Teh One Who Knocks
10-18-2011, 12:37 PM
By Cara Fitzpatrick, South Florida Sun Sentinel
http://s4.postimage.org/48bemtgc8/27hot_27_27sexy_27_27beautiful_27_27naughty_27.jpg
When it comes to dressing for school, some South Florida students are following a fashion mandate one teacher describes as the Three Bs: Busts, bellies and butts.
Midriff-baring shirts. Backless halters. Short shorts with pockets hanging down.
Some parents and teachers say the garments defy not only dress codes — and a new state law banning saggy pants in schools — but common decency. At a public forum this month, several Broward parents said the dress code — and lack of enforcement — was one of their biggest concerns.
Jeanne Albertus, a teacher at Piper High in Sunrise, said some students wear "hems so high and necklines so low that nothing is left to the imagination." At Coral Springs High, teacher Penny Pagano says the boys' pants are sagging "way below their butts."
Dress codes cover most body-baring possibilities. Palm Beach County Schools has this helpful line: "Undergarments shall not be worn as outergarments."
Unlike Broward, Palm Beach Schools allows each school to develop its code.
Broward's dress code includes exhaustive detail, even prohibiting "bicycle racing attire" along with leggings, bodysuits and hosiery unless it's worn under "dresses, skirts or shorts of appropriate length." Appropriate length is nothing above "mid-thigh."
Linda Weiss, whose daughter attends Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, said the students there tend to abide by the dress code.
"For the most part, the girls are wearing their sweatshirts and shorts,'' said Weiss, who said there are more restrictions now than she faced. "In the early 70s when I went to high school, there were no dress codes.''
A few teachers said that while some students technically follow the rules, they do so in skin-tight clothes.
Laurie Rich Levinson, a Broward board member, said she thinks principals should do more to enforce the rules. But she acknowledged fighting hiked hemlines is a losing battle – at least outside of the schools.
"It is South Florida," she said.
http://s4.postimage.org/48bemtgc8/27hot_27_27sexy_27_27beautiful_27_27naughty_27.jpg
When it comes to dressing for school, some South Florida students are following a fashion mandate one teacher describes as the Three Bs: Busts, bellies and butts.
Midriff-baring shirts. Backless halters. Short shorts with pockets hanging down.
Some parents and teachers say the garments defy not only dress codes — and a new state law banning saggy pants in schools — but common decency. At a public forum this month, several Broward parents said the dress code — and lack of enforcement — was one of their biggest concerns.
Jeanne Albertus, a teacher at Piper High in Sunrise, said some students wear "hems so high and necklines so low that nothing is left to the imagination." At Coral Springs High, teacher Penny Pagano says the boys' pants are sagging "way below their butts."
Dress codes cover most body-baring possibilities. Palm Beach County Schools has this helpful line: "Undergarments shall not be worn as outergarments."
Unlike Broward, Palm Beach Schools allows each school to develop its code.
Broward's dress code includes exhaustive detail, even prohibiting "bicycle racing attire" along with leggings, bodysuits and hosiery unless it's worn under "dresses, skirts or shorts of appropriate length." Appropriate length is nothing above "mid-thigh."
Linda Weiss, whose daughter attends Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, said the students there tend to abide by the dress code.
"For the most part, the girls are wearing their sweatshirts and shorts,'' said Weiss, who said there are more restrictions now than she faced. "In the early 70s when I went to high school, there were no dress codes.''
A few teachers said that while some students technically follow the rules, they do so in skin-tight clothes.
Laurie Rich Levinson, a Broward board member, said she thinks principals should do more to enforce the rules. But she acknowledged fighting hiked hemlines is a losing battle – at least outside of the schools.
"It is South Florida," she said.