wedgie them until their undies are ripped right off or b) pull their pants down as far as their shoes and shove them forward onto the ground. It is a ridiculous and offensive craze made worse when they secure the baggy jeans halfway down their arse with a belt.

I’d support it. But I believe that is should be the responsibility of the parents to begin with. And I fail to see what it has to do with African-American kids. As far as I can tell, they all dress in this idiotic fashion. I do not allow my son to wear this crap. He can find another way to look like an idiot. Actually, he has. he wears really tight leg pants which I guess is part of the whole “goth” thing. Whatever.

I find it interesting how exercised people get about clothes.

I think it’s just the usual recycled argument that has been played out over the last, oh…about 100 yrs.

OMG! Those Flappers from the 20’s with their short haircuts and inappropriate dress lengths and wild dancing!

AND, the pinup girls of the 40’s….how immoral!

AND, those damn hippie kids form the 60’s & 70’s, longhaired , pot smokin,’ anti-government freaks! ( haha, that would be me )

I remember circa 1970 something, cutoff levi short shorts slit up the sides with a bikini top…my grandmother was beside herself…’ CHILD, COVER UP! lol

Whats really astounding is that people even waste their precious moments caring about how others dress.

@Coloma ey, if we quit doing so, what else can we gripe about…?

@njnyjobs war, poverty, climate change…..

After this weekend, when we saw a couple kids walking around with their pants so low you could see their kneecaps underneath their boxer shorts, my husband and his friend have decided to get a bunch of guys together and walk around town with their belts tied to their shoelaces, dragging their pants on the ground behind them.

Think we’ll start a new trend?

There are more than enough distractions these days in school and displaying boxers and ass cracks are certainly not needed as well. Kids do need to learn self respect and decent hygiene and choice of proper clothing is only a start.

I didn’t care when I was in school, I don’t care now. I’ve never understood why people put so much value in fashion. If it’s detracting from their education or creating a counterproductive atmosphere, enforce as strict a dress code (including establishing mandatory uniforms) as deemed necessary to change that.

For the argument that it’s targeting a particular minority, it’s not, it targets any and all who don’t abide by it equally. If that’s not enough, just switch to mandatory uniforms.

School is a workplace. The same dress standards should apply as in any other workplace.

I absolutely support it.
Check out this video showing what can be hidden in the pants and Why we need a dress code . Bonus points for counting the weapons.
A bit extreme but still true.

@wonderingwhy Do you mean you don’t know why adults get so upset about it, or why kids care so much about wearing their pants on the ground?

I think the fact that policies like this target a certain culture or ethnicity is tangential to the fact that in general our society expects you to properly wear your clothes in a way that isn’t revealing your underpants.

Despite the fact that I remember a lot of white kids from my high school whose individuality would be stifled if nobody can see their ass crack, this will overwhelmingly target African Americans. I think this is a straw man argument against it, since there are a lot of people who will shut up as soon as someone pulls the race card out of the deck.

I don’t think anyone is trying to stop black people from expressing themselves, they’re just asking all the students at school to wear their pants. All the way. When this fad started it wasn’t really that huge of a deal, maybe an inch of their boxers were showing. But these days I’ll see kids walking down the street with their pants down to the point where I can almost see the bottom of their boxers. That’s just stupid.

Quite frankly, the BIGGEST issue I see is in helping everyone develop enough self esteem and appriciation for themselves and others so as to stop the chain of suffering.

I don’t give a rats a— how somebody dresses if their basic mindset is one of goodwill and healthy self esteem.

My daughter is 22, went Goth for a long time, all kinds of piercings, dyed her hair black, but she is one of the most compassionate and caring people I know.

I just laugh, get a kick out of it.

How did hippie mom get goth child?

DNA is a funny thing!

We are two peas in a pod, our pods just show up a little differently. lol

Uniforms for all with strict standards for how they are worn….and private schools for all, as long as we are wishing. A complete and total termination of public schools.

I just heard last night that one of the girls in our high school was sent home to change into more decent clothes. I’d be embarrassed. But I’m sure she thought it was funny.

It isn’t about “law” but school rules (which aren’t laws.) Any building can enforce a dress code. How many restaurants do you see with a sign that says “no shirt, no shoes, no service”? Well they can add pants to the sign too. Now laws would apply to walking down the street, not a policy of a business owner, establishment, or school.

It isn’t against the law to chew gum, but it is against the “rules” in many teachers classrooms. This is a rule, not a law, correct?

Dress codes are common. I have worked places that had a dress code policy in the job description, where “appearance” was also rated along with professionalism and performance etc. on my evaluations. It’s part of life.

@plethora That drives me crazy. Can you name an industrialized nation with an educated population that doesn’t have a public school system? If there is one I would like to know.

Wow…I am surprised at all the control issues I am seeing in this thread!

