What Sagging Says to Me

Many high school boys wear their pants a few sizes too big in the waist--so much so that they can't walk without holding up their pants up with one hand.The style is back in the news, as principals ineffectually deal with the problem. I am disgusted by this "style," and let offenders know that I have duct tape in my classroom. If they can't find a belt we can make one from the tape or they can hang out in the office since sagging is a dress code violation.

If this style of wearing pants around your ankles and showing the world your underwear could talk, this is what it would say:

"I'm lazy." I teach all levels of students--unmotivated to middling to Advanced Placement. Saggers are over-represented in the group that receives Ds and Fs. No employer in his right mind would hire one of these slackers.

"I have no respect for anyone but myself. I don't care if people see my (ugly as sin) underwear. All that matters is that I'm as unencumbered by clothes as possible. I don't care about anyone else, really." This ghastly narcissistic attitude seems to be endemic to styles circles right now.

"I'm in jail." According to the Urban Dictionary, this style originated in prison, as a mark of sexual connection to another prisoner. Popular also with rappers and fans of hip-hop culture, sagging suggests an atmosphere of lawlessness and criminality.

Parents: you have control. In addition to monitoring 140 high school students, I have five kids. Not one of them dresses in this abominable way, at least for the time they live with me.