Wear your mask right kiddo. Please.

I'm probably too European to understand what's going on. How can a teacher get offended and decide to deny a girl her education just based on a shirt that she's wearing? What perversity in their mind got triggered that they are sexually aroused by a 12 year old girls belly button? As I said, I'm probably too European to understand this insanity.

You would be excluded from school here in the UK for having coloured hair like the girl has! It's hard to enforce a dress code when there is no uniform, which is why school uniforms are a good idea. You don't need permission to film any public interaction.

I dislike this topic. Stop sexualizing children. And yet.... Please. Just. Deal. With. Dress. Codes. They are common in workplaces (for safety reasons, or aesthetics, whatever). You're gonna have to follow rules all your life....

If a principal can threaten to bring in LAWYERS just to implement some stupid dress code on a poor girl, then more and more schools can impose a super strict rule on masks and social distancing during physical classes. End of.

The dress code is quite specific, and the student is in violation. Mom is just trying to get some likes on TikTok and other social media, but, you know who should be held responsible? Mom. She allowed her daughter, who is a minor, to go to school wearing clothes that violate the code (which, for one thing, teaches kids adult responsibility), so, stick mom in detention.

Beyond the question of sexualization, I would stick to the following formula: "correct dress required". That is, an outfit in which you are not going to work, whether you are a man or a woman, period. An outfit that doesn't give you a scruffy, badly styled or neglected look, so no belly, no dizzying necklines, no thighs, no outfits with holes, stains, no outfit with questionable slogans, etc. As well for man / boy as for woman / girl! It is a mark of respect both for others but also for oneself in a school and / or professional context.

I’m just a couple of years shy of 40 and live in the US. We dress codes going all the way back to middle school, in which I had to tuck in my shirt. To me, it’s really quite simple. Abide by the dress code and stop complaining. It’s there for a reason. This mom and daughter violated the dress code and violated it anyway.

Did the daughter just roll out of bed and go to school?

To all the commenters saying 'stop sexualizing girls', is there a limit to this? Would you argue that it's acceptable to be completely nude in public? Just as you are arguing for this girl's comfortable clothing (low neckline, open midriff), naturalists would argue that complete nudity is not inherently sexual. Reasonable argument, as there's the entire rest of the animal kingdom as evidence - but are you willing to take this to the fight against embedded standards throughout society? Dress etiquette has become more and more forgiving over the years, but this school (and countless others) has drawn the lines at things like midriff, sleeve length, neckline etc. So does one mother get to ignore those rules because she doesn't agree with them? Would you feel the same way if it was a naturalist mother and her nude child in school?

If this were an AITA thread, I'd say ESH. The school made way to big a deal out of it and there was a simple solution that they rejected. The mom overreacted big time and is not setting a good example as a parent. Not every conflict or disagreement has to be the hill you choose to die on, for either party. I feel bad for the girl because she has to have that woman for a mom and go to that school. Wouldn't make good internet if we didn't turn it into an episode of Jerry Springer though.

My mom had to bring me a new outfit on my first day of 8th grade because my flowery girly dress had too much navy blue. Navy blue are gang colors where I lived. Ridiculous, yes. But, never wore blue again at that school.

I really enjoy these freedom fighters. Making a stand with the least effort possible. Dont like dress codes? Run for school board. Or vote for idiots who agree with you. Although on this front I think you're unlikely to be happy with someone on a school board that is OK with 12 year olds in half shirts at school.

Hey, I'm in my 40s and also not allowed to wear shirts that show my midriff or sweatpants to the office. If the school is applying this dress code uniformly across body types and genders, then mom needs to STFU and pay attention to what her daughter wears out the door in the morning. If they're unfairly targeting her child, or only tall girls or whatever, then she needs to address that specifically. As for the relevance of dress codes in schools, there is quite a but of research showing that kids do better academically in schools when there is a dress code in place that minimizes differences in socioeconomic status.

Have a school uniform. All these issues go away. At 12yrs old I was moved from a local public/state school with no uniform to a private school with a uniform. Immediately I noticed that when wearing a uniform the kids behave better, even when leaving school at the end of the day they were well behaved because the public would recognize the uniform, report bad behavior to the school, and we'd all be dragged into an assembly where we got a lecture. To skip dealing with the lecture we all behaved while in uniform, whether at school or outside it. Another thing I noticed is kids were no longer arguing/bullying/feeling social peer pressure to show up to school with the "newest Nike's" or whatever new top fashion item was socially required.

The mother can't even spell ("principle"?!) so this kid needs more help to stay in school to not end up like her!

First, am I the only one appalled that these people don't understand the difference between "principle" and "principal". C'mon people! Remember - "the principal is your PAL" that's how you remember. Sheesh. Now, some one made the comment that dress codes had been around for years. Yes they have. But they weren't always that restrictive. I remember wearing spaghetti straps in junior high. As well as a halter top that had absolutely no back. This was 1974. So, don't tell me things haven't gotten worse. Honestly, what rot. The boys I went to school with had no trouble learning while I was wearing my halter. And let's be honest. Dress codes are really only for the girls, aren't they?

To be clear, I don't think the girl should be punished at all. But at the same time, keeping in mind she's TWELVE, not sixteen... in a day & age where breasts are still sexualized, who makes a shirt for children that has such a low neckline?? I'm not some sort of angry Puritan, but I feel like twelve is a bit young to be wearing shirts like that, only because a twelve year old's mind is still very very young & probably doesn't even realize the potential sexual nature of the shirt that others would pick up on, even if it's the fault of other's. It would put her in an uncomfortable situation she's way too young & unequipped to deal with. Which, again, wouldn't be her fault at all, but it would be better to avoid that. Her mother has TikTok ao clearly she doesn't live under a rock; she should know how harsh dress codes are & that people will generally have a problem when a twelve year old wears clothes more appropriate for a much older teen. Why would she let her daughter wear the shirt? She let her daughter get into a stressful situation for no reason. It sucks not being able to wear what you want, but that's part of life & she should've gently told her daughter she can wear the shirt at home, not at school, & stopped the entire scene from unfolding. Again, I'm placing no blame on the daughter, but society & those caring for her have failed her here. Also, tell her to put her damn mask on properly!

If you think modern school dress codes are ridiculous, you should have seen what we had to deal with when I was in school. Dress pants for boys (no jeans allowed) and dresses or skirts for girls (which couldn't be shorter than two inches above the knee). No t-shirts, and shirts had to be tucked in unless designed to be worn out. "Street shoes" only (which had to be brown or black), no athletic shoes outside of gym class. Boys' hair wasn't allowed to touch ears or shirt collars. And that's just the beginning. Most of our closet space was taken up by clothes we never wore and would never want to wear outside of school. We didn't like it much, but those were the rules, and in those days our parents weren't likely to be sympathetic toward any attempts to defy authority. So sorry, Karen, but no sympathy from me. Whether you agree with them or not, rules are rules and your brat isn't exempt. The sooner she learns that, the better off she'll be.

I would like to see school like work environment. So no top tank, no shorts, no sweat pants. For both boys and girls. With your clothes you show your attitude to the place. If you wear something mentioned above, you are showing no respect.

the amount of rules is absurd.

I fr thought that school uniforms (in India) are weird...I wanna wear fancy outfits..but I think uniforms are BETTER choice. Everyone wears the same shirt only girls go for skirts and boys for pants...and Muslim Girls get to wear an outfit suitable for them.