Nice knees, floozie! (via ABC)
On the third day of classes at her new high school in Orange Park, Florida, Miranda Larkin wore the skirt pictured above, which school officials considered too short because it didn't cover her knees. She was told she had three options: an in-school suspension, calling a relative to bring acceptable clothing, or wear the school's "dress-code-violation outfit," an ensemble consisting of yellow tee-shirt with "Dress Code Violation" on the front, and a pair of red sweatpants with the same words down the leg, just in case anyone missed the big, bold lettering on the shirt.
Miranda claims she wasn't told about the other options and that she had to wear the outfit. She told ABC News, “It was way too big. It didn’t fit. I got really upset and asked if I could call my mom. She was really upset, as well.”
Miranda had just relocated to Florida from Seattle just eight days before school started, and claims the violation was unintentional. Her mom told ABC News she feels her daughter was forced to wear what she calls a "shame suit," which she feels is less about teaching or punishment than it is about humiliation. She says it upset her daughter so much, she broke out in hives.
At least the hives match the pants. (via ABC)
Her mom said that before she contacted the media, she tried to deal with the school privately, but got nowhere. The school is standing by its policy. A spokesman said that if Miranda didn't want to wear the "shame suit," she shouldn't have violated the rules.
Now mom is considering filing a complaint with FERPA, The Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which states that a student's disciplinary recored is supposed to be kept private. Mrs. Larkin thinks the school did some violating of its own by forcing her daughter to parade around school in a getup straight out of an episode of MSNBC's Lockup: Raw.
She may have a case. Even if her daughter violated the dress code, the outfit seems pretty extreme. Besides, do they even make dresses that go past the knee anymore? Even if they did, what girl is going to wear one in Florida in September, when it's still 90 degrees and humid?
Either way, considering that half of a kid's high school experience is about impressing other students and annoying teachers, I wouldn't be surprised to see the dress-code-violation outfit become the hot fashion trend of 2014.
(by Jonathan Corbett)