[Billfred]

Back when I was at Irmo, the essentials of the dress code were that you weren't able to show underwear, your navel, or too much shoulder (read: no spaghetti straps), and whatever covered your lower half had to be fingertip length. Also on the black list were gang-related clothing, tops that referenced tobacco/alcohol/drugs/sex/etc, and flip-flops. (I assume that the latter was for safety reasons--ever had someone step on your flip-flop when you're walking?) Oh, and no headgear, except on hat days. (They make sure to emphasize hats, not doo-rags or anything else.)

When I was there, enforcement was generally lax unless it was something serious; I recall many T-shirts loaded with double entendre passing muster with teachers. The principal has changed since my days as a Yellow Jacket, though; I could see him (an import from the district's Alternative Academy, who I remember from my days of going to school board meetings) doing something like this.

But, to get back to the story posted, I'm down with the concept of coming down hard on it. You set the rules, you enforce them. If folks fail to comply with the rules, they deserve to be punished. Not punishing students for it because there are too many infractions just sends the wrong message.