Proms in the south seem to be on a mission to make sure that I always have something to blog about. First, we had the school in Mississippi that was so freaked out by the concept of homosexuality that they canceled their senior prom (here, here and here). Now, a school in Alabama decided that some of its students' dresses were too skimpy, and decided to paddle them.Yes, you heard that right. The school gave the students a choice: they could either be paddled or accept a three day suspension. The girl pictured (with the dress that was too "skimpy") was the only one who chose suspension. The other seventeen chose to be paddled.
This story has been covered in various places: WMUR New Hampshire, KESQ, AJC and the Anniston Star.
Of course, school officials' desire to paddle the kind of girls who would wear "skimpy" dresses is understandable. But this isn't 1950, and I thought our society was a bit more suspicious of pseudo-sexually dominant "discipline" methods nowadays.
Why are school officials even trying to get involved with the question of whether a dress is too skimpy? Was there any question that there was a danger of actual harm to anyone? Clearly not, because the girls were still allowed to attend the dance. And even if they're involved, why does Alabama apparently still think it's alright to paddle eighteen-year-old girls? The local news articles made the suspension sound like a bigger deal than the paddling.
But as Elie at Above the Law says, "It’s 2010 in America, that’s got to mean it’s at least 1960 in Alabama."
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