Strict school dress codes penalise 'the wrong type of crew neck'

It's the start of a new school year in the US, and students are already falling foul of "baffling" dress code rules.

Students of Dickson County High School, in Tennessee, are complaining about the code, which stipulates among other things that students wear "a collared and/or crew neck top with sleeves".

However, students have been disciplined for wearing outfits they thought fell within the rules. 

Tori Taylor, 17, says she was removed from classes twice in the past month, once for wearing the top pictured above. "I was honestly baffled,” Taylor told Today Style. “I didn’t see what the issue could’ve been with it.”

She says she thought both garments fell within the code. Speaking to Channel 5 in Tennessee, she said, “I spent a lot of money on my school clothes for my senior year. I can’t afford to buy a whole other set of school clothes just to question if it will be OK.”

Bree Beard, 17, was also disciplined for breaking the dress code in the pink T-shirt pictured at the top. She says school officials “said it was out of dress code because my bra straps were showing. I asked if I could fix my bra to where they couldn't see my straps but they said it was still out of dress code because it was the wrong type of crew neck.”

It was bad news for the student: “I was confused and a little upset because I bought that shirt and more like it the day before, and if I couldn't wear that, then none of my other shirts would work. Also, I wore the same type of shirts last year and never got in trouble for them.”

It's that inconsistency that students are protesting, rather than the code itself. One parent wrote on the school's Facebook page, "The dress code is the stupidest thing here... I understand a dress code should be implemented (no pajamas, daisy dukes, or low cut crop tops)... But if you're sent to suspension because your jeans are fraying at the bottom, you're wearing a v-neck or blouse, that's when I'm ready to have a fit.”