If you thought multiple national news stories about middle and high school dress codes gone horribly wrong were enough to deter schools from handling their own dress codes inappropriately, then you’d be very (unfortunately) mistaken.
As Fox 5 DC reports, Benjamin Stoddert Middle School in Waldorf, Maryland’s dress code prohibits students from wearing jeans that hit above the knee, or jeans with rips above the knee. Regardless of the problematic way in which this rule affects female students almost exclusively, it’s pretty common to most schools — but one student and her mother is speaking out after the school required her daughter to “fix” her dress code violation in a completely unacceptable way: by covering the holes in her jeans with duct tape placed on her bare skin.
“They told me that my jeans were inappropriate for school and then one of the teachers told me that I had to go get tape,” the student, who isn’t named, told Fox 5. “So I went to go get the tape and the teacher tried to put it on, and then she said make it tighter because she didn’t want it falling off or anything.”
Because putting duct tape on your skin is just as uncomfortable and painful as it sounds, the student texted her mother, Nicole Williams, that the duct tape was itching and burning her skin.
“The idea that they came up with and believe it was a good idea to put duct tape on a child when they can clearly see bare skin – I believe they should have called me first and gave her a chance to change her clothes,” Williams says.
For it’s part, the school has actually defended the move (?!?). “Our practice is to communicate with the parent before a student covers the holes with tape; however, that protocol was not followed today, and I apologize for that,” Marvin Jones, and interim principal at Benjamin Stoddert, said in a statement. “The amount of tape applied by the student was excessive and unfortunately, she had a reaction to it. The parent met face-to-face with an administrator at the school, as well as a director at the system’s administrative offices today. I have attempted to contact the parent as well but without success. My first concern is for the child and I want to make sure that she is okay. I will review with staff proper procedures for handling dress code violations moving forward.”
Because you know, it’s not like itching and burning caused by duct tape on your legs is more of a distraction to a student’s learning environment than distressed jeans or anything. *sips tea*