In 2019, Samantha Wilson was an eighth grade student in Westchester County, New York. Early that year, she allegedly spent 30 minutes in the principal's office over an "inappropriate" baggy sweater. Now her family is fighting to change the school's dress code.
Samantha wore a loose-fitting, long-sleeved sweater to school. It's a shirt that she's worn many times before without issue. But this time, a teacher reported Samantha for violating the school's dress code.
"I was told it was a distraction to the boys, and that my midriff and bra strap were visible,” Samantha told the New York Post.
She says the sweater does fall off her shoulder occasionally (baggy sweaters will do that). It also shows her belly button when she raises her hand in class.
Samantha's parents and older sister Cydney believe that if a sweater like this violates the dress code, then the code needs to be changed.
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Cydney even started a petition on Change.org.
"The objectification of our students in the middle school is absolutely horrifying," she wrote in the petition.
Dress code controversies have been a thing for, I don't know, hundreds of years at this point?! It seems like every week, there's a new dress code violation that begs the question of whether these policies are even fair in the first place.
Just the other day, a mother caused a stir at the University of Notre Dame by pleading with female college students not to wear leggings because they're too revealing. Not exactly a dress code violation since there's no rule against leggings at the school, but it's the same issue of which clothes are deemed "appropriate" for young women and why.
Prior to that, another incident at a high school in Arkansas made it clear how inconsistently dress codes are enforced. A student of color was penalized for wearing a skirt that was reportedly "too short" per dress code. But when her white friend wore the same skirt, school staff didn't say a thing.
Those are just two recent examples. This issue is seemingly never-ending. This time, it's about a 13-year-old girl in middle school, and it's not about her pants/skirt, but about her top.
Samantha Wilson is a student at Irvington Middle School in Westchester County, New York. She's in eighth grade. She recently wore a baggy striped sweater with leggings (gasp!!!!) to school.
"It’s basically just like every other sweater. I’ve worn it to auditions before, because I thought it looked nice," Samantha told the New York Post.
She also wore the sweater for her yearbook photo. She'd never had a problem with it before.
But this time, she was called into the principal's office for her "inappropriate" outfit. She says she was lectured for 30 minutes.
"I was told it was a distraction to the boys, and that my midriff and bra strap were visible," Samantha said.
Samantha says her sweater does fall off her shoulder occasionally and show her bra strap. It shows her midriff only when she raises her hand in class to answer a question. A teacher had apparently reported her to the principal for this.
After being reprimanded, Samantha wore a coat over her sweater for the rest of the day. She was visibly upset in her next class.
"I walked into my next class trying not to cry. But I lost it and I burst into tears," she said. "When the teacher asked why I was crying, my friend said I was dress-coded. The teacher said, ‘She deserves to be.’ He said that in front of my entire class."
Samantha's parents were frustrated about the incident, and so was her 17-year-old sister, Cydney, who had even once borrowed the perfectly reasonable sweater to wear to a college interview.
"The objectification of our students in the middle school is absolutely horrifying," Cydney wrote in her petition. "What are we trying to teach our young students at their most vulnerable time? We NEED to do better than this."
Cydney started a petition on Change.org that has received nearly 900 signatures.
Many people are reacting to the news to agree with the family, though some disagree and think that the rules are there for a good reason.
"While she was technically breaking a rule, it is a rule that can and should be changed, as it is time for us to stop telling young women they need to cover up their bodies," Cydney wrote.
She hopes the district will consider changing its dress code, because "nobody's belly button is inappropriate."
"She is an innocent 13 year old girl who wore an outfit she felt good about," Sydney's mom Jamie wrote on the petition. "She didn’t think about it slipping from her shoulder at times or her belly button when she raised her hand. But now she does. She was humiliated at school — pulled from science to discuss."
She added: "So disappointed in my school for objectifying young girls."
The school's dress code prohibits "extremely brief garments," which Samantha's top apparently qualifies as.
Irvington Union Free School District Superintendent Kristopher Harrison responded to the incident by releasing a statement that says, in part:
“The fact is, we always want to improve our service to our students. If there is concern that the Code, in its present form, is inconsistent with the spirit of our school community, we want to know and we want to help. Further, we value our students’ voice and thinking especially in decisions that impact them so personally.
"School dress codes are never easy and we know that fashion sometimes conflicts — still, we want to get it right and we will be working with our students and stakeholders to do just that."
It remains to be seen whether the petition will result in concrete changes at the school, but this is just one more example of how young students are fighting back against outdated school policies. At one school in 2017, male students protested their dress code by wearing off-the-shoulder tops to school to demonstrate the double standard. As one boy explained to Teen Vogue:
“Women deserve to be treated with the utmost respect, and this entails being able to dress as one pleases. Women should be able to wear what they want without being systemically objectified.”
We’ll get there one day!
