In case you haven’t been watching the news, this world we live in today is an ever increasingly troubled one. People past their 50s will be quick to remind anyone of how incredibly different and dangerous these times are than when they were younger. There’s a war in Iraq, cancer uncured and running wild, gangs on the streets, drugs infecting the schools and terrorism is apparently “everywhere.”
With all of these problems affecting humanity at large, sometimes the concerns that hit even closer to home can be missed. According to Dallas Independent School District trustee Ron Price, the biggest problem the city of Dallas is faced with today isn’t students dropping out of school, or the fact that the city has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country, but instead, something much more sinister and troubling: baggy pants.
Dallas area public schools already maintain a conservative dress code, one which strictly enforces a policy requiring students to keep their pants pulled up to the waistline at all times. This, however, is not enough for Price, who has taken it upon himself to form a crusade for public decency around the issue.
Price’s concern is in such dire need of attention that he brought it before City Hall recently, as a call to action for the city of Dallas to pass a law making it illegal for anyone to wear baggy pants.
While City Council members were supportive and understanding of what Price had to say, they wisely brought up the questionability regarding a law of this sorts legality.
The Council eventually agreed to have its legal team begin researching the issue, but largely seemed to prefer not making Price’s crusade for decency into Dallas law.
Ed Board agrees with what City Council has chosen to do. While Ron Price has just as much right as anyone else to sound off about an issue he feels is effecting his beloved community in a negative way, his argument holds many flaws.
To begin with there just isn’t a feasible way to enforce a law like this. Asking an entire city’s population not to wear a popular clothing choice like baggy pants would be close to impossible. It’s been proven throughout history that people are going to like what they’re going to like, and they’ll be damned if anyone is going to tell them any different.
Further, the concern of people wearing baggy pants might be more understandable if it was directly harming someone. While arguments can be made that they can sometimes be associated with those of a more “gangster friendly” persuasion, there is no direct proof that a simple clothing choice such as baggy pants causing any more harm than chaffing.
