Let’s face it. High school is tough enough as it is, what with bullying, mean girls, peer pressure, and rampaging hormones. A Florida school has decided to add to the pressure by forcing some students to wear unbelievably unattractive garb. After a teacher accused a student of wearing too short a skirt, the girl was forced to wear a neon yellow t-shirt and red pants emblazoned with the words ‘DRESS CODE VIOLATION’. Miranda Larkin recently started attending the Oakleaf High School in Orange Park, Fla., after moving to the area from Seattle. On the third day at her new school, Miranda says she was informed by a teacher that her skirt (which school policy indicates must be “knee-length or longer”) was too short. The teen says that she was unaware of this rule. The Clay County school district’s policies mandate that students be given the option to arrange for someone to bring them a new set of clothes or to serve an in-school-suspension. Miranda, instead, was sent to the school nurse’s office. “It was right after first period,” Miranda said. “They told me I was going to have to change and put on the dress-code-violation outfit.”
Miranda promptly took a snapshot of the outfit, which her mother dubbed a shame suit. “She put on the outfit in the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror and just broke down,” said the teen’s mother, Diana Larkin. “She started sobbing and broke out in hives.” Her mother said the school bullied her daughter and violated her rights. She also stated that although she supports the idea of school uniforms and in following the rules, “my problem is with the public shaming of kids.” Bt who knows? Kids are more resilient than adults believe. And frankly, I think Miranda makes that outfit work for her. It remains to be seen if #shamesuit becomes a trending hashtag on Twitter, or if neon yellow and red become the color combo across America.
