Principal apologizes after school dress code video goes viral
FLOWER MOUND, Texas (WFLA) – A high school principal in Texas is apologizing for a video that appears to single out girls for dress code violations.
The video shows a group of girls walking through Marcus High School in Flower Mound in short shorts while the song “Bad Girls” plays in the background. The girls encounter a school official and are sent to a classroom for “dress code violators.”
“Repeat after me: I will not wear athletic shorts,” an instructor tells the girls.
According to WFAA, students were shown the video on the second day of classes. The minute-long clip has since been viewed nearly 100,000 times.
“Today my school was shown this video. So sad how ONLY girls are shown as the violators. I understand why my school has a dresscode, but what about the boys who wear shorts, or show their shoulders? It’s 2018…Why are we still over-sexualizing teen girls?” wrote one student on Twitter.
Others echoed her disappointment, characterizing the video as “sexist,” and “oversexualization.”
School principal Will Skelton sent a letter to parents, saying the video “absolutely missed the mark.”
“I apologized to our students regarding this issue today, but wanted to reach out and apologize to parents as well. I’m a firm believer that when you make a mistake, you own it, you apologize, and you make it right,” Skelton said. “Yesterday we showed a dress code video that featured only female dress code violations, and was accompanied by a poor song choice. Construction in and around the campus prevented us from holding student orientation, which is typically accompanied by a fashion show that demonstrates what to wear, and what not to wear. We believed a video would be a good way to replace the fashion show, but this video absolutely missed the mark.”
The school handbook now states that female students “may wear long pants of appropriate length, skirts or shorts of appropriate length, at or about mid-thigh or longer.” The same rule applies for male students regarding pants or shorts that sit “at the natural waistline.”