Surely most of you had your own ‘style’ in your youth, dependent on your particular era and peer group and overall tone of the times.

How quickly you forget!

Besides…it is a well known fact that the more control one attempts the more rebellion will be sent back.

Wanting to warehouse ‘individuals’ and force conformity to ones own personal beliefs of what is / is not appropriate is extremely controlling and confining.

Can you spell communist? lol

Get over your above it all, I know best egoic selves..sheesh….better a kid in baggy pants than an adult who has nothing better to do than criticize others for not conforming to their limited vision.

I say leave the kids alone, if you don’t like what you see, don’t look!

Pretty simple.

@escapedone7 I got a really cool T-shirt in Hawaii from the Honolua General Store. It said, “No shirt, no shoes, no problem.” :-)

Personally, I think if the kids want to dress like that, let ‘em. It’s the Darwin Award in action.

@Coloma What??!! Control issues? What about having some self-respect & some common decency?

@Coloma – 3 days of suspension for you.

@JLeslie Note I said….“while we’re wishing”. No I don’t know of one. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t take if we could get it….especially with the state US public schools are in.

I definitely think there should be a rule whereupon I need not be subjected to seeing your underpants. Ugh.

@plethora Just even that you wish for it I don’t understand. The ideal is to have a fantastic public education, that should be the wish in my opinion. I believe public education helped us be a great nation. Everyone had/has a right to an education.

@jbfletcherfan

That would be YOUR definition of such, not necessarily the ‘truth.’

See where I am going with this?

Nobody has a right to impose their standards and beliefs on others, period.

YOU might not feel ‘decent’ or ’ self respecting’ if your pants are dragging on the ground, but those are some very harsh conclusions to toss about.

Do you not see how it is your beliefs..( which are nothing, other than conditioned programming ) that is the real issue?

It is absurd to accuse another of not having common decency or self respect because they choose to wear their clothing in a particular way that gleans your approval.

It is so interesting how even such a topic as this returns to the source of WHY all war is initiated…the ‘my way or the highway’ mentality.

It is absolutely amazing how one person feels they are an authority on how everyone else ‘should’ be.

I am much more interested in the depth and totality of a person beyond how their method of dress shows up.

Judging a book by it’s cover means you will miss out on the entire story…bummer for you!

One of my daughters friends is the most awesomely talented, sensitive, mixed race kid with dreadlocks down to his baggy panted knees..I LOVE THIS KID!

Met him, unknown, sight unseen at the airport last year when I volunteered to pick him up and make a day of it while my daughter and her boyfriend were at work.

We hit it off immediately on many levels…with an age dif. of 30 years.

Had I copped an attitude based on his looks I’d have missed out getting to know a really great human being!

Good things come in sorts of packages…just because you have rigid ideas of what constitutes an appropriate wrap job has no bearing on the contents of the package.

Shit…didn’t we all learn these things in kindergarten?

Underwear is called underwear for a reason. I see no reason not to insist that young people observe a minimum standard of dress, nor to assume that any American should be exempt from such standards by virtue of race.

The issue about targeting minorities comes from the arguments against this cause. One black woman said her child is a junior in pre-calc. When she drops him off at school, he leaves with his pants at the waist, when she picks him up, pants under the arse. She can’t enforce it, but she doesn’t want schools to suspend him and miss class.

I support the notion of stricter standards, but the gray area could hurt good students who don’t see the need to follow dress code.

I went to play basketball recently, and a black kid was playing in UnderArmor underwear. I say this because his basketball shorts waistband started just above the knee. How do you play like that?

@Coloma I am all for freedom of choice etc. but school is not a choice it is the law. I pay a hefty chunk of change to provide that “free” public school education for my kids and do not need or expect my kids to be distracted by ass cracks and thong underwear sticking up out of some low slung trousers. It’s called common decency is all, nothing more nothing less.

@Cruiser

I think you over estimate the distraction.

Anything that becomes an everyday thing soon loses it’s punch.

It is you that are distracted, so you assume your kids are as well.

Thats called ‘projection.’ lolol

I betcha’ a million bucks that your kids would say they did not even notice the distraction you claim is real.

I mean seriously…is this really something to get your BVDs all in a twist over?

@Coloma I am certainly not all knotted up over this as I know our schools here are enforcing a certain dress code that covers this issue as they should and I am merely expressing my support for all schools to continue to enforce minimal dress code standards that include prudish draconian measures like covering up ass cracks!! Don’t make me get out the Butt Putty now!! lol!

@Coloma My beliefs are not so much from conditioning, as from…..AGAIN….common sense & decency. Yes, they are conclusions. Conclusions that the person doesn’t have any qualms in having their butt crack showing, their boobs falling out of their tops & just in general, causing a distraction. I guess that’s what they want. They want the “look at me” factor.

