Topic : 01/28 The Baggy Pants Debate

 Could the baggy pants simple be a symptom of other issues our young people are facing?  Perhaps it has more to do with young people finding their own way, learning how to make decisions, learning consequences of decisions, or needing some positive attention.  If the issue is deeper than simply the comfort of wearing baggy pants, lets deal with the issue.  I'd rather turn my head when I see baggy pants,  than have them regulated which will simply force young people to find another way to express the needs we grown-ups aren't meeting.    That being said, I wish my brother in law who is over 45 years old would pull up his pants.  As a grandma, I get the urge to change a diaper when I see "droopy drawers".

Hey Dr. Phil,

I usually don't do this....not because I have some negative connotation or anything, I guess I have lived so long just mindin' my own business and raising my family by our values. I figured someone else with more "importance, value, connection or $$" would take action.....I  KNOW  it is time we stop using the excuse of "political correctness", or "freedom of choice" or "tolerance" to rule our disconnection with the human race.

On that note.....YOU MISSED THE POINT!

The saggy pant thing is in no way a racial problem....it is a generation problem. It is more of the same issues our younger generation is continuing to display. It is about respect.....mutual respect for yourself and others! We continue to live with an attitude of entitlement, selfishness, and a belief of "I am what matters".

To try to control behavior with laws is silly. Have our current laws deterred those that fill our jail systems? Does a speed limit really stop those who feel "entitled" or justified in their choice to speed?

You often say, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is insanity.....well how are all of these laws working for us?!

I think you also missed the point of the hip hop guy who wrote the song...(sorry, I forgot his name). He didn't set out to offend the gay community...he apologized and went one step further, he changed the lyrics of his songs. He was trying to explain the history of the sagging fashion. No one really believes that "sex" in prisons is about a persons sexual identity...maybe for some, but come on....it is about CONTROL!

Didn't you yourself recently speak in the media about someone or something and then have your "intentions" among other things challenged? You followed by making a statement with an apology and then took action by not speaking on that subject any more. OK, accepted, we are encouraged (by you and evidence of past actions) to believe your truth here and move on. I think he deserves that same mutual respect and support. (That is my point)

You said repeatedly today "we should pick our battles".....shouldn't we really "battle" any attitude that is offensive, or disrespectful to other human beings? Maybe if we "battled" over the "little things" that display attitudes of dishonesty, anger, sarcasm, selfishness, disrespect, disobeying, lack of honor and integrity

at an early age and stage we could change the future of our world. MAYBE...we wouldn't have the really "BIG THINGS" that follow due to tolerance and apathy over all these "little things".

It is likel iving the "Golden Rule"......

I hope it is apparent from my "message" here, We should not being racial, We should not being legalistic, and I am not condoning sagging pants (it is pretty ugly from a fashion point & it is offensive to the majority)

---Hey, the FCC just majorly fined NYPD Blue for showing "butt" on their TV show in 2003.....why then should we tolerate the underwear and very often the "butt" in our communities and nation, I am saying maybe, we really need a National Campaign to hold up a mirror and check our attitudes before and after we speak, act or react !

Choosing to show "good" attitudes is not a sign of weakness...it is a sign of strength! You are demonstrating that you are strong enough to be meek (not nieve or weak)for another's benefit. WOW...how could that impact our world......

The Baggy Pants Debate Doctor Phil Doctor Phil I am staying out of this debate because if I do debate----

then I will get into trouble. See you on Monday Janurary 28th, 2008.  Sincerley Your. Russell Vlaanderen.---

I get really tired of how so many issues become reduced to being racial.  Pulling your pants up is as simple as self-respect and good grooming. Sagging pants, in my opinion, has nothing to do with race and has everything to do with a disrespect of yourself and others. DUH! You are showing your ass...  As a probation officer, I do not allow any of my probationers to report to my office with sagging pants as it is disrespectful regardless of their race. It is considered "repoting in a reasonable manner" and I also do not allow them to report in pajamas or slippers. It seems like we need new ridiculous laws because we have lost the ability to police ourselves and we as a society do not have the good sense to pull up our pants! It is similar to the "truck nuts" issue where we no longer have the good sense to know that a pair of testicles hanging from our vehicles is vulgar and disrespectful and sooner or later, there will have to be a law to remind us of common sense in this regard. We can't bitch about ridiculous laws when we no longer show that we have any common sense.