The fashion police are descending on Plantation High today where saggy-bottomed teens will be subjected to "Pull Up Your Pants Day."
Following in the footsteps of President Obama, who last year told MTV that "brothers should pull up their pants," the school is encouraging kids to hide the underwear and hike up their trousers.
The day was devised by two teachers, Diana Carter and Dona McKenzie, who had become frustrated with the low-hanging look in the school's hallways. The two even managed to get a Pompano Beach Wal-Mart to donate belts for teachers to hand out to offenders.
"The young men need to be educated based upon where it originated from, which it came from our prisons," McKenzie said. "They need to be aware of how they're looking when they're out and walking around, how people percieve them."
The school also put together a forum to discuss professional dress, part of principal Brougher Bass' attempt to inject some style into his students.
"We want our students to have the ability to express themselves," Bass told the Sun-Sentinel. "But we want them to have dignity, too."
"I think it makes you look more presentable when you go into a classroom," student Phillip Demercado said.
U.S. & World
The "Pull Up Your Pants Day" is only the latest battle in the war against saggers.
Last year Riviera Beach passed a law making it "unlawful for any person to appear in public or in view of the public wearing pants below the waist which expose the skin or undergarments."
The law carries a $159-$300 fine as well as jail time or community service sentences but fewer than 20 people have been cited.
Art Johnson, superintendent of Palm Beach County Public Schools, told the Sun-Sentinel the district deals with the fashion fad by using a dress code.
"No schools in Palm Beach would need to have a pull-up-your-pants day because we have a dress code," Johnson said. "No hats in class. No flip-flops. No short shorts. And no showing of undergarments."
