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Parenting

15th Sep 2017

Dad fights school dress code that makes kids feel like ‘sex symbols’

"You have to stand up for what's right."

Jade Hayden

Calls for schools to open on Saturdays to make up for lost days

Fair play to him.

A dad is fighting his daughter’s school over their dress code which he claims pays unfair attention to female students.

Tony Alarcon said that his 13-year-old daughter, Demetra, was sent home from school because she was wearing shorts that would have been “distracting” to male students.

He told CBS San Fransisco that the school’s dress code needed to change.

“I mean, today it’s 90 degrees outside and she’s wearing leggings because she doesn’t want to be dress coded for wearing shorts. And it’s not OK. It needs to change.”

The Los Gatos dad said that when Demetra was initially taken out of class for her outfit, she was wearing a playsuit that was deemed “too short.”

But when he arrived with shorts and a string top for her to change in to, his daughter was told again that this outfit was unacceptable.

Alarcon said that he doesn’t believe these strict dress codes to be harmless.

“We have to have dress codes that are fair and reasonable and that don’t cause them emotional issues (or) cause them to question their bodies or feel like they’re sex symbols at 13 years old. Because they’re not. They’re just kids.”

The school board met this week to discuss the issues that Alarcon made.

The story comes after a young girl was dress coded for wearing a top that was deemed inappropriate because she is “bustier” than other girls.

Her mum is currently taking legal action against the school for discriminating against her daughter’s size.