Female students at the Stanton College Prep High School in Jacksonville, Fla. immediately headed to Twitter using the hashtag #SCPGoodGirl after a series of posters, depicting “guidelines” for female prom wear, was spotted in the school hallway. On the posters, one of various photos of dresses showed students how a “Good Girl” should dress, while other images, showing some bare skin, said girls wearing those dresses would not be going to the prom.

The 'dress code' poster wasn’t an approved school policy

It turns out the “dress code” poster wasn’t a policy approved by the school.

Using the same hashtag, a tweet from Stanton College Prep apologized for the action, saying it was not appropriate and the poster was removed on Monday. The administration reportedly asked students to accept their apology for what they termed a “poor delivery of information,” going on to add that their intent is to ensure prom is a memorable and enjoyable occasion.

However students said this was too little, too late. Besides inundating Twitter with their responses, Tuesday saw students at the school wearing purple and white to support women. Others wore shirts with the female sign, covered in duct tape. One Stanton male senior, Anthony Paul, called the suggested dress code “outdated” and that it “stigmatizes the female body.

Another senior, Lily Willingham, said that it is her opinion that the word choice on the poster was caused mainly by the generational gap. Willingham said the school didn’t see the issue about the poster being demeaning to women. She was quoted by WGRZ News as saying once the school realized they had offended the students and it wasn’t OK with them, they apologized.

Cosmopolitan quotes Lily Tehrani, a senior at the school and editor of the school newspaper, as saying she was shocked by the posters. Tehrani said while she understands there is a dress code, the addition of the words “good girl” was both condescending and unnecessary.

Reportedly Tehrani paid $500 for her prom gown, which reportedly has an open back, and still plans to wear it at the prom on Saturday.

Psychologist spoke of the effect on female students of ‘slut-shaming’

One local clinical psychologist, Sarah Dew-Reeves, believes that despite the apology by the school, there could still be a bad outcome from the posters. She said she believes other messages were conveyed in the images, besides setting out a dress code. Dew-Reeves, from Nautilus Behavioral Health, said the poster conveyed that the “goodness” of the girls is equated with how they dress.

According to the psychologist, every spring she sees an increase in the number of young females suffering from anxiety, depression, self-esteem and body image issues, especially around Spring Break and the prom. Dew-Reeves said posting those images with those words could reinforce those underlying feelings in the female students.