By Cliff Pinckard
Advance Ohio Media, Cleveland
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) 17 year old Kelsey Anderson tells the Joplin Globe that her child-development teacher told her she was violating the school’s dress code. The teacher told her that “bustier women need to wear clothing that cover their cleavage.”
JOPLIN, Missouri
The mother of a high school student is considering legal action after her daughter was sent to the principal’s office by a teacher who said the girl’s outfit was “too busty,” reports say.
Melissa Barber used Facebook to describe what happened last Friday to her daughter, Kelsey Anderson, 17, at Joplin High School in a post that is gaining national attention.
Anderson tells the Joplin Globe that her child-development teacher told her she was violating the school’s dress code.
When Anderson asked what she had done wrong, the teacher told her that “bustier women need to wear clothing that cover their cleavage,” she tells the Globe.
Anderson said her outfit showed little to no cleavage, KOAM reports. She also said two principals and a school counselor did not think her outfit violated the school’s dress code.
However, she told school officials she was embarrassed by the incident and did not want to return to the class.
School officials refused and Anderson has not returned to the high school since, KRBK Channel 5 reports.
Barber has hired a lawyer and is considering legal action against the school, reports say.
“This young lady and some other people have contacted us about this teacher making comments about being plus-sized, having larger breasts and larger thighs,” the family’s lawyer, Elizabeth Turner, tells KRBK.
The school district said in a statement that it is investigating the incident.
“The district does not consider comments by staff members about students’ bodies appropriate,” the release stated.
“Our staff conduct policy requires all staff members to maintain courteous and professional relationships with students.”
Turner tells KRBK that it’s important the incident be addressed because suicide rates among teens are at an all-time high and more than 90 percent of teen girls say they have experienced body-shaming.
“We teach our kids not to bully, not to body shame, not to do these type of things, and yet those are the things that are happening and a lot of it’s coming from adults,” Turner said.
