When you hear a teenage girl was forced to wear a coat over her "indecent" dress through an entire dance, you're expecting booty baring action and OMG, can't miss it cleavage, right? So what if I told you that Promise Hammond's dress was tight but otherwise the kind of outfit I'd be proud to send my daughter to a dance in? Oh, and then there's this: when her mom tried to challenge the principal on the supposed dress code violation, he had her arrested for "trespassing"?
Can you say somebody has let the power go to his head big time? And folks, if there's any one place where a power hungry person should not get the top job, a school building is right at the top of my list.
But you see it all the time. You get the principal who makes decisions and then refuses to even meet with parents to back them up. You get the principal who ignores the requests from his own staff, the teachers who actually know their students. Surrounded by people who, because of their age, are naturally at a disadvantage, an administrator who thinks he's (or she's) the second coming has a whole building full of people to lord it over. You get the principal who decides, all on his own, that a perfectly appropriate dress is "indecent."
And that is exactly the kind of administrator who can be many a good parent's undoing.
Take Promise's mom, Life Hammond. After the whole dance dress code debacle (seriously, take a look at Promise's dress! It stretches well past the standard "longer than your fingertips" requirement. And, OMG, this scandalous teen even wore a sweet little shrug to cover her shoulders!), she says she went into the school to talk to the principal.
Now here's where stories differ. The school and the police say proper protocol was followed. A school spokesperson alleged that Life "invaded the principal’s personal space." The mom, on the other hand, said she was doing school business, and she feels she has the right to lodge a complaint about a principal's action.
Who knows. They haven't adjudicated this case yet.
But either way, I get where Life was coming from. A principal makes a ridiculous call about your kid, and you want answers! You deserve answers! And all too often we have administrators who hide behind the "I have too much to do" excuse to avoid parents.
Do they do a lot? Yes. I don't envy them all the paperwork. But at the end of the day, if you're in charge of a school, you're in charge of kids' lives. And that means you make time for parents, and be willing to back up the decisions you made regarding their child. Don't like it? Get out of education.
What do you think? Have you had trouble with your kid's school administrators?
Image via -Marlith-/Flickr
This Hot Dad Wants to Do Your Ironing
This Hot Dad Wants to Cook You Dinner
This Hot Dad Cooks AND Does the Dishes
Kanye West is Gay?! 
Comments 20
Wow watch the video she looks fantastic and it's not even slightly revealing. She's a very small girl and the dress is appropriate.
Reminds me of when I was in high school, my assistant principal would try to call me out for wearing spaghetti strap tank tops all while other girls walked by with the same tops on. After I called him out on his inconsistency and even said that I could call my mom and we can discuss this along with the other girls who were not called out, he backed off. But that dress was cute and she was covered. As for tight, what did they want her to wear? A burlap sack?
What article and the girls dress was fine I dont see the problem sounds like power hungry princaples in action. MY freshman year of high school I had to deal with that.
I read the actual story and watched the video. At best the report is extremely one-sided. I am no fan of public schools, but I don't think we have enough information to decide who was right and who was wrong in this instance. Having said that, I agree that the dress is wholly inappropriate, especially for a 9th grader. Being so tight that it shows every feature of a girls body is just as immodest as revealing skin. It's a shame this mother didn't teach her daughter how to be truly beautiful.
I would NEVER let my 15-year old daughter wear that dress and they didn't show it without the wrap - perhaps that was the problem with it, the strapless top. Without being able to read the full policy we'll never know.
There are ways to handle a problem and showing up without an appointment is not one of them. It could have been handled better.
AH, found this, "What is says is no skin showing, no cleavage, and no boxers or underwear can be shown. We also when wearing shorts, skirts, dresses, etc. can not have it be above arm length." - I'd say the bustier dress does not comply.
Funny, maybe it's me, but I'd let my 12 year old wear the dress. I linked to an image of it.
The news video says what she was wearing was exactly as worn to dance so yes, shrug covered any parts not covered by strapless.
Per policy, it certainly is longer than it needs to be and I don't think that applies as cleavage. If so then most kids in their typical tank tops would need to be sent home on a daily basis.
In the end, this policy seems very subjective based on the preferences of the principal--not on a concise, very clear policy. Also, based on this policy, no cheerleaders would ever be let in the door and we all know that is not going to happen. It's very much a double standard and honestly, I think parents-- not schools-- should make the call in their child's attire. I am very glad I am in the adjacent school district which has much more reasonable standards.
It kind of drives me up the wall when schools decided what they deem appropriate to wear. I have seen inappropriate, but this girl's dress with shrug just doesn't scream "indecent." It also seems rather capricious and subjective whom the principal called out. Let's be even-handed and fair, right?
Finally, for them to arrest her mom when she confronted the principal the next day?? A parent trespassing at her own child's school?? Ridiculous!
i thought it was fine..