Clothing

what do you mean, opposing side? Are you being asked to defend them, or criticize them?

 

Is this a secular newspaper?

Biblically of course there are many passages which deal with being modest, thinking of pure things, not dragging out your private things into the public arena.

But if we are looking at only secular reasonings, than a good reason to be opposed would be it adds to the whole culture of thinking about this stuff earlier and earlier in kid's lives. We have enough problems with kids having babies already. We need to reintroduce a stigma into our society about what ought to be private between a husband and wife.

 

oh good, so you can use Biblical reasoning, too. Id offer thoughts on what the Bible says about our thought life....and perhaps look at the impact on society of what a pure thought life can produce, versus what we have now.

 

It is within the school's power to enact and enforce a dress code. One of the things school teaches us is proper social attire habits. Once kids are in the work force, they will be required to abide by the dress code of the organization they work for. Most companies have policies against attire with sexually suggestive slogans on them, in line with their policies against sexual harrassment.

Likewise, in the school, it is right and proper for a school to ban attire with sexually suggestive slogans on them, as they are likely to be sexually harrassing.

My daughter's college has a ban on such attire. Her high school did as well. She went to a public high school, and attends a state university.

 

My son's school has even banned anything with a monkey on it because of a crude expression that contains the word "monkey".

 

Never back away from giving a Biblical answer even in a secular environment. However, your premises probably will not be accepted and unbelievers will not deem your reasoning valid. Hence, I recommend that you decide exactly what you are trying to do. This will determine your approach. If you are trying to present a Gospel witness, then you must by all means declare thus saith the Lord and reason from the Scriptures. On the other hand, if you are arguing simply for morality and decency, then you must take a secular premise and argue from it.

Here are some ideas:
1. If clothing with sexual innuendoes is allowed, then sexuality is aroused and teens are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior. Continual public display of sexual material implies a public acceptance that removes societal morès. Breakdown in verbal inhibitions causes a breakdown in behavioral inhibitions resulting in an increased incidents of:
* STD’s (sexually transmitted diseases) & AIDS
* Pregnancy
2. Clothing influences behavior. Down dressing and wearing clothing with sexual overtones causes more acting out behavior and misbehavior. It tends toward disruption of the educational process that is built on structure and order. This is why schools with uniforms report better behavior and fewer discipline problems as well as improved grades.
3. Public sexual innuendo is blatantly offensive to some people, especially Christians. No one has the right to shove his or her views or lifestyles in another’s face. One may privately hold his own views and practice his lifestyle privately but he cannot publicly flaunt what is repulsive and offensive to the larger community. The Supreme Court has ruled that a community may curtail pornography that it finds offensive to its moral values. Sexual slogans on clothing in school would be offensive to the morals of the larger school community.

I’m sure that you can think of other ideas in this same vein.

 

good post by paid...

Also, sexually suggestive mottos, etc. on clothing "objectify" others...in other words, a girl with a provocative message on her shirt is more likely to be viewed as an object of lust, sexual attraction, etc. If I'm debating a secularist, I would stress how this objectification causes others to be valued less than before.

This tenet has been the one that has caused feminist groups and Christian groups to agree about the dangers of pornography. And, it's not an unbiblical argument.

God Bless...congrats on being known for having standards. Speak the truth, my friend, and do it in love...

 

I would not be ashamed of the nicknames you've been given.

 

You might want to approach it from a results perspective as well. Callous or careless attitudes about sex have had a dramatic and detrimental social impact since the sexual revolution began in the 1960's.

The CDC has surveys you can access on teen sexuality, STD's, illegitimacy, and other related factors. You can probably find surveys that link or at least parallel decaying sexual morals to the worsening of virtually every social problem we face from murder to poor student performance.

God teaches us the right attitude to have concerning sex in the scriptures... perversions of that attitude have consequences just as certain as stepping out in front of a speeding bus.