And what you said to @Cruiser, so you think that if we see this kind of apparel every day that that makes it easier to accept?

I don’t like the look, but I don’t really care.

But I think if schools are going to have a dress code, it should be standardized so that it’s as clear as possible.

My blond daughter was sent home from high school because she dyed a could of strands of hair pink. She was told it was against dress code.

Yet there were any number of young black women there with bright hair dyes like orange or magenta – also hair colors that don’t occur in nature.

Wording in dress codes made it difficult for boys to wear earrings, for instance.

@Coloma I agree probably not a distraction for the children, but you risk having teachers who judge the student differenty (even though they shouldn’t) and it is a life lesson that appropriate attire matters. Wimbeldon wear white, Vatican cover your shoulders and knees, school underwear is to be under and not seen for both sexes.

Not to mention less formal places like if you walk into my store with baggy clothes you will be watched more to makes sure you don’t shoplift. Not because you “look” like a bad person, but because you come wearing something that you have space to shove items you want to shoplift. I have seen people in front of my eyes roll up a pair of trousers and shove them down their pants and hide the buldge with an oversized shirt hanging past their waist. There is nothing wrong with knowing that people will judge you by what you wear to some extent. Children don’t believe this. That is part of the reason they are less likely to judge each other by what they wear, that is where we agree. But, the real world is out there.

@jbfletcherfan
@Cruiser

I am simply saying that anything that becomes common place goes largely unnoticed.

You may notice because it goes against your value system, but to the kids it is common place and therefore not anything than stands out.

It is ‘normal’ by their standards as it is indecent to yours.

I am also saying HOW is this generations dress style any different that any others?

Same rope, different ends…as ‘they’ say…The more things change, the more they remain the same.

What baffles me is why people, in general, decide to create their own angst and suffering over what others choose.

THATS the real question!

What is it about YOU that needs to create problems when none really exist?

Sorry, but thats the truth!

@Coloma Excuse me??? Who says I’m creating problems??? I have the right to my opinion just as you do. What if YOU’RE the one causing problems by condoning this type of dress? My way of thinking will cause a lot less stink by not liking it than your’s will by agreeing with it & encouraging it.

Who are you kidding. It is so apparent of being nothing more then an act of rebellion.

Droopy pans are impractical and ridiculous looking. Yea those boxers are real sexy. And you having to hold your pants up. Wow!
What a man!.

@JLeslie Everyone had/has a right to an education Agreed. The question is public or private. I don’t think it’s gonna change, but if I had the power to change it, given the sorry state of public non-education in the US, I’d put in the private sector.

@plethora The poor will not go to school without public education and we will have a worse problem. Your idea is the same as what already goes on in the third world. It doesn’t work.

I don’t agree with school uniforms but i dont think the dress code should be too lenient either. Kids are kids and should be treated as such but I find the baggy pants and the drooping paints to be rediculous. The kids who call themselves “juggalos” should be forced to dress a little more approprietly. It’s pointless after high school(public school) you have to dress a certain way to get a job. Even if you go to college do to the fact you have to pay tuition. You cant look like a clown or a complete douchebag in life. That should be taught in school. You should be able to form your own style but that doesn’t mean someone should over do it. I saw a kid with half his head shaved and the other half was long hair down past his shoulders. Pick a style dude. and you don’t have look like the insane clown posse or marilyn manson. Another thing don’t say “that’s your style” because it isn’t. too many kids do it for it to be “your style” I remember back in high school there were a few kids that I never seen their true face because they wore so much “goth” makeup. You’re not a Goth either.

Let the kids dress how they want to dress. There are much bigger problems to worry about. This isn’t the damn military. It should not be up to lawmakers to decide what’s good for children. It’s up to the parents. I had blue hair and I turned out alright… I think.

LMAO, I originally thought the question was going to be geared to family members throwing their pants on the floor instead of the laundry basket.
I would so be in favor of making that a law.
However, I think uniforms should be introduced in schools all together. They do it in so many countries around the world. Nothing wrong with gettings kids heads into studying instead of how they need to dress to attract so and so. Plus it will help with gang related areas. But it should be all schools.

@jbfletcherfan

I am not intending to offend you or anyone.

I am just posing a divergent way of looking at this ‘situation.’

And, I am encouraging everyone to look at their own dearly held beliefs of what constitutes right/wrong.

Kids have always exhibited their independence by going against the grain…as it ‘should’ be.

I’d be much more worried about the conforming child than the one that runs with the pack.

I am simply advocating a let it be approach, as all the complaining changes nothing except the state of your well being.

And yes, anything that becomes commonplace does lose it’s punch.

I have a beautiful country place and often I have to remind myself how spectacular the beauty is after living here for the last 4 years.

When I have guests they are dumbfounded by the peace and beauty that I have come to take for granted.

