It must have been a slow news day in Cincinnati for this to be a big story:


CINCINNATI -- Imagine it's a special day at school, and you're asked to leave because of what you're wearing.

That's what happened to a 13-year-old girl at Holy Family Catholic School in Price Hill on the day of her May crowning and graduation pictures, WLWT Eyewitness News 5's Brian Hamrick reported.....

There's cleavage, but when you're as big as Dannielle, there's going to be cleavage," Meyer said. "There's nothing I can do about that."

I note that this is a Catholic school..a private institution. They have the right to set a dress code which specifies "no cleavage". Obviously, the young lady is showing cleavage. The school was well within its rights to send her home.

However, this is pretty mild compared to whats worn in schools on a daily basis now. The most popular styles for teenage girls now show bellybutton AND cleavage. Short shorts and skirts are common and the trend is to be as provocative as possible.

In the meantime, boys are wearing pants that I could make a nice tent out of. Baggy pants that look like they are going to fall to the knees at any time are the norm now. The bottoms of the pants are so wide that you can't even tell if they are wearing shoes.

Regulating student dress is a pain in every school I've ever worked in. Students want to wear the latest styles and express their individuality. Girls want to be hot and boys want that grunge disaffected look. Even the best dress codes leave a lot of room for disagreement. Schools want students to dress in a way that is not disruptive to learning, but that is hard to define! Parents are increasingly aggressive in backing their children up when it comes to dress code issues.

Hell, when I was in high school, boys couldn't have beards or mustaches. My principal kept razors and shaving cream in his office, and he wasn't shy about sending you to the bathroom to use them.

One solution is simple: school uniforms. It takes the guesswork out for everyone. When we lived in Louisiana our children all attended schools that required uniforms and we loved it. The kids hated it but they got used to it.

I've heard kids make fun of others by remarking, "you get your clothes at Wal Mart..I've seen that shirt there". Parents are pressured to by those latest $150 shoes or $75 jeans so little Johnny can keep up in the fashion department.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could focus on what schools are actually supposed to do..teaching and learning?

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