“I was shocked, I could not believe it,” the girl’s mother told Ynet. “I saw my daughter and I saw how kids were laughing at her,” she continued. “I asked the teacher why she had done that, so she said sleeveless dresses are banned by the school’s dress code,” she said. “So I told her, ‘And is [making her] only wear underwear okay?’”According to the mother, the girl is traumatized and refuses to go back to school. “The girl has language problems. She mainly speaks Russian and has serious difficulties with Hebrew,” she told Ynet.“The teacher knows of the language barrier and still did not make the effort to explain to her what was wrong. She is a fragile little princess. She does not deserve to be treated that way,” the mother said. “I believe there is racism against Russians [in Israel].”“There is your ‘institution-appropriate dress code.’ A girl was forced to go around wearing underwear an entire day because the adults who were supposed to see her saw exposed arms. A seven-year-old,” feminist NGO Kulan said.
“Remember this the next time you chat about clothes that do not respect their wearer,” the NGO continued. “It is never about the clothes, it is about control, humiliation and shaming.”Petah Tikva Mayor Rami Greenberg said the city’s municipality will examine the incident.“In our city, we aim to [make] the education system the best it can be, which requires discretion and mutual respect between students and their parents and the teachers, and vice versa.”According to the Education Ministry, “dress codes are under the authority and responsibility of school principals. That being said, the ministry is sorry for the incident and adds there was place to act with more compassion. Hence, the issue was clarified in a conversation with the school principal.”