A 13-year-old boy suspended from school for refusing to remove his Vera Bradley handbag

A 13-year-old Kansas eighth-grader says he was suspended from school on Wednesday because he refused to take off his Vera Bradley handbag. His furious mother says it is discrimination because girls are allowed to have handbags with no repercussions. "I don't think everyone should be treated differently," Skylar Davis says. "Everyone should have the same privileges."

Skylar is a student at Anderson County Senior-Junior School. He said he has been carrying the colorful fabric Vera Bradley bag over his shoulder for some time with no issues. "It expresses myself and I think everyone else can wear it, so I wear it as well," Skylar said. He was summoned to Assistant Principal Don Hillard's office after he wouldn't take it off.  "I went to the office and I refused to take it off, and they suspended me," the teen explained.

School personnel then called his mother, Leslie Willis, to come get her son. "I was a little furious, and I called the school [and spoke to Hillard] to re-verify the story, and yeah, he refused to take off his Vera Bradley bag, nothing more to do it," Willis said. She said she reviewed the student handbook but did not see a mention to bags or purses. She questions the suspension and the timing.

"Skylar has been going to school since August with that same Vera Bradley bag on, hasn't taken it off. What is the problem?" she asked. She said she supports her son and his choices. She said if he wants to carry a Vera Bradley handbag or any other type of bag that he should be able to do so without being punished. Willis said she was told that the suspension wouldn't be lifted until Skylar stops wearing the bag, which he says he won't do. Anderson County School District officials did not comment.

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