A North Carolina mom is furious after her teenage daughter was pulled off of a school bus and left at school alone for wearing “inappropriate clothing” ... that showed her clavicle.
That’s right: A 16-year-old girl was forbidden from riding the school bus home, all because she was showing what the administrator deemed too much shoulder.
According to WTVD-TV, Hoke County High School in Raeford, N.C., is under fire after the incident. India Middleton, the mother of Makhigha Davis, filmed video of herself picking up her daughter, who was left alone outside the locked-up school.
“I don’t send my children out here in provocative clothes to break any rules at school,” Middleton told the news station. “I feel like that could have been handled a different way.”
Yes, I completely agree it could have been handled a different way ... as in not handled at all, as there is nothing provocative about a goddamn shoulder. The sexualizing of the most mundane parts of the human body has got to stop. What could possibly be inappropriate about showing your shoulder?
I’m waiting for the nonexistent reasoning behind this one.
Anyway, Middleton said that she got a phone call from her daughter after school last Friday; Makhigha explained that she wouldn’t be on the bus because the assistant principal refused to let her on because of her shirt.
Makhigha waited inside the school building until the last staffer left, and then she had no choice but to wait alone outside.
“She said, ‘You have to wait outside because I’m about to leave and the office is about to close,’” Makhigha told the news station.
The incident left the 16-year-old extremely confused, especially since she went through an entire day at school, including five classes, without anyone saying anything. Now, all of a sudden, she had no way of getting home until her mother came for her almost two hours after the fact.
Hoke County Schools offered no pushback when asked for a statement but also did not even bother to apologize.
“Hoke County Schools will not make excuses for the poor judgment demonstrated by the assistant principal. The best course of action would have been to allow the student to get on the bus Friday. All administrators understand that if a child is pulled from a bus then they are responsible for that child’s supervision until they are safely picked up by a parent,” the district said in a statement.
Obviously, for Middleton, that explanation—if you can even call it that—is not nearly enough, especially given that her daughter was left vulnerable.
“It seems like there is no consequence for the administrator. He gets to go about his regular day,” Middleton said.
Makhigha has not been back to school since the incident.