Teen arrested following 'altercation' over school's dress code

A school girl has been arrested and sent to juvenile detention following an altercation with her resource officer in Kentucky, US over the school's dress code.

Isabella Messer wore an oversize bright blue t-shirt with the words ‘Do My Shoulders Turn You On?' printed across the front to Hopkinsville High School.

On the back, it said: ‘If so, return to the 1920s.’

According to her mum, the incident happened following 15-year-old Messer's suspension from school after they changed the dress code. They did so, according to mother Theresa Rucks, without informing parents.

The new regulations say students are prohibited from wearing clothes that expose their shoulders.

Messer protested the suspension by wearing the t-shirt, which her mum helped to make.

In a Facebook post, Messer’s aunt claims a female teacher ‘pulled Bella aside and told her that she felt threatened by the shirt, when Bella said it was in her rights to wear it as it is adhering to the dress code.’

Not only did the teacher put her hands on her, but she felt the need to call in the police.

According to WBKO, the 15-year-old had previously been stopped for a dress code violation for showing her shoulders.

A police report, according to the Lexington Herald Leader, stated Messer became ‘uncooperative and loud’. After she was handcuffed, the school resource officer tried to take property from her hands as she attempted to pull away from him.

The report adds assistant principle Nathan Howton saw Messer kick the officer in the leg as he tried to take her phone, which she had been holding behind her back.

She was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and third-degree assault of a law enforcement officer and was in a juvenile detention centre until August 28.

Theresa Rucks told the Herald:

She shouldn’t have been in any kind of trouble. Now it turned out to be where she’s in McCracken because the assistant principal did not like what her shirt had read.

They got her with resisting arrest for a shirt that was peaceful protesting.

I feel like the school has gone overboard. She’s such a good kid.

'I am furious and just floored by this situation,' her aunt Melinda added on Facebook.

indy100 has contacted Hopkinsville High School for comment.

More: Texas high school apologises after 'sexist' dress code clip goes viral

More: Women who wear makeup at work are getting paid more, according to study