A couple weeks ago one of my granddaughter's new teachers (my granddaughter is not a Mormon)
decided to make an example of her because of her morally reprehensible attire.
She was wearing a cute summer dress with a sleeveless denim vest
(that actually covered her shoulders, but not her arms), something she had worn numerous times before
at this same school without incident the previous two years.

I suppose bare arms were more than this particular teacher could tolerate. She instructed my granddaughter
to go to the administration office, ask for the official short sleeve yellow shirt (given to hussys
who have the tamerity to go sleeveless) and put it on for the remainder of the day.

When my granddaughter asked if she could just go to her locker and put on her zippered jacket instead,
the teacher barked "No, I want you to wear the yellow shirt the remainder of the day."

By the way, my granddaughter did as she was instructed, but immediately put her denim vest on
so you could only see the yellow shirt on the top of her arms.

It sort of reminds me of the "Dunce Cones" teachers use to make students wear
while they sat in the corner of the schoolroom. I know from my advertising background
that yellow is the first color the eye notices. That's why you see TSCC's volunteers
always dressed in yellow shirts, to make them stand out.

Also, this yellow shirt has the dress code rules printed on it for all to see.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2013 11:32AM by heretic.

That is just fing outrageous. Is this a public school? Do they actually have a rule against sleeveless shirts?

Many schools both in and out of Utah have similar rules. That is the way dress code violators are dealt with.Teachers have to deal with those not in compliance. Some teachers aremmoremzealous than others,but they are expected to uphold rules



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2013 06:18PM by bona dea.

a petty thing is bad and counterproductive to the learning environment. If there's a dress code violation, the teacher should gently remind the child of the rules, not during class, in front of her peers. This situation was handled very badly.

The teacher should have allowed the child to get her jacket from her locker, if this was such a big deal. Its not. Send an email or note home to the parents, reminding them of the dress code, but not this! 7th grade girls can have very fragile egos, and care should be taken not to publicly humiliate them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2013 06:21PM by serena.

I have a hard time believing that a public school has a rule against sleeveless tops. I would ask to see a copy of the dress code policy.

Most public schools will send a kid to the office for a t-shirt if they are too bare, i.e. spaghetti straps, strapless, or bare midriffs on girls, or basketball-type tanks on boys. But it's not a t-shirt that's meant to shame. It's just meant to save the parent a trip to school to provide more appropriate clothing.

This fight over the dress code at public schools comes up year after year. The people enforcing the dress code are not Nazis and the kids violating the dress code are not girls gone wild.

The dress code is generally set by the district. It is approved by the school board. The school board is elected. The school board also holds public meetings to address patron's complaints. People who have a stake in this issue should exercise their rights as citizens.

If you live in Utah or another conservative state, you will probably not prevail if you try to loosen the dress code.

You can enroll your child in a private school, but that will be expensive and the dress code at private schools is generally even more strict.

You might be able to find a charter school that has a looser dress code.

A lot of school districts have chosen to require middle school and jr high school student to wear uniforms in order to avoid this issue.

I don't agree with the shaming. That is just wrong. The student should be given the opportunity to comply with the dress code. They could put on a jacket, call mom to bring a different shirt or borrow from a friend.

In this case the dress code is published on the school's website. Perhaps the code is different this year than it was last year. If the students weren't given a copy of the dress code along with the other rules, the parents should complain. The parents should also complain to the administration about the shaming and ask that a better solution be found.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2013 06:34PM by releve.

Yes, I'm being facetious. The teacher chose an unnecessarily humiliating way to deal with this. Some people just don't belong in the teaching profession, and from what I've heard, Utah isn't picky about who they hire.

She sent the student to the main office, which is the mandated procedure in every school I have ever worked at. The teacher doesn't get to pick one punishment over another. They don't have that power with district policies like this.

If she called attention to the girl, and shamed the girl, that would have been an issue. That would have been a huge issue. It is really hard to tell if this happened or not though. I'm not trying to say that the original poster is a liar, but we have to accept the fact that teenagers embellish stories all of the time.

I have taught for thirty years in the same district where this happened.Schools have some leeway in dress codes and some require sleeves.Some do not. Bonneville is one of stricter schools. Kids must wear certain colors for instance. Personally I am not a fan of dress codes,but kids know what the rules are and if they don't want to wear the yellow tee shirt,they need to obey the rules. The purpose for having the tee shirt is to save the parents a trip to the school with appropriate attire.The teacher is required to enforce the code. I did even though I thought some of them were silly



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2013 06:37PM by bona dea.

All the "public" schools here in Alpine School District in Utah have the code of no bare shoulders. I guess girls make up for it by showing a bit of cleavage though.

I am retired now and sub in both Granite and Salt Lake. The code is looser now than when I was teaching. Spaghetti straps are generally banned but many schools are okay with sleeveless if the shoulder is covered or mostly covered.Junior highs,especially uniform schools are stricter than senior highs.Whether you agree with the dress code or not,the teacher was following school rules and dress codes are legal.

http://schools.graniteschools.org/bonnevillejr/files/2013/08/7_Dress-Code-Insert.pdf

Dress code was last modified May 2013.

Wanna bet the cheerleaders don't meet dress code? Here are the Eisenhower Junior High cheerleaders.

http://www.graniteschools.org/depart/superintendent/communications/Connections/Pages/Eisenhowercheersquad.aspx

Interestingly enough Eisenhower also says no sleeveless and shorts must be long.

http://schools.graniteschools.org/eisenhowerjr/files/2013/08/Planner-Insert-2013-2014-edited-2.pdf

Interesting the exceptions that are okay.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2013 07:14PM by crom.

I would not want to be the person deciding whether a shirt is sleeveless or a tank top. You can't use a measurement because Jr. High kids vary from size 10 child to 2X adult. I'll bet that the sleeve rule is a way of making the code less subjective.

The cheerleaders, dance club members and sports teams in their uniforms would not meet the dress code. They are generally required to dress up during school on game days or wear their travelling suits (team sweatsuits), which would comply.

I went shopping with my granddaughter who attends a high school in another school district. Her school has the must have sleeves rule. She bought chiffon shirts with sleeves and tanks or camis to go under them. Her mother and I wondered if she would have a problem with the dress code. So far, so good.

Dress codes infuriate me. I fought that battle way back in 1960 something over girls wearing pants to school, then blue jeans, then shorts.....why was it OK in most normal parts of the country for us to wear mini skirts back in the day, but not blue jeans? Ack! My take? If a person is neat a clean and not overly sexualized in their dress - minimal cleavage, no butt cracks, no genital outlines - who cares what they wear?! This is such a non issue. My advice to parents who don't "fit" the compliant parent model? - Homeschool- or better yet, UNSCHOOL. I pity the kids and parents subjected to a repressive school system. leroy

I would sue, no matter what, you're NEVER supposed to shame a kid in front of her classmates.

Bet they just love Michele Obama.