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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Q: When Are T-Shirt Messages Over The Top?

Issue: 'Your boyfriend is a good kisser': Blatantly sexual messages on teen T-shirts make educators squirm/Washington Post

More Info: The T-shirts, which school officials say are racier than ever, are posing dress-code dilemmas on Washington area campuses. School systems typically ban clothing that expresses vulgarity, obscenity or lewdness or that promotes cigarettes, alcohol, drugs or weapons. For instance, T-shirts advertising Budweiser or the movie "Scarface," with Al Pacino holding a tommy gun, are taboo. But sexually suggestive T-shirts often fall into a gray area that requires officials to evaluate one shirt at a time. Some messages are considered harmless -- "Single and Ready to Mingle" or "My Boyfriend Is a Good Kisser." Others are not.

Question: Where should educators draw the line between an acceptable T-shirt message and one that is too blatantly sexual?



Huckleberries Online

D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.