On February 11, 2016, Booker T. Washington High School located in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida, suspended a plethora of girls for wearing leggings to school. The suspension period? Ten days. For wearing leggings. When there was no prior warning that suspension was even being considered as a punishment. A photo of at least a dozen girls was posted to Facebook by a student with the caption, “Up until THIS MORNING we were allowed to wear leggings and without any prior warning every girl wearing leggings was sent to the office and they aren’t giving warnings, they’re SUSPENDING us for 10 days if we cant get a change of clothes or get checked out. Some of us CAN’T go home right now and how were we supposed to know anyway? They said we are a distraction for how we dress and we are taking away from people getting education.”
First, I would like to address the fact that the girls were going to face suspension if they didn't happen to have a change of clothes on them or if they couldn't be checked out to go home and change. I'm sure some of these girls depend on their parents for transportation to and from school, and I'm willing to bet that most of those parents work full time and are unable to leave their job to go pick up their children in the middle of the day. Can't get home at that moment? Well I guess you'll be staying home for a week and a half.
Second, why would the principle decide to automatically suspend girls without even giving them a warning? The administration should have realized that suspension is an extremely serious offense and most colleges ask if you have been suspended before. Writing down "suspended for ten days for wearing leggings to class" on a college application could potentially destroy a person's chances of admission. A suspension for something so minuscule as this is absolutely ridiculous.
Lastly, I would like to point out that the administration stated that the girls wearing leggings were a "distraction" and the girls were "taking away from people getting an education". If anything, the administration is taking away an opportunity for the girls to learn. Girls are constantly told by the media that they're only purpose in life is to please men. They are looked at as sexual objects instead of people with intelligence and purpose. By suspending these girls for wearing leggings, the administration is only solidifying these false statements. I, for one, wear leggings to my classes in college all of the time. I can assure you that no boy has ever leaned over to me and said, "Do you mind leaving, the way you're dressed is really distracting me and taking away from my education." If a boy, or anyone for that matter, does ever say that to me I will politely tell them to buzz off, but that's beside the point.
It is 2016, people. It's time to stop telling girls to be ashamed of their bodies. It's time to stop punishing girls for having bodies. It's time we wake up and realize that importance of education is equally important for both sexes and nothing should get in the way of that.
