A mum is planning to take legal action against a high school due to their dress code which saw her daughter sent to the principal’s office for wearing a long-sleeved blouse.
Melissa Barber’s 17-year-old daughter was taken out of class and told by a male teacher that her outfit was inappropriate for her size.
According to a series of Facebook posts shared by Barber, Kelsey Anderson was “sexualised” by her teacher in front of her whole class.
She said that the Missouri teacher told her: “Your boobs are bigger than most girls, and you are gonna have to try harder.”
Barber also shared a photo of her daughter Kelsey’s outfit the day that she was dressed coded.
The mum has stated that she is planning to take legal action against the Missouri high school.
According to her posts, once Kelsey arrived in the school office she was told that “bustier women need to wear clothing that cover their cleavage.”
She was then told that “Plus size women need to dress accordingly.”
Once Barber herself arrived on the scene, she was told by the school’s principal that they had “never had a problem” with Kelsey before.
Barber responded by saying that it was wrong for her daughter to have been discriminated against in front of her class.
“I began explaining that my daughter was just sexualized by her teacher in front of the whole class. She was embarrassed and horrified.”
But, the Missouri mum said that the longer she spoke, the more she knew she was “getting nowhere.”
“I took my daughter by the hand and we left. I refuse to put my daughter in a situation where her self esteem is completely destroyed.
She is there to learn. This whole time she was missing out on an education while we were all sitting in a room discussing her boobs.
How often does this happen to your sons? Seems like another way to keep girls uneducated.”
Barber had her first meeting with her attorney on Monday.
She is currently seeking other parents to share their stories of discriminatory dress code violations in the high school.
Although Barber started this fight for her own daughter, she has said she “will finish it for yours.”
