Parents at a Louisiana middle and high school are irate that a spirit week theme required their children to dress up in a color signifying their relationship status.
Students at Iowa Middle and High School – which share a joint campus – were told to wear either green, yellow or red to signify if they were dating.
‘My daughter’s school has dress up week. Monday is… Wear Red if you are taken. Wear Green if you are single. Wear Yellow if it is complicated,’ said parent, M.J. Mouton. ‘She is in middle school.Totally inappropriate. Welcome to Louisiana.’
‘Spotlight Day’ had students wear green if they were single, yellow if things were complicated and red if taken
‘Spotlight Day’ had students wear green if they were single, yellow if things were complicated and red if taken
According to Mouton, the special event was in conjunction’s with the high school’s homecoming in efforts to help students find dates
According to Mouton, the special event was in conjunction’s with the high school’s homecoming in efforts to help students find dates.
The children’s book author would post a screenshot of the school’s first three spirit days. Besides the ‘Spotlight Day,’ students also had to dress in a binary gender war for Tuesday and a twin/team day for Wednesday.
Mouton posted another screenshot that came from a spokesperson from the Calcasieu Parish School Board that assured parents that there were ‘plans in the works for next year to avoid a repeat of these circumstances.’
Students also had to dress in a binary gender war for Tuesday and a twin/team day for Wednesday
‘Finally, we will never target students for any reason at any time,’ the school added in the statement sent home.
‘I would encourage the school to have fun days, free dress days, but most importantly, think ahead about how these things they implement affect the emotional state of kids,’ said middle school parent, M.J. Mouton
The father shared that a majority of the students chose not to wear colors for the spirit day, opting to wear their regular uniform.
Mouton’s initial post has gained more than 147,000 likes and just over 19,000 retweets, with most finding the day to be innapropriate.
‘Middle school kids are in an extremely vulnerable state—dealing with peer pressure, making friends, typical school stresses,’ Mouton explained to KPLC.
‘I would encourage the school to have fun days, free dress days, but most importantly, think ahead about how these things they implement affect the emotional state of kids.’
A high school mom at the school, Doneka Dugas, felt that Mouton’s feelings were valid but added that she had no problems with older students taking part.
‘Being that I do have a child in high school, I mean, he does have a girlfriend, so, to me, I was okay with it,” she said. ‘But thinking middle school, to me, that’s kind of young, and they really don’t know anything about relationships and stuff. So, I mean, I don’t think my child would’ve done it if he were in middle school.’
The father shared that a majority of the students chose not to wear colors for the spirit day, opting to wear their regular uniform
Mouton posted another screenshot that came from a spokesperson from the Calcasieu Parish School Board that assured parents that there were ‘plans in the works for next year to avoid a repeat of these circumstances’