15 year old girl claims she was forced to wear "shame suit" because skirt was too short

[davidn3600]

A Florida mom is outraged that her 15-year-old daughter was forced to wear what she called a “shame suit” at school.

On her third day of school, Miranda Larkin, a sophomore at Oakleaf High School in Orange Park, Florida, was told by a teacher that her skirt was too short.

“It was right after first period,” Miranda told ABC News. “I was in the hallway and I got stopped by a teacher who told me my skirt was too short and sent me to the nurse’s office. They told me I was going to have to change and put on the dress-code-violation outfit.”

The school’s dress-code-violation outfit consists of a neon-yellow t-shirt with “DRESS CODE VIOLATION” emblazoned on the front of it in capital letters, along with red sweatpants with the same message down the right leg.

“The school has said this is to embarrass you,” said Miranda. “It’s supposed to embarrass you so you don’t do it again.”

https://gma.yahoo.com/student-forced-wear-shame-suit-dress-code-violation-220415966--abc-news-topstories.html

[Turbineguy]

1. You have to look at the bright side on these things.

At least they didn't burn her as a witch.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

2. Some of the clothes the girls wear are distracting and tacky.

I like the idea of school uniforms that we were forced to wear in England.

The shame suit is a bit much. She should have just been made to wear the cone of shame.

[Warpy]

7. Or had her nose swatted with a newspaper

I can see making her wear the sweatpants under the skirt.

This time of year, it should have been shorts, anyway.

ETA: A lot of young teenagers want to look like tarts. In my day, it was the uniform skirt rolled up at the waistline, making us look dumpy around the middle but showing off our legs.

[JCMach1]

50. and quite a lot dress codes are enforced arbitrarily...

There may have been 50 other girls that day in her school that had on shorter skirts...

[Ken Burch]

3. Good Goddess...they think teenagers, especially teenage girls, need even MORE shame in their lives?

n/t.

[Ken Burch]

4. All the OTHER kids in that school should get copies of that shirt made

and all wear them on the same day.

[Avalux]

33. I love that idea!

If I had a child in that school I would fund it.

[hifiguy]

35. That is devious and underhanded.

I LOVE it!!

[Ken Burch]

61. "I'm available for children's parties, Bar Mitzvahs, and 'smokers'". n/t.

[Ms. Toad]

48. That was pretty close to the solution the kids at my daughter's school used.

A female friend of my daughter's was put in in-school-suspension for wearing a T-shirt that proclaimed I love my boy girlfriend. The vice principal's reasoning was that the shirt advertised sexual activity. I pointed out that if that was the case, then so did his wedding ring and photos of his family in his office. For some reason he did not think that was an apt analogy.

About a third of the class was outraged - and planned to get identical T-shirts, which would have landed them all in in-school suspension. So, after I had already had conversations with the principal and the superintendant - warning them about messing with my daughter's free speech rights, the kids came up with the creative solution of buying "Free Speech" T-shirts instead. They were able to support their friend, get their point across, in a way that did put them at risk for disciplinary action. Proud mama.

That incident will be part of a 15 minute presentation I'm doing next week to put a face on LGBT families, as part of a day long conference for attorneys, educators, CSB staff, mental health professionals and community leaders. (The rest of the story about our conservative school system - in dealing with a child with 2 moms will be universally positive.)

[Initech]

53. Win!!!

I would definitely support this idea!

[littlemissmartypants]

5. Adults can be stupid and horrible role models.

If only children had rights. I hope she makes it her mission to make this a teachable moment for the so-called grown ups in her world that were idiotic enough to try and shame her.

Read CHILDISM, by Elisabeth Young-Bruehl if you don't get it and maybe it will enlighten.

Thanks for your post.

Love, Peace and Shelter.
~ Lmsp

[A Simple Game]

17. This never would have worked when I was in high school. We would have

made it our mission to find out just how many shame suits the school had and to wear them with pride. Then again back in the late '60s we were, if nothing else, non-conformists and we stuck together. I do have to take back the sticking together claim, the seniors and juniors probably would have had a competition to see which class could merit the most shame suits per day. Then there would have been competitions between individuals, boys as well as girls. We were very good at turning a schools weapons into our tools. We wouldn't have had to wear a shame suit, we would have wanted to wear a shame suit and we would have owned it! They probably would have had to put on extra help just to do the laundry every evening. Within a week they would have been looking for a different solution and within a month the shame suits would have been gone. The administration probably would have ended up being admonished by the school board for such a stupid idea.

