Girl, 11, dress coded on last day of school for wearing leggings: 'They put a target on her back'
The last day of school was humiliating for an 11-year-old girl when she told she had violated the dress coded by wearing leggings, allegedly because they accentuated her backside.
On June 14, her last day of sixth grade at Bryant Middle School in Dearborn, Michigan, Liv Morgan’s stepdaughter Aubrie pulled her hair into two French braids and put on a T-shirt and a pair of thick gray leggings.
The shirt read “Feelin Peachy,” referencing a late friend, and the leggings were practical, as Aubrie anticipated a physically-active day at school.
But Morgan was surprised to see her daughter after school wearing an oversized, bright-yellow T-shirt that read, “Teaching Is My Superpower.”
“First I thought that teachers had handed out the shirts as gifts, but Aubrie said she was dress-coded,” Morgan tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “I was level 10 furious.”
According to Aubrie, a female teacher remarked, “Do you really think you’re dressed appropriately for school?” Then, in the classroom, another teacher allegedly summoned Aubrie and two other girls to another room, where they were told to cover up or otherwise fix their outfits.
Morgan called the school and spoke to the assistant principal, who allegedly said that Aubrie’s top didn’t adequately cover her bottom. “I said, ‘My concern is that you interrupted Aubrie’s learning because you thought her body would interrupt someone else’s,’” says Morgan. “When they called out Aubrie, they put a target on her back for gossip and they sexualized her.”
Also, Morgan wrote on Facebook, “But I am most sad, that my daughter is 11 & today she learned a sad lesson about the women body. No matter what you wear, they will always find a reason to sexualize you. A 6th grade boy has a butt, so does my 6th grade daughter. This is what rape culture is & where boys who become men learn that ‘well she was asking for it because of what she was wearing.’”
No one from the Dearborn Public Schools district responded to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. Spokesperson David Mustonen told the Dearborn Press & Guide, “We do not target any students. If students are in violation (of the dress code), then the administration will take appropriate measures.”
The “Dress and Grooming” section of the Dearborn student handbook reads, “The Board of Education recognizes that each student's mode of dress and grooming is a manifestation of personal style and individual preference. The Board will not interfere with the right of students and their parents to make decisions regarding their appearance, except when their choices interfere with the educational program of the schools.”
However, clothing that presents a “hazard” to students or interferes with school work isn’t allowed.
Morgan’s next phone call is to the school board. She’s also not retiring Aubrie’s leggings, telling Yahoo Lifestyle, “She wore them to summer school last week.”
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