Girls Spanked, Suspended for Skimpy Prom Dresses

Be very, very careful about what you wear to the prom in Alabama. Over a dozen students at Oxford High School were disciplined for dress code violations this weekend and offered a choice: corporal punishment or a 3-day suspension. The dress code prohibits, among other things, transparent materials and revealing necklines. “Our community has certain expectations of what is appropriate,” the principal says.

Reports differ on how many students were disciplined. The Anniston Star puts the number at 25, but CNN (see video) says 18—of whom all but one chose the paddling. “We’re too old to be paddled,” says the lone holdout. “This is not the 1940s.” Her mother is incensed: “They said her dress length was short,” she fumes. “But that’s the way they are making them now.” (More Alabama stories.)