AUBURN – Three Edward Little High School students complained of unfair treatment Monday when they were sent home from school because they were wearing Gothic-style makeup.

Johanna Stacey, 14, Robert Scribner, 16, and Erik Jordan, 16, said they didn’t violate the school’s dress code, saying that those rules make no mention of makeup. They complained that “Goths” are picked on.

The students said they were warned not to wear the Goth makeup. They wore it anyway. Under one, eye Stacey drew a spider’s web; under another, a black curl. Scribner and Jordan had black lines under their eyes. They were asked to wash it off or leave. They left.

EL Principal Jim Miller said the students “made a choice to leave. Students need to understand that this is not the mall; this is not a dance; this is not a concert. This is school. Their attire needs to be appropriate.”

Students who come to school looking inappropriate, according to the administration, will be asked to correct it or leave.

Edward Little’s dress code does not address makeup. It defines inappropriate dress as clothing that contains messages that violate discrimination or harassment policies, are defamatory, abusive, threatening, insulting, indecent or vulgar, or have logos related to drugs, tobacco or alcohol.

The policy also says other violations can be determined by the administration.

A violation “is anything that detracts from education,” Miller said.

Parent Alicia Stacey, Johanna’s mother, questioned why her daughter and others were sent home for wearing makeup when other students wear “pretty much what they want to wear. What damage can makeup do?”

Jordan said he was told the makeup was distracting. “It’s no more distracting than kids who walk around with bright underwear and their pants halfway down their legs,” he said.

Short shirts that expose stomachs and skirts that expose legs are against the rules, but school officials ignore it, Johanna Stacey said.

The dress code does not mention makeup, her mother said. “I can’t say I always agree with the makeup, but it’s her choice. When I was in high school I can’t imagine someone telling me how to wear my makeup.”

Teenagers experiment, and they have the right to do that, she said. “I don’t want her to get into trouble, but in her shoes, I’d be doing the same thing.”

She sees her daughter’s Goth style as a safe way to rebel. “I would rather she be wearing makeup and dressing the way she wants than going out or doing drugs and getting into things I don’t want her getting into.”

Johanna Stacey said she wears Goth because it’s artistic, creative, her way of expressing herself. Scribner said he doesn’t normally wear Goth makeup, but did Monday to support his friends. The administration’s decision “makes no sense,” he said.

The students described themselves as “Goth punk” or as having friends who are Goth-punk. They explained it as a style that includes black clothing, long black coats, face makeup, dark or colored hair and piercings.

They get confused with Satanists, but insisted their looks have nothing to do with that. “It’s a style,” Jordan said. Alicia Stacey, Johanna’s mother, said she’s been offended by drivers who yell, “Satan worshipper” because of how her daughter is dressed.

They planned to go to school Tuesday without the makeup, but would like to find a way to be self-expressive without getting into trouble.

Jordan complained that educators “single out Gothic kids and anyone who associates with the Goth kids.”

Miller disagreed.

He insisted that when inappropriate student dress is brought to the attention of school officials, it’s dealt with.

“We’re consistent with that,” he said.