Pull Up Those Pants, Kid
As a mom, I like to see my daughter dressed fashionably, but neatly. We are just coming up on the years where she has a definite opinion on how she wants to looks and we are working together to make sure we are both happy with how she looks when she goes out of the house. I can only hope it stays like that for a while.
For parents will older children and less control over how they dress, the state is stepping in and I have to say I am thrilled. Here in Florida, the Senate Prekindergarten-12th Grade Education Committee unanimously approved a ban on droopy pants in Florida schools.
More specifically, Sen. Gary Siplin’s “pull up your britches” bill (SB 302) says that kids who let their pants ride low to show underwear, G-strong or worse in school will first receive a verbal warning and a call to parents, but could eventually face suspension from three to ten days, based on the violation.
Now the bill will move to the Senate floor after the Legislature convenes in March.
There is an identical House bill (HB 335), but it has not yet had a committee hearing.
Past versions of the bill have included jail time for repeat offenders. That is absent in the current bills.
As a mom…heck, as a human I agree that there should be a degree of modestly expected out of our youth. If we cannot teach our children to be modest and respectable when they are young, their mores are simply going to grow along with them and we will have some deplorable adults on our hands eventually.
I want my daughter to succeed. I want her to have a lot of unique and individual character traits and still be able to fit into society. I understand the need to express one’s self via fashion and music. I was there myself as a teen. But, I also understand the value of being able to fit in with society. While being a misfit might be cool in high school for some subsets, there are very few venues in adult life where this is looked upon favorably.
I know I sound like a middle-aged Dad, but that’s great news to me!
This is absurd. It is not the right of our government to decide how someone dresses. If this is constitutional then so should it be that we tell women that they cannot show any amount of cleavage. Regardless if we think how our children dress strangely or unattractively, it is not our right to say, judge, or rule on how other peoples’ children dress. We as parents can only control how our own children dress when they live under our roof. Heck, I know my parents did not like my long hair and “hippie” clothing when i was a teenager, but it was a phase that I grew out of and now am always clean-shaven and usually in a suit and tie.