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Should hair below the collar be allowed on boys in public schools?

Should girls be allowed to wear pants to school?

Should skirts be allowed above the knee?

These were the burning issue when I entered middle school in September of 1968. Hair had just opened off-Broadway that year. The Vietnam War was still coming to us nightly on the evening news. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in June. The Democratic convention saw incredible and widespread violence. Finally Richard M. Nixon was elected President in 1968.

So here we are in 2007 and we are asking if this generation of young people should be allowed to wear their pants below their hips, showing their underwear. Recently a young woman was told that an airline was "family oriented" and that her dress was not up to their standards. I have to ask myself don't we have anything better to do? Don't we have anything better to concern ourselves with than how our young people choose to dress themselves during their teenage years? Will the styles of today, as appalling as they are really cause the downfall of civilization as we know it? For those of us who remember 1968 or any of the 60's for that matter, can we really say that our style choices were all that much better? Remember hip-huggers? Remember mini-skirts? How about platform shoes? Or peasant skirts and tube tops? I just want to remind us all that many of these styles are simply coming back to haunt us.

Another point of reference and one that I think is important for all of us that might be parents. Children grow up! They really do mature and they grow out of their appalling style choices. My sons who are now 27 and 30 today dress like mature adults; but once upon a time I was embarrassed to be seen in public places with them at times I would demand that they walk ten paces behind or ahead of me. No matter what humiliation I heaped upon their oblivious heads they maintained their right to individual "style" choice which included blue hair, black finger nail polish, and pants that were only held up my their male appendage, which I frequently pointed out was not large enough (I knew this from diaper changes) to sustain their pants at the hip level. Today my sons will point to teenagers who walk around malls and shake their heads in disgust. My oldest son has actually sent an employee home for wearing inappropriate clothing to work; I laughed out loud when told this story.

As a side note the style of beltless pants hanging low on the hips is actually a jailhouse adaptation. I tell this to kids I meet all the time, as in "do you really want to look like criminals?" They simply stare at me with looks of bemusment as if I was speaking to them in a different language; I suppose that I am.

But to the real point of the question, the answer is a resounding NO. We should be focused on more important things than banning clothing styles. Focus on education. Focus on eliminating teenage pregnancy and the spread of AIDS and other STDS. Focus on eliminating violence in our neighborhoods and in our schools. Focus on improving the quality of life and their future; on improving opportunities. Focus on keeping our young people out of jail. Stop worrying about the small stuff like how they wear their hair or how they choose to dress. Worry about improving their minds the rest will follow.

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