[MineralMan]

22. Absolutely. The kids should

find a screen-printing shop and have a few dozen of those "shame suits" made. Then, on some day of the week, they all show up wearing them. Make "Dress Code Violation" outfits the uniform of the day. Shame the school, not the kids!

[Ikonoklast]

57. Meh. We just had guys that came in the next day wearing short skirts.

As there was absolutely nothing in the dress code prohibiting male students from wearing skirts let alone a skirt deemed too short, the admins were totally at a loss as to what to do.

The girls that were accused of wearing a too-short skirt just started wearing 'hot pants' instead. Nothing was in the dress code about them, either.



Administration quickly threw in the towel as the dress code had already been set for the year. After that, it was pretty much "Please don't show up naked."

[RKP5637]

29. Quite true. In fact, I often think the majority of adults are "stupid and horrible role models." n/t

[jmowreader]

6. This is the skirt in question

https://s.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/Mk2TwwVXt5BiG80._4QcnQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NQ--/

[Starry Messenger]

14. That's a perfectly modest and age appropriate look.

I've seen teen students with shorter skirts or shorts. The school must be run by fundies. Poor girl, my heart goes out to her.

[jmowreader]

42. Age appropriate if you're 35 and your name is Doctor, right?

Add a black blazer and pearl earrings and you'd be a well-dressed professional woman.

[abelenkpe]

15. That's the skirt?

That's crazy. Nothing wrong with that skirt. Is this a public school?

[davidn3600]

16. I remember in high school back in the 90s...

The rule back then was "no shorter than the fingertips" if you put the arms to the side. Usually they got a warning for the first time. Then after that they would have to have parents drop off other clothes. Although girls would always push the limits.

But even our shorts the school gave us for gym class didnt reach our knees.

[shanti]

44. jr. high school in the 60's

if our skirt was too short, they made us pin crepe paper to the hem for the day. never happened to me, but many girls got the treatment.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. They're Kidding, Right?

I was expecting something far more provocative. The uniforms the girls in our sister school wore were almost that short as bought. Now, plenty of them found creative ways to make them shorter, especially after school was out. But, this is nothing.

[MineralMan]

19. You look just fine in that outfit, kid, but

CLEAN UP YOUR ROOM!

[MoonRiver]

21. Yeah, that was all I saw wrong with that picture.

What an incredibly creepy school.

[MineralMan]

23. OMG! OMG! I can see her knees!

DISRUPTIVE!

[RKP5637]

30. Knees! OMG! How can she expose her genitalia like that!

[politicat]

24. I own that skirt, too. I'm 38. It's perfectly fine. School has teh issues.

I pulled mine out and measured. It's 20 inches from waist seam to hem. On me, it hits right at top of knee because I'm 5 feet and small change. I wear it as part of professional drag.

There is no way a 20 inch long skirt will be inappropriate on anyone under 7 feet tall.

The student just moved into the district - I wonder if the administrator isn't doing some new kid or Yankee bashing.

Given the other child who refused to attend his Florida middle school after the first week (and after moving also from the north) and who previously had no issues... Is there something going on with Florida and new kids?

[SummerSnow]

31. Nothing wrong with the skirt. I bet some of those teachers skirts are high.

[Orrex]

41. Sounds like some of the administrators are high.

[get the red out]

32. Shame this young woman for THAT?

The idea of shaming is so disgusting. If they have to get all nuts and say there's something wrong with that skirt, couldn't they have just had a parent come bring her some other clothes? Sent her home? Shaming is wrong; it is bullying by the school.

[hifiguy]

36. Exactly what is wrong with this?

[Orrex]

40. Hey! How about a NSFW warning next time?

You can see kneecaps, god dammit!


How long are the skirts worn by the school's cheerleaders, I wonder?

[jmowreader]

43. With this kind of reaction, they must wear hoop skirts

And then they wonder why no one goes to football games.

[In_The_Wind]

62. There is nothing wrong with the length of that skirt.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. She had just moved from Seattle to Florida.

isn't that punishment enough?

[littlemissmartypants]

9. Indeed. eom

[hifiguy]

37. Poor kid.

I'd much rather have the culture and the rain rather than the hurricanes and lunatics.

[Initech]

46. That is a good point!

[haele]

49. Hmmm, might it be a case of putting the new girl in her place?

A girl who might be liberal and cause "disruption" to the status quo...even though her skirt was probably as long or even longer than skirts the established "queen bees" were wearing.
I've been a new girl from out of state before. Until the school year is almost over, you're always "the new girl" and considered suspect by both teachers and the student body "leadership", because you came from a place that had different rules.

