School Bans Teen's 'Virginity Rocks' T-Shirt

When Chloe Rubiano wore one of her favorite T-shirts to school this week, she never expected the ramifications that would follow her fashion statement. The 13-year-old Ramay Junior High School student wore a tee that reads “Virginity Rocks” on the front and “I’m loving my husband and I haven’t even met him” on the back, but she was asked to change by officials at her school in Fayetteville, Ark., local news station 5NEWS reports.

Chloe, who purchased the turquoise statement tee at a Christian Music Festival, said the vice principal was worried that the shirt held the potential to start too many conversations and could also distract and disrupt the classroom environment. She was then asked to change into a gym shirt for the remainder of the school day. Yahoo Style reached out to the school for comment but has not received a response.

Interestingly, the eighth-grader wore the shirt on multiple occasions last year when she was at a different school in the same district and received zero complaints from teachers. But while this situation has certainly caused tension, Chloe’s mother, Bambi Crozier, says she understands the school’s actions. “She can wear the shirt anywhere she wants — except to Ramay Jr. High School. Listening, understanding, and respecting others opinions in life is critical,” Crozier wrote on Facebook.

Crozier has even started a healthy debate on her Facebook wall about sex education, spurred by her daughter’s fashion choice. “Schools today hand out condoms to students without parental approval — so they can’t have it both ways,” she commented, adding: “Here’s some condoms and shame on you for being proud of your virginity! It makes me question what they’re really promoting.” On the flip side, Colin Heyes wrote that one possible reason that the school administration took action “is that if they allow a virginity rocks t-shirt, then one could argue that others should be allowed to voice their belief or opinion and wear sex rocks t-shirts.”

This incident is just one of many recent dress-code uproars sweeping schools across the country. In Staten Island, N.Y., hundreds of teenagers are facing detention for flaunting their style. Fifteen-year-old Miranda Larkin was even forced to wear what she called a “shame suit” after she was told by a teacher that her skirt was too short. A California sixth-grade student was told that she couldn’t wear her 9/11-memorial shirt on the anniversary of the attacks because it violated the dress code. And a 13-year-old student in Idaho was even sent to the principal’s office because a bra strap was visible through lace paneling on a conservative, collared shirt. While most students crossing hairs with school officials are being called out for their revealing outfits and too-short shorts, Chloe’s stands out from the others because she was simply stating her beliefs on a piece of apparel.

As Crozier wrote, “Virginity is not a dirty word. Wouldn’t it be great if it weren’t treated as such?” It seems the same could be said for fashion.