TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A new Florida state law bans students from wearing saggy pants during school.
The law, that went into effect July 1, prohibits students from showing their "underwear or body parts in an indecent or vulgar manner or that disrupts the orderly learning environment," which includes saggy pants, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Saturday.
"It's a fashion statement for these young people, unfortunately," said Steve Frazier, principal of Silver Trail Middle School in Pembroke Pines. "But what they need to understand and what we try to teach the young people is that it's also offensive, and because it's offensive it's not appropriate."
Wilsert Odige, a senior at Lake Worth High, says he has no intention of complying with the dress code.
"It's how I wear my pants," said Odige, 17. "I don't mean to offend anybody. But you don't have to look at it."
Yet, school administrators say they are vigilantly enforcing the law, issuing warnings to students found with pants sagging.
"We hit them with the warning immediately," said Principal Shawn Cerra of Taravella High in Coral Springs. "We have the occasional student who is not falling in line and complying."