Haele

[Warren DeMontague]

54. That occurred to me, too.

[gtar100]

10. What kind of an asshole thinks up these kind of things.

idiots!

[DFW]

11. Sick, evil people

People who have no business deciding anything in a school or having any professional interaction with schoolkids.

[yuiyoshida]

12. AND SCHOOLS WONDER why there is

Student bullying

[Unknown Beatle]

13. Some of the comments on the linked site are disgusting.

For example:

This girl is beefing because she wants to show more than is what is shown.I find this bewildering - and somewhat hypocritical - because why dress revealing legs and thighs and cleavage, then cry rape when some guy harasses or gropes you. If a hungry rabbit sees a bunch of juicy carrots walking down the sidewalk, don't tell me he's not going to crave that.Woman and girls are so naive.

Some asshole named Paul Drake wrote that on the Yahoo News site where the article appeared.

[MineralMan]

20. Stupid school! This girl should wear

that shame suit and ROCK IT! Turn the tables on the school and make the shame suit the glam suit of the day.

[B Calm]

25. What's next? school uniforms?

[Locrian]

26. new dress code...

I hear the school now has a new dress code

[B Calm]

28. LOL +1

[RandySF]

27. Our schools just send the kids home to change.

[Orrex]

34. They should have made her dress like Spiderwoman.

[hifiguy]

39. !!!

OK, you win DU for today.

[MuseRider]

38. I thought we were done with this crap years ago.

When I was in Jr. High in the mid-late 60's we girls had to line up in the hallway every morning and get on our knees. Our skirts had to touch the floor and if they did not you got sent home. Our bangs were measured and if they did not have a two finger width between them and your eyebrows they cut them. If you hair was below your shoulders they cut that too. If your nail polish was too dark you had to go to the nurses office and take it off. This was during the time of mini skirts and go go boots and long hair and bangs. Meanwhile the boys kept us busy. Since we all had to take Home Ec we spent all our time sewing up their very very tight jeans that were the style those days. They split them out daily and the only thing they cared about was if the girls could get them sewn up. They did have to keep their hair short as well but they had no daily line up.

Public school.

Yes, like Warpy said above, we would come a close as possible then spend the entire day (if we did not get caught) with our skirts rolled up as much as we could. No pants allowed, no shorts. Thankfully a lot of the teachers thought it was crazy and never turned you in.

Oh yes, teenage girls need MUCH more shame in their lives. The after effects that continue on for a life time are so beneficial.

Assholes.

[upaloopa]

52. I'm in Santa Barbara and the local high school

near where I work has no dress code. Kids where short shorts to school and so far the sky isn't falling.
I think a lot has to do with local feeling but for sure there is no uniform outcome that will happen of our feelings about dress are not the same as some other place.

[Initech]

45. Scarlet letter punishment in the 21st century?

[RebelOne]

47. I went to high school in Miami in the 1950s (yes, I'm that old),

and I do not remember there ever being a dress code. All skirts at that time were well below the knee anyway.

[still_one]

51. To compound this stupidity is many of the comments on Yahoo supporting this garbage. I have no

doubt that the mentality of people that hold this view is the same as bullies, and those who agree with hazing and abuse.

Some members of the human race are really pathetic

[davidn3600]

55. A lot of trolls on Yahoo comments these days too

[still_one]

56. Unfortunately, they have been there for some time

[WillowTree]

58. I don't have a problem with schools having dress codes.

And ordinarily I don't have a problem with the schools enforcing them. I personally wouldn't have taken issue with that skirt length based on my own taste and standards, but if it was clearly a violation of a published dress code, then it shouldn't be allowed. No kid is going to be scarred for life by having to wear somewhat longer skirts.

Also wouldn't hurt if borderline dress code violations (which this must have been) would only generate a warning and maybe an e-mail to the parents during, say, the first two weeks of the fall term. This "shame suit" (good name for it, by the way) is over the top, though. And the fact that the school openly admits that the point is to embarrass the kids is just plain cruel when you're talking about 15 year olds, and the fact that this girl is brand spankin' new to the school only makes it that much worse.

[ManiacJoe]

59. All those words in the article and

not one mention of what the dress code is and whether she actually violated it or not.

[TBF]

60. WTF is wrong w/people? nt