Fla. teen stripped of National Honor Society title for wearing sundress during speech
link A 17-year-old Florida honor roll student was stripped of her National Honor Society title for wearing a spaghetti-strap sundress while delivering an election victory speech, her outraged mother said.
Cameron Boland, a junior at Fort Myers High School, broke the dress code when she bared her shoulders on stage after being voted in as historian for her school's National Honor Society chapter, mom Caroline Boland told the Daily News.
"The lunacy of this is so, so crazy. It was not salacious. It’s a kid’s dress. Shoulders are a common sight in southwest Florida,” Boland said. “She put it best by saying, ‘What everyone is showing me here is my shoulders are more valued than my brain.’”
The straight-A teen, who is her class president and a basketball team captain, had offended students with her white, strappy American Eagle dress, district officials told WINK News.
he school disqualified her from the post, overturning the election in which she ran unopposed less than an hour after Cameron delivered her victory speech.
"She sent me a text saying she was 'super excited' because now she was historian for the whole county," Boland told Yahoo Parenting. "Forty-one minutes later she sent another text saying, 'I was disqualified because my shoulders were bared and that is a dress code violation.'"
Now Cameron and her mother are fighting the ruling. Caroline Boland went before the school board Tuesday, saying her daughter should be reinstated and issued an apology.
It's unclear if the decision was reversed. Boland said she hasn't heard from the district since.
The Lee County School District did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.
"It is clear the adults, the advisors involved made mistakes and no one wants to own up to those mistakes," Cameron told WINK News. "We want a reelection or given our spots back."
If she knew about the dress code and wore it anyway, then she should be out of luck. If she didn't know ahead of time, couldn't someone have stopped her prior to giving her speech and handed her a cardigan to put on?
I don't understand waiting until after she had given her speech and then disqualifying her.
When I was in high school, it was engrained in us that the dress code applied to every single school function (excluding prom). Even football games, after hours events, and graduation. If you didn't dress appropriately, you got written up. After 3 write ups, you were suspended. If you had been suspended, you couldn't serve as any sort of class or club officer.
I do think that her punishment is harsh, but for all we know there could be more to the story.
Post by Balki.Bartokomous on May 28, 2015 13:31:46 GMT -5
Her punishment is really harsh. I also think that dress codes are basically another way to repress women. There's not even a chance that a guy would have to deal with this shit.
So, if she had shown up to give her speech in a ratty t-shirt, yoga pants, and hadn't showered she would be fine but since she dressed nicely, but showed her shoulders *gasp* she is disqualified. M'kay.
Post by imojoebunny on May 28, 2015 14:51:26 GMT -5
I guess it depends on what she was suppose to be wearing. If she was suppose to be wearing a catholic school girl uniform, and she wasn't, I don't see why she was allowed to speak. If it is just a normal "decency" wardrobe dress code, I think this is ridiculous. Her dress is not slutty or inappropriate for her age, or a hot school day, IMO. If she was suppose to have sleeves, the teachers should have reminded her and made her borrow something from the lost and found.
I doubt he school policy is "if you wear a tank top, you will be stripped of your historian office for the National honor Society".
I still remember one of my friends being sent home for violating the dress code. She had borrowed one of her professional mothers outfits, the skirt wasn't as long as her finger tips. It was completely arbitrary. Her arms were short, and her waist was high.
I wonder how many other girls in the audience (NHS attendees/ members) went sleeveless for this hot Florida ceremony? I could slightly see if everyone else made sure to cover their shoulders & she went sleeveless, since she's the president, & thought she could get away with it. OTOH, I can absolutely see most girls going sleeveless, except for the super rule-follower who lost her bid for president in a landslide, wore cap sleeves, was pissed, complained, thus this resulting scenario
Post by MixedBerryJam on May 29, 2015 8:07:16 GMT -5
I wouldn't even call those straps spaghetti straps, actually. I'd call them straps for sure, but they're an inch or so across. I think of spaghetti straps as strings or cords. Either way, I'm glad they're fighting. The boys surely don't have a "no shoulders" rule.