Schoolgirl Suspended For 'Too Short' Shorts

Schoolgirl Suspended For 'Too Short' Shorts
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A schoolgirl says she felt humiliated when she was pulled up in class because her denim shorts were deemed too short for school - and angry that the rules focused on girls' bodies, not boys' behaviour.

Lindsey Stocker, a grade 11 student at Beaconsfield High School in Montreal, chose to wear the shorts last week, on a hot day, but was ordered to change by her school's vice principals.

Stocker, 16, says she felt singled out and humiliated in front of her class. She told the Montreal Gazette: "I was in violation for showing my legs. And that, point blank, is a problem for me."

The officials told Stocker and her classmates: Put your arms by your sides, and if your shorts or skirts don't reach your fingertips, you're in violation of the school's dress code.

Stocker told CBC News: "When I started explaining why I didn't understand that rule, they didn't really want to hear anything I had to say, and it was in front of my entire class. I felt very attacked ... and I wanted to tell them how I felt.

"They should approach it in a way that doesn't target girls at least - for starters - because that's the first problem. They don't really care what guys wear. They just kind of target the girls first."

Refusing to meekly comply with the rules, she promptly printed up 20 posters and stuck them up all over the school.

The posters read, 'Don't humiliate her because she's wearing shorts. It's hot outside. Instead of shaming girls for their bodies, teach boys that girls are not sexual objects.'

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Within minutes, the posters were taken down - although images have been shared on social media by Lindsey's supporters - and Lindsey was in the principal's office. She was suspended for one day.

The chairperson of the Lester B. Pearson School Board, Susanne Stein Day told CBC's Daybreak Friday that the school rules weren't strict. She added: "The rules are there to help the children learn and prepare them for their future work places, high school is a job for them, they are there to learn to function in society, so it's important that the rules be followed.

"Girls and boys have rules on dress codes; it is not a girl, boy thing, that's not the point."

But Lindsey's stand has won her the support of other girls at school. Lauren Paquay, 15, showed up wearing shorts the next day in support of Stocker. She said the dress code verification - making girls stand up with their arms by their sides to ensure their outfits are fingertip length - is 'humiliating.'

"People are being judged for the way they dress, they have to change because boys look at them. The boys should be the ones who have to learn to treat women better and look at them in a different light," she told CBC.

Watch the videos below to see Lindsey and the school officials contrasting views. What do you think?

And here are some even more absurd UK school rule stories...

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