Fashion has come full circle to the 90s when plaid shirts, midriff-bearing cutoff tops, and army boots were popular. To the dismay of many these styles are back on the racks of teen stores, but one New York school is saying not here and we mean it.

Here’s a positive story about educators imposing rules for the betterment and safety of the student body.

A Staten Island high school is enforcing a new no-nonsense policy called “Dress for Success” that bans everything from short-shorts and miniskirts, to hoodies and halter tops.

At least 100 students – the majority of them girls – were sent to the dean’s office before parents were called to drop off “appropriate” clothing on the first day alone. The next day 100 more kids were cited.

Some students are heatedly vowing to protest- and some parents are angry too. However, one parent who agrees with the enforcement of the rules noted that at a recent football games, she thought she was at a strip club.

Is this crackdown so bad if it means kids are forced to cover up from baring too much skin or learning to dress in a respectable way for school?

We often report on rules that schools impose that lack common sense and judgment. These rules and the diligent enforcement of them are a breath of fresh air.

Students, especially girls, in junior high and high school don inappropriate clothing in an attempt to stay fashionable or to attract the attention of boys. What they create instead is the wrong kind of attention and a distraction for all in school.

The New York Post reports:

A strict dress code introduced by a Staten Island public high school principal has led to the detention of 200 kids — and a rebellion among some students and parents.

[Student] and 100 other stunned offenders were promptly hauled to the dean’s office and then the auditorium, while their parents were called to drop off “appropriate” clothing.

If parents were working or unreachable, kids were forced to change into school-logo gym shorts and a T-shirt. The next day, 100 more kids were similarly punished
at the academically well-regarded, 4,000-student school.

The new, no-nonsense policy, dubbed “Dress for Success” on pages 32 and 33 of the student handbook, is a “local decision” made “at the discretion of the principal,” said a city Department of Education spokeswoman.

For new Principal Joseph Scarmato, who did not return calls, dressing for success means 15 staffers scouring the arriving student body every morning for exposed skin.

The code doesn’t just cover tank tops and short-shorts, but miniskirts, leggings, skinny jeans, headbands, halter tops, sweats, hats, hoodies, sunglasses and more.

Last week, the principal began meeting with parents about dress-code enforcement, said DOE officials, adding that parents signed off on the handbook before the new school year began.

We applaud a school system that’s trying to enforce rules that all parents agreed to when signing their student’s student handbook.

Kids, and again especially girls, need to know that skimpy clothes are best left at home. If studying and their lesson is truly their primary objective, then not being able to wear daisy dukes shouldn’t be onerous.

They're free to let loose on the weekends or elsewhere but at least the last thing other students need to focus on is what someone is flashing.