Dressing As Your Relationship Status Isn’t An Appropriate Middle School Spirit Day
Who thought this was a good idea?
Remember middle school spirit days? Mine included things like "Decades Day," or "School Spirit Day." We definitely didn't have "Stoplight Day," like the one a middle school in Iowa, Louisiana, hosted during this year's homecoming spirit week. Yahoo Lifestyle reports that the school asked students to dress as their relationship status, all in the name of school spirit.
M.J. Mouton, father of a 12-year-old girl who attends this middle school, expressed his disgust on Twitter. He explained the rules of "Stoplight Day," writing, "Wear Red if you are taken. Wear Green if you are single. Wear Yellow if it is complicated." We agree with Mouton—it's so inappropriate for a school to group students based on their dating life.
Dressing as your relationship status isn't even the only questionable thing that you'll notice when looking at the spirit week calendar posted to Twitter. Tuesday is "Boys vs. Girls Gender War," where boys wear pink and girls wear blue. What year is this?
“Middle school kids are in an extremely vulnerable state—dealing with peer pressure, making friends, typical school stresses. 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,” Mouton told local news KPLCTV. School spirit is fine, but putting this pressure on emotionally developing young children, whether it be over their relationship status or gender identity? Not fine.