It IS all about seeing with new eyes, and I am simply proposing that there is nothing new with any of this, and certainly nothing ‘serious’ enough to give oneself an ulcer over. lol

To answer your original question… would I support a LAW about this? No! We have too damn many laws now. This is a personal issue. Not a legal one.

@Coloma My kids have my blood and even at my age the sight of a thong or female ass crack still gets my heart racing and has my full attention so I don’t expect my boys will ever get “used’ to that either!! lol!

Dress codes are a matter of fact nearly everywhere. You can’t go around naked. You can’t be shirtless and shoeless in eating establishments. There are dress standards for work, for court, for nightclubs, for walking through airport scanners.

Schools act in loco parentis that means that they are responsible for the children in their care. It is absolutely reasonable that schools have standards and that those standards reflect the society at large.

@silverfly “Let the kids dress how they want to dress.”

You are kidding right? You know how one thing leads to another!! Let the kids show ass crack today and they think it’s all OK and next thing you know there will be full frontal nudity and orgies in the bathrooms! Good lord!! I want to go back to school!! ;)

@Cruiser

Yes, well, I can see that from a mans perspective. lol

Okay…carry on fellow flutherers…I am taking my ass crack out into this superb spring day…time for lunch!

Well. A “lively debate” that ended peacefully. Good on us. :-)

@jbfletcherfan

Cheers!

Yeah it’s nice to have a friendly debat. It’s really rare. No personal attacts on any individual. :)

Yes, good both of youse! It’s all too rare.

@janbb You mean it’s all too rear! sorry couldn’t resist! And pull up your pants already!!

Umm, Did any of you see the video I posted above? This is reason enough to ban it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShsASxHXTFY

How did he walk with that shotgun down his leg?

@jbfletcherfan Is that a shotgun in your pocket or are you glad to see me?

@Coloma I don’t wear pants – I’m a penguin!

@janbb LOLLLLLL…yeah, I guess I was REAL glad to see you. (said the squirrel to the penguin) :D

I’ve always wanted a nice piece of tail.

Mine’s very impressive when it rustles

Enforce a dress code involving skinny jeans. Gangsters can’t hide weapons in skinny jeans.

@Cruiser What’s wrong with nudity? And orgies in the bathrooms? Come on now. Kids are already having babies at 13. You think making a law against baggy pants is going to stop them from screwing each other? I’m not an anarchist, but we can’t just make a damn law for everything with a problem. There are better solutions, we’re just too lazy.

@Captain_Fantasy You want to turn all the gangsters into emo kids? What kind of monster are you?

Quite frankly from a women that loves skirts, well…skirts are way more likely to cause issues than baggy pants.

Every woman has a skirt story or 10. lolol

Maybe just ban skirts

I am sure more human beings were conceived in a moment of wild skirt abandon throughout history than anyone might imagine. lololol

@silverfly That is why I support lacing school lunches with silver nitrate and removing all the bathroom doors in all the schools! We can nip this problem in the bud before all our teenage daughters are barefoot and pregnant!! :O

@Cruiser Where do I sign on that law?

@silverfly Right here… www.nomoresexinschoolspetition.com ;)

Signed!

@silverfly Awesome! Now that I have my 2 signatures I can forward this baby right over to the Governor!

I think all men should wear kilts…mmmmmmm

Kilted men and skirted women….solves the dilemma of clothing needs and ease of passion. lolol

Everyone should wear spandex.

@Cruiser Skip the governor… straight to Obama! With this law in place, he’s sure to take a second term and take this country straight to socialism!

I am a mother of 2 young black men. The reality…young black men are stereotyped as thugs when they appear “anywhere” with their pants off their butts. No one thinks or cute boy or oh he’s just going through a phase or generational dress code like many are suggesting on this blog. The reality is many would grab their purses or wallets and cringe for fear of being robbed. Unless you live in the community and understand who are thugs and who are not, your instincts will kick in and you will have a negative take on the dress code. I do not wish my sons to have to endure this type of stereotyping. They have enough to deal with just being black.

@crystal48891 all men who look and dress like thugs look like thugs, black, white, yellow, and brown.

Not in the world we live in today unfortunately. I wish that were only true my dear.

@crystal48891 It is true in my world. Maybe you are thinking everyone is afraid of a black man? That is a different thing.

@JLeslie. I am not generalizing and saying everyone is, but unfortunately a significantly large amounts still are even with television and social media, etc. Some stereotypes are still perpetuated purposely.

@crystal48891 That I agree with. Stereotypes are perpetuated in the media. But, sometimes they are perpetuated in real life also. Which, unfortunately is somewhat the case. The stereotypes generally don’t come out of thin air. What is unfair is to assume everyone who fits into a stereotype possesses all the negative traits. Each person is an individual.