Teen's simple outfit could make teacher feel 'awkward.' So they sent her home.

A high school senior, 17 years old, was dismissed from school after her outfit—a white turtleneck and a black knee-length dress—was considered "awkward" for teachers. Her father, Christopher Wilson, addressed the situation in a Facebook Live video that quickly went viral. In the video, he explained that his daughter, Karis, was taken out of her class at NorKam Senior Secondary School in Kamloops, British Columbia, and escorted to the principal's office, where she left in tears. Wilson expressed his disbelief that his daughter could be subjected to such treatment in modern times, with the video accumulating thousands of views.

"Today my daughter was sent home for wearing clothing that made her female teacher and her male student-teacher 'feel uncomfortable,'" Wilson wrote on Facebook, reports Daily Mail. "Centered out in front of her class and told she needs to leave class and brought her to the VP’s before she went home in tears. After asking her how she would like me to handle it she said she wanted to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen to the students that come after her. Please stand with Karis and [me] and make sure that those involved are held accountable and that this never happens again."

Wilson shared a photo of the outfit Karis wore that day, noting that although he often hears about these kinds of incidents in the United States, he never thought it would happen to his own daughter. "I'm frustrated, I'm hurt, I'm disappointed in the system," he said in the video. "I'm pretty upset at this happening [in today's world]." The concerned father also mentioned that when he showed a picture of Karis’s outfit to both the principal and vice-principal, the vice-principal quietly admitted that she didn’t find the outfit uncomfortable.

"If you're a teacher and you're distracted by clothing your students are wearing, then you are in the wrong profession," Wilson said on the Facebook live. "Maybe you should try something new." Speaking to CBC's Radio West about the incident, he explained what happened in his daughter's class that day. "[Karis] was told that it could possibly make the male student teacher feel awkward and it could make [her female classroom teacher] feel awkward since it reminded her of a lingerie outfit," he said. "It's actually a very modest outfit when you actually look at it... I think the initial comments were based on the fact that it had lace."

The father also shared that the "surreal" incident deeply upset Karis. "[We] kind of saw the aftermath of her coming home in tears and just really broken up, confused," he said. "There was a female who was singled out because what she's wearing could make someone in a position of power over her feel uncomfortable. And the more you think of it, the more you say it, the more you understand that this is absurd. It shouldn't happen."

Since the incident, the teen has seen an outpouring of support, with several other women sharing images of themselves in similar outfits on social media. And Karis's classmates also staged a walkout in solidarity on Wednesday, holding signs that read: "I am not my dress" and "My education is more important than what I wear" and "Am I distracting you with my midriff?" According to Wilson, the vice-principal and principal have handled the situation well and the school district superintendent also reached out to the family. "If there's a silver lining to this, [after feeling] that centered out and awkward, [it's to] have everyone stand up, stand beside you and say, no, this isn't OK, we're with you," he said. "We could definitely learn some lessons from it. I know for a fact that they're taking this very seriously and it might be an opportunity to promote learning for the teachers as well."

This article was originally published on March 3, 2021. It has since been updated.