Regina dad upset over daughter's school dress code
Rules at Regina's Davin School don't allow her to wear tank tops
At Davin School in Regina, 10-year-olds cannot wear tank tops.
Eagle Thom's daughter, who's in Grade 4, told him she can't wear half the clothes in her closet because of the school's dress code. The principal visited her class recently and told students they had to have their shoulders covered.
But Thom takes issue with that.
"You go into Old Navy, you go into any clothing store, that's what you're going to find for the majority of their age for this time of year," he told CBC News.
Shouldn't we be policing the people who are looking at [girls] that way rather than the girls themselves?- Eagle Thom, parent
According to Thom, girls should be able to learn and play in whatever is comfortable for them and that Davin's dress code targets the wrong side of the problem.
"Shouldn't we be policing the people who are looking at [girls] that way rather than the girls themselves," Thom asked on CBC Radio's The Morning Edition, "Rather than telling them that their body is not theirs; that they are at the whim of somebody else?"
According to Regina Public Schools, the Davin School dress code has been in place for 10 years, and the principal was likely just reminding students of it, since the weather was getting warmer.
Spokesperson Terry Lazarou told CBC that while grade four girls may not be sexualized by wearing tank tops at this age, it can become a problem as they get older.
"There's no issue with shoulders," Lazarou said. "I think it's an issue of not allowing revealing clothing."
Lazarou added that the dress code applies to all children, regardless of age or gender.