Saggin' Pants

By Xylina Ortiz

Staff Writer

I bet you have seen the new fashion trend, right? I mean it’s like going around all over New York City especially in school. Everyone’s doing it even the cute guys and popular girls. I know you know about the pants below the waist with boxers exposed. See, that’s the trend most people in New York City and Crotona Academy High School follow. The sagging pants seem to be the coolest fashion trend of our time. Everyone knows that this fashion trend came from jail, but I mean who bothers to listen? Teens don’t mind that it came from jail because I mean everyone’s doing it, even celebrities. So why would they stop? In Crotona, you roam the campus and see nothing but tight clothes and sagging pants. Some students often argue with teachers on campus, saying, “I wear my clothes however I feel like it.” I think we can all conclude that we freely express ourselves with our clothing.

According to Ms. Scott, a Social Studies teacher here at Crotona, dressing like this is just a phase that some teenagers go through. She says she is very understanding of “the impact this may have on some young people.”

Ms. Scott says there are potential dangers in wearing pants below the waist. “This could be a safety hazard. It’s like accidents waiting to happen,” she says. She thinks that pants below the waist can lead to falling or tripping. She also stated, “This is a sanitation and hygiene issue.” During the day, she added, we sweat and our body rejects fluids not because we are dirty but because that’s how our body functions. She says that when your pants are below your waist, your bottom could potentially be exposed to many bacteria and germs that an individual may come in contact with while commuting to work or school. Germs could be spread by sitting on chairs, bus seats, train seats, etc or when using public restrooms, according to Ms. Scott.

Ms. Scott believes that sagging pants may send off “the wrong messages concerning our young people. Young men do not want to give off a negative impression but unfortunately some members of our society take it as a negative impression,” she says. The pants below the waist may be a fashion trend that’s cool but in the professional world, it may be taken as an insult or in a negative way, she says.

Some students agree and some students disagree with Ms. Scott’s theory. Montel Vargas says, “Sagging is more comfortable. It is also today’s style and my style.” He believes this is not a teen phase that he and other young men go through, but it is simply just a style. He understands that teachers do not want to see his pants below the waist, but he claims, “It expresses your style.” Montel admits that he feels this type of style affects his appearance so that people may portray him as a drug dealer or high school dropout, but he said that is not his intention. A style is a style and he feels it shouldn’t be such a big deal. Montel also admits he feels like this style is unattractive to the opposite sex, but it’s the comfort of the sagging that makes him want to keep his pants below the waist.

Montel disagrees with Ms. Scott’s hygiene and sanitation theory. He believes that if you’re clean enough, you wouldn’t be passing germs around. He adds that the germs are already there, so sagging shouldn’t be the blame for germs flowing around. Montel also feels it’s unfair that society focuses on young men with pants below the waist rather then girls showing too much skin.

“But why girls be half naked and it’s all good?” he says. Girls tend to wear short shorts and small clothing that shows way too much skin, so why aren’t people complaining about that, he wonders. He feels that society should be focused on both genders equally because if his style is such a bad idea. then girl’s style should be a bad idea too.

On the other hand, Ashlee Robinson, also a student at Crotona, actually agrees with Ms. Scott’s theory. “Ew, what is that!” she says she thinks when she sees a boy sagging his pants. She feels that sagging reveals too much of what a girl shouldn’t be seeing. But then Ashlee expresses the difference between “okay sagging” and “dirty sagging.”

“Okay sagging is when the pants sag just a little, when you can’t see your whole butt,” Ashlee says. “Now dirty sagging is when your butt is just all out!” The difference sets the bar to Ashlee because she believes the way you sag is the way people judge your appearance. She states too much sagging gives off negative thoughts to society while little sagging can be related to a style trend that is safer. Ashlee agrees that this is today’s fashion, and that negative appearance is not what is intended. Simply, it’s just a style to her as well. She agrees with Ms. Scott that sanitation and hygiene are an issue. She feels that exposing your body to germs is not safe, and wearing your pants below the waist is exposing your body to germs.

Different students at Crotona Academy feel different ways towards the fashion trend of sagging. I encourage all students to express your feelings on this issue here or drop us an email or text and tell us how you feel.
Xylina Ortiz is an editor at The Crotona Review.