Don't publicly humiliate your students when they deliberately or inadvertently commit dress-code violations. For example, suppose that one of your boys, Joe Boxer, is “sagging,” which is kid slang for exposing a large swath of his underwear by wearing his pants too low on his posterior. You could shout, “Goodness, Mr. Boxer — I see England, I see France, I see someone's underpants!” As the class laughs uproariously, you could then write a note and have Mr. Boxer escorted in shame to the front office to receive punishment in the form of a detention.

Or, you could discreetly take Mr. Boxer aside and courteously ask him to please pull up his pants and tighten his belt before you cite him for a dress-code violation. You'll probably find to your delight that Mr. Boxer will immediately cooperate, and you'll have no further problems from him that day. If you do have problems, then he was fairly warned and has only himself to blame if he has to trek down to the office to get a detention.

Conversely, suppose one of your girls, Minnie Tea, comes to class wearing a T-shirt that does an extremely poor job of covering several inches of her midriff. You could exclaim, “Heavens, Miss Tea, I never knew before today that you had such a huge navel!” After the class has finished gasping, you could choose to have Miss Tea marched down to the office in disgrace.

Or, you could discreetly take Miss Tea aside and courteously ask her if she happens to have a sweater or a jacket with her. Many times, when you ask this question the answer will be, “Yes.” Ask Miss Tea to please put on her sweater or jacket and keep it on for the remainder of the day before you cite her for a dress-code violation. If she has no jacket, warn her that if she again comes to school similarly dressed, you'll send her to the office. You shouldn't have any further problems.

Allow your students to maintain a little dignity when they make dress-code blunders and everyone will be much happier.