School Calls Mom To Bring More Clothes For Her Tall 13-Year-Old Daughter Because Her 'Shorts Are Too Short' — Mom Says No
"I can't believe we're still doing this."
TikTok The mom of a 13-year-old girl made her case against dress codes after receiving a phone call from her daughter’s school. In a TikTok post, Victoria Kristie called out antiquated dress code rules that target young women.
“It’s 2023 and we are still using dress codes as a way to shame young girls,” Kristie titled her post. Her daughter, who is 5’10, was told by a teacher that her shorts weren’t appropriate for school.
The mom was asked to bring a change of clothes for her tall daughter because her ‘shorts were too short,’ but Kristie refused.
“I got a phone call from my daughter’s school today, and I’ll start by saying that when the school calls me and says that my daughter did something wrong, I’m not one of those parents like, ‘not my kid.’ I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, definitely my kid, what did she do,’” Kristie explained.
She was at the store with her two younger sons, trying to check out, when the school called to say that her daughter was in the office. “It’s a teacher I’ve never heard of, so it’s not one of her teachers,” she said.
The teacher told the mom that her 13-year-old daughter’s ‘shorts are too short.’
But Kristie explained that her daughter comes from tall stock. “I am 5’10. My whole life, I’ve been super lanky. I’m all arms and legs… my legs are as long as can be. My daughter, having me as a mom [and] her dad is 6’4, so at 13, she’s also 5’10.”
Kristie called out the teacher, saying, “So, ma’am, any pair of shorts that she puts on is going to be too short in your eyes. I dealt with it my whole life; I went to Catholic school. My skirt, no matter how long it was, was always too short. I was always in trouble. It just is what it is.”
“So this lady’s like, ‘Do you think you could bring her–’” and then Kristie cut her off. “Nope. Stop right there. I will not be bringing her another pair of shorts. In fact, I would kindly appreciate if you could send her back to class. I cannot believe that she is missing class for this.”
Kristie makes a solid point— her daughter’s education was being interrupted by school officials who claim to have her educational interests in mind, yet seem more focused on what she’s wearing.
Photo: Halay Alex / Shutterstock
She explained that her daughter was wearing “baggy athletic shorts, and a t-shirt and Crocs. She looked like every other homeless teenager that was walking into that school, okay? And you’re picking her out because her legs are long and her shorts are too short?”
Kristie called out what the actual problem is— "It is 2023 and we are still sexualizing children… I’m sorry, girls, and making them a distraction to boys.”
“Send her back to class. I was like, do not call me again with this. I am a parent. I see what she walks out of the house in, in the morning. I take her to school; I will decide if it’s appropriate or not for school.”
“I can’t believe we’re still doing this,” Kristie reiterated. “Respectfully, don’t call me again. Send her back to class so she can learn.”
She received over 200 comments on her post, many of which came from people who shared a similar experience of getting dress coded because of how their bodies look.
“I have a tall daughter and a short one and they share uniform shorts and one gets dress coded [and] one doesn’t. She just wears pants all year,” said another mom in the comments. “My daughter got coded for identical clothes to her friends because she was chubby. Made me furious,” stated a different mom.
Kristie’s story makes it very clear that dress coding isn’t actually about distractions to education, at all, and is really just a way to control girls’ bodies, yet again. Dress coding due to someone’s body type only works to force those kids to internalize feeling bad about themselves, when all bodies are different, and all bodies are normal.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers parenting issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.