There are millions of individual rules and regulations in the world — and even more ways to interpret them. Sometimes, the enforcement of these rules can seem like a joke — and, in this case, bring a five-year-old to tears.
Five-year-olds are just starting school.
This is the kindergarten age group. Days are filled with socializing, learning, and play. It should be a positive environment for any kid. But recently, a Minnesota five-year-old was singled out for what she wore.
When we think of dress code violations, we usually imagine teenagers.
In particular, we imagine teenage girls being told to cover up, like what happened to Catherine Pearlman’s 13-year-old daughter in 2017. At 5’7″, the girl struggled to find any summer shorts that met the dress code requirements.
Catherine took to the internet, writing an open letter to the school’s principal.
In it, she welcomed the principal to join them on a shopping trip, noting that current trends make it impossible to meet all the dress code requirements.
One common reason given for the strict dress codes is the possibility of “distraction.”
The distraction of male students and male teachers (gross) that could occur if they’re forced to see a teen girl’s shoulders. It’s rarely about comfort for the girls, even on hot days with little or no air conditioning, and instead sexualizes the girls through no fault of their own.
After that short setup, let me pause to remind you that this particular story is about a FIVE-YEAR-OLD.
Whatever you may think about dress codes, it shouldn’t even be occurring to someone to worry about the sexy shoulders of a five-year-old. It’s really, really weird to do so.
The girl’s mom shared the story.
Emily Stewart, seen above, publicized what she thought was unfair and ridiculous treatment of her daughter Harmony in a recent Facebook post . As we’ll see, this story had a few interesting developments.
Here’s the background.
It makes sense: it was finally spring in the upper midwest. Anyone who’s experienced a Minnesota winter knows what a relief it is when the weather gets warmer and they can bust out some summer clothes.
Here’s what she wore.
It looks like a perfectly appropriate sundress, and there’s no doubt that Harmony was excited to wear it since it was a special gift from her grandma. But unfortunately, the school’s bureaucracy got in the way.
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Here’s what happened next.
We just saw what Harmony looked like in the sundress. Most people probably see a five-year-old in a sundress. It’s hard to imagine why someone would think she needs to “cover her body.”
Harmony came home wearing this.
She went to school in a special dress, then had her day disrupted by someone who thought the outfit was too sexualized. Then she came home in different clothes. It can’t have been an easy day for a five-year-old.
The post garnered lots of support.
Emily says her daughter was embarrassed by the disruption and started bawling when she got home in her school-picked “appropriate” outfit. For fellow parents, it’s tough to read about a young kid being put in this kind of situation.
Emily wasn’t having it.
She followed up her original post with a live video on Facebook where she articulated her thoughts, described the situation, and outlined her next steps. She wasn’t about to let the school board have the last word on this.
Other parents got it.
Hell hath no fury like a parent who has beef with their kid’s school. In this case, Emily’s beef was totally justified — and other parents made sure to let her know how much they agreed.
It went a bit viral.
Emily’s given a few interviews to media. Needless to say, the virality of the whole situation put her daughter’s school board on the hot seat. How would they choose to respond?
Nice work!
After having a light shone on their ridiculous policies, the school board relented and changed their policies. Emily shared the good news in a follow-up post on Facebook a few days later.
Here’s the new policy.
It looks like fine print, and mostly, it is. But what’s important is that there’s nothing in the new language governing what’s “appropriate” or “sexualized.” These are subjective terms that can be misinterpreted.
It was a big win for Emily.
In under a week, she turned the negative situation into one that went viral, sparked discussions, and caused the board to change its regulations. She even got a well-deserved apology!
#momgoals.
Lots of us have memories of a time that one of our parents went to bat for us when we were kids. What Emily did here is what parenting is all about.
We want to know what you think.
Lots of places have bans on spaghetti straps, but why? Does the photo on the left look sexualized? Should this five-year-old have to cover her body? Share your thoughts in the comments!
