A Louisiana middle school's spirit week has caused an outcry from concerned parents.
On each day of spirit week, students dress according to a specific theme — a common practice during homecoming season. However, one of the themes at this Iowa, Louisiana, school took parents and kids alike by surprise.
On Monday, students were told to wear green, yellow, or red to represent their relationship status. The school called it "Stoplight Day."
"Wear Red if you are taken. Wear Green if you are single. Wear Yellow if it is complicated," the instructions said.
M.J. Mouton is one of many parents who spoke out against the theme. His daughter attends the school in question, and he took to Twitter to call attention to the issue.
"Totally inappropriate," M.J. tweeted.
M.J. expressed concern that the theme could lead to bullying or leave certain students out. After his tweet went viral, a ton of parents and educators chimed in to agree with him.
M.J.'s original tweet summarized the instructions from his daughter's middle school.
On Stoplight Day, students were apparently told to dress according to their relationship status: red for taken, green for single, and yellow for complicated.
M.J. followed up his tweet with one showing the actual flyer from the school.
The father and children's author wrote a letter to the school with a complaint.
"Are you promoting relationships for kids in middle school?" the letter read. "Are you setting up boys and especially girls to be targets? Do you understand that if a single kid speaks up about this being wrong, which many do [feel], they fear repercussions from students as well as teachers?"
In a follow-up tweet, M.J. added that the theme was apparently carried over from the high school that shares a campus with the middle school.
"Maybe it’s appropriate for high school, but for middle schoolers, it’s not,” M.J. told Yahoo Lifestyle.
His 12-year-old daughter agrees.
"[My daughter] doesn’t really have interest in those things. She also sees that there’s going to be some kids who potentially are going to feel bad [about not dating], or kids who are going to participate because they want to feel a part of something," he said.
M.J.'s tweet has received 147,000 likes so far, with many chiming in to agree with both M.J. and his daughter.
People agree that it's unfair to single kids out for not being in relationships.
As if middle school isn't already tough enough!
"Middle school kids are in an extremely vulnerable state — dealing with peer pressure, making friends, typical school stresses," M.J. told local news station KPLC. "I would encourage the school to have fun days, free dress days, but most importantly, think ahead about how these things they implement affect the emotional state of kids.”
Indeed, one Twitter user pointed out that this theme could distract from kids' learning.
Which is something that you'd think middle school teachers would be concerned about!
Surprisingly enough, this Louisiana school isn't the first middle school to have a themed day like this. At least one other Twitter user experienced something similar.
Twitter user TinyVillain rebelled by wearing a different color altogether, telling fellow students the color worn meant "it's none of your business." Clever!
In addition to fellow parents, many former and current educators responded to M.J.'s tweet to say how "inexcusable" this dress-up day is.
Other parents said that their own children would never go along with such a theme, spirit week or not.
M.J. conceded that although students weren't allowed to wear any other colors, they could dress in their regular uniforms rather than go along with the theme. And as it turned out, most students did just that.
Afterward, M.J. received an apologetic response from the school.
"Our intentions were not to cause undue stress on students or their families," the letter stated. "I can assure you that we have plans in the works for next year to avoid a repeat of these circumstances."
How would you react if your child's school enacted a theme day like this?
