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• "We all know this kid did this to be cool in front of his peers, it was a big joke and totally inappropriate. It takes a dog to know a dog." Ash, Old Westbury, N.Y.

• "I think if he was asked to take it off he should have left it off. The school does have right to punish him but only because he disobeyed the principal not for the costume. … I think the costume was actually pretty cool myself." K.K., Tallahassee, Fla. • "I'm a teacher … My opinion? Of course a costume depicting genitals is tasteless and offensive. The fact that offensiveness is a question says volumes about the debased and degraded state of our society. It doesn't surprise me that a school full of teenagers voted it 'best costume,' either — people in that age group are well known for shallow thinking and a lack of mature judgment. Sadly, the parent shows the same sort of judgment as the teenagers." P.A., Galena, Alaska

• "The school was correct. Yes, we all understand the anatomy of the body. There are certain body parts that we don't care to see. I find the display very tasteless and tacky. I hope the punishment for [dressing as] male genitalia would have been the same. As a parent I teach my children that some things are private and modesty is a good policy." T.H., West Monroe, La.

• "Point of information: Christian Silbereis appears to be dressed as a vulva, not a vagina. Vulva: The female external genital organs including the labia, clitoris, and entrance to the vagina (the vestibule of the vagina). Vagina: The muscular canal extending from the cervix to the outside of the body." A.H., New York City

• "That's one nicely made costume. I'd rather see a vagina than kids dressed up as bloody dead people, Osama bin Laden, or any other host of truly offensive characters." A.C., Washington, D.C.

• "The school was not wrong for punishing Silbereis. Shame on the parent also for letting her child wear that to a Halloween party. Is there nothing sacred anymore?" G.B., Orwell, N.Y.

• "Who's kidding who? Sure the genitals are a natural part of the body but as far as I know, our culture has deemed it inappropriate to expose them in public." N.A., San Francisco

• "Unless the administration posts guidelines, any costume is fair game. Would a student be punished for fake eyeballs popping out of the face, or brains gushing out from a rubber knife stuck in a skull? This is just another body part." J.C., New York City

• "I applaud the young man for wearing the vagina costume! The female genitalia has been demonized for far too long … it's time to bring it out into the open." B.D., Austin, Texas

• "Young people see vaginas in artwork and science books, so why could he not be what so many people are afraid (yet desire) to see? Although I understand some of the school's concerns, I do not think it was necessary to suspend him." A.P., Pittsburgh