Parents outraged after daughter, 9, told tank top 'distracts' boys at school

A nine-year-old was told to cover up her tank top with a hoodie because it "distracts" the boys. Photo / Kate Darrow

Florida parents who were outraged after their 9-year-old daughter's school allegedly asked her to cover up because her tank top "distracts" boys decided to retort in a peaceful way.

Kate Darrow told Yahoo lifestyle her daughter, who is a student at Callahan Intermediate School, was told to wear a hoodie because her tank top was "distracting" male students on Wednesday, 22 of August.

According to the school's 2019-2020 Student Handbook, the dress code says: "Shirts must cover midriff area and may not have spaghetti or thin straps less than 2 inches."

But instead of calling and complaining about the school dress code, the girl's family and other students decided to put on a peaceful protest.

At the beginning of the week, the 9-year-old wore a blue T-shirt to school which read, "Right to bare shoulders."

Her older brother and two other students wore shirts with the slogan, "Real men aren't distracted by shoulders."

"My friends and I came up with the idea for the shirts. We thought it would be somewhat of a 'peaceful protest,'" her mum told Yahoo Lifestyle.

The students wore the shirts with no problems that day, but in Tuesday her parents met with school administrators, who investigate what happened.

The girl's father, Rob Darrow, told Yahoo Lifestyle that although the school's dress code is for written for both genders, he believes that it targets female students.

Both parents believe that the underlying message the school is teaching is that "we should tell women that they should behave in a way that doesn't disturb or distract men."

The parents said this is the wrong message to send boys and girls and hope to see the dress code changes.

"If someone is distracted because a female is showing her shoulders, someone needs to tell that boy, 'You need to be able to focus yourself and women are not objects,'" Rob tells Yahoo Lifestyle.