Twins Given a Warning at School Because Their Outfits Caused ‘Concern’
It seems that nearly every week there’s at least one story about an adolescent girl who is either warned or pulled out of class entirely because officials felt her outfit didn’t meet the school’s dress code. This time it was a pair of twins, Avery and Alex Curtis, who were stopped in the hallway of Guymon High School in Guymon, Okla., on Aug. 17 — the first day of their junior year.
The twins were told their outfits — simple short-sleeved dresses that appear to hit at mid-thigh — were causing “concern,” reports the Guymon Daily Herald.
According to the online 2016-2016 parent-student high school handbook, the dress code states: “Skirts, dresses, shorts, and culottes are to be mid-thigh or below. Blue jeans are acceptable without holes or tears. Biker shorts, tights, and leggings may be work if outside garment meets dress code policy.”
Avery and Alex’s dresses don’t appear to violate that dress code, but according to the Guymon Daily Herald, the sisters were told that “the length in the back could be affected by their school bags,” meaning that their bags might cause their dresses to ride up higher than mid-thigh.
Their mom, Kara Curtis, found out about the warning and wasn’t happy about it. “It is my understanding that the outfits Alex and Avery wore to their first day of junior year were of ‘concern’ to several faculty and staff members at Guymon High School,” the mom said. “They were dress coded and told their clothing was inappropriate.”
Several people weighed in both for and against the twins’ outfits. “I am a teacher at Guymon High School, though I didn’t see the students in question, I did hear MY students discussing the situation,” commented Travis Hathcote. “They all agreed the dresses were too short and tight for school. I’m just saying, if other STUDENTS are saying that…”
But mom and teacher Kathryn Combs points out that too often girls are being singled out for no good reason. “I think that the dress code in most schools seems to stress rules applied to girls more than their male class mates,” she wrote. “We are telling these girls that they are at fault when others are distracted, not that their classmates should learn how to focus and that they are in control of their reaction. It probably was more distracting bringing it to everyone’s attention and disciplining the girls.”
Mom of four Jennifer Clinesmith King agrees. “I think that it isn’t that the dresses are too short or too tight,” she says. “I think what needs to be done is instead of the faculty being concerned about these two very beautiful girls, [they] need to stop looking at them in that way and start teaching them [in] their classes. In other words, what I’m saying is get your minds off of perverted thoughts and start teaching them, that is what you’re there for, to teach them to become better people and teach them to strive for their dreams and goals in life, not criticizing them.”
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