Mom Cries ‘Body Shaming’ When She Reads the Rules for School’s 6th Grade Pool Party

When Jennifer Smith’s son brought home a permission slip to attend a pool party commending 6th graders for good citizenship — she noticed a dress-code directive that did not sit well with her.

The fine print didn’t concern the Indianopolis mom’s son — it was the instructions given to girls to ‘wear a non-white t-shirt over their swimsuit’ that piqued her attention.

Instead of signing the note, Smith hand-wrote her response to the pool party rule:

“I will not let my child participate in any activity that promotes girls body shaming, or tells girls they have to police their sexuality.”

According to the Huffington Post, the incensed mother found the note in direct opposition to her values:

“Being a feminist and seeing things through that filter, I was just kind of enraged by that. They’re saying little girls need to be ashamed of their bodies and cover themselves up.”

The school district stated that the t-shirt mandate was put in place to prevent perceived inappropriate swimwear. A spokesman from the Rhoades Elementary had this to say on the issue:

“To address the issue of appropriate dress for the swim party, we believed asking the girls to wear T-shirts over their swimsuits was the solution that addressed the issue most sensitively.”

The school decided to heed Smith’s complaint: wearing a t-shirt to the party is now optional.