A Florida school has come under fire after a Hooters waitress spoke to a group of special needs students at an annual careers event.
The Great American Teach-In at Calvin A. Hunsinger School — an institution that teaches students with emotional and behavioural disabilities — brings together a number of speakers who discuss career choices with the students.
But one parent was less than impressed when Hooters waitress Brittany Morgan was called upon to deliver a presentation, the St Petersburg Times reports.
"It's just the wrong message," parent Ashley Dominicci said. "I feel like we're telling them that you're the bad kids, and this is all you'll be in life.
"I'm not knocking waitresses. They're very hard-working. My point is, these kids should have higher goals."
Waitresses at Hooters restaurants in the US are famous for being young, attractive women who wear very little. Their sex appeal is an important part of the company's image.
Dominicci, the mother of a sixth grade student at the school, argued there were countless other options that would have been more appropriate.
"I can think of 10 professional friends off the top of my head that would have volunteered," she said.
The school's principal, Stephanie Bessette, defended the decision in an email to Dominicci.
"Working as a waiter or waitress in order to achieve higher goals should be commended," Bessette wrote.
Morgan told the Times she could sympathise with Dominicci, but was confident her presentation to the students was valuable.
"I'm confident there was nothing wrong with my presentation," she said. "Most of us are going to school. We're aspiring to do other things in life. This isn't our career."
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