It's no secret that school dress codes can unfairly target young girls and their clothing choices. Middle and high school girls — as well as their parents — have been making it clear that they should be able to wear whatever they want without being picked on or kicked out of class. Still, these outrageous incidents keep happening. A mom recently revealed that her teen daughter was denied entry onto her school bus and forced to wait alone outside her locked school for a ride, all because of her "inappropriate" outfit — and now she's demanding answers.
India Middleton says she sent her 16-year-old daughter to school in a perfectly acceptable outfit.
But at the end of her day at Hoke County High School in Raeford, North Carolina, an administrator pulled Makhigha Davis off of the school bus home because her clothes were "inappropriate." "I don't send my children out here in provocative clothes to break any rules at school," Middleton told local WTVD. "I feel like that could have been handled a different way."
In photos posted on Facebook by her mother, the 16-year-old was wearing a long-sleeved, loose-fitting grey shirt that fell off of one shoulder, a pair of jeans that were ripped in one knee, and brown boots. For all intents and purposes, Makhigha Davis seemed to be wearing a stylish, school-appropriate outfit.
In addition to being kicked off the bus, Davis was forced to wait on school premises alone until her mom showed up.
While she received a call from her daughter after school at 4 p.m. telling her what happened, India Middleton wasn't able to leave work and get to her until 5:45 p.m. The teenager told WTVD that she waited inside the building until the last staff member left, then she was forced to wait outside by herself.
The furious mother took to Facebook to spread awareness of her daughter's experience.
In a video she took when she picked Davis up, Middleton mentioned that the 16-year-old was left outside for an hour and 45 minutes, without a coat in 52-degree weather. "I don't understand," she said.
Middleton also shared that the administration didn't call to inform her of her daughter's situation until 5 p.m. -- an hour after she was kicked off the bus.
The mother said she spoke with a male staff member who ultimately hung up on her after she asked him when the school would "stop sexualizing every part of the female body."
Almost immediately after sharing her daughter's story, support came pouring in.
Many people brought up the oddness of Makhigha Davis spending an entire day at school with her outfit, only to be punished for it on the way home. "Is the shirt appropriate enough for the classroom but not to ride the bus home?" one person asked.
A lot of people were appalled at the administration's decision to leave her on the school's grounds alone.
Others were disappointed at having to see yet another young girl deal with the consequences of ridiculous dress code violations.
Following the events, the Hoke County High School District released a statement taking full responsibility.
"Hoke County Schools will not make excuses for the poor judgement demonstrated by the assistant principal. The best course of action would have been to allow the student to get on the bus Friday. All administrators understand that if a child is pulled from a bus then they are responsible for that child's supervision until they are safely picked up by a parent," it read.
But India Middleton isn't close to being satisfied. The mother has refused to send her daughter back to Hoke County High School until the issue is properly resolved. She also wants their to be actual consequences for the administrators involved, especially the one who hung up on her Friday afternoon. "It seems like there is no consequence for the administrator," she said. "He gets to go about his regular day."
