SPRING HILL, Tenn., March 5 (UPI) -- A Franklin, Tenn., mother said her 4-year-old daughter felt unnecessarily shamed leaving a public pool where the girl wore a swimsuit with a bottom, but no top.

Sara Parada said her daughter was swimming Friday in the indoor pool of the Longview Recreation Center in Spring Hill, Tenn. The two left after an argument with lifeguards and a supervisor about policy at the pool.


"It was really poorly handled," Parada said. "She left feeling really ashamed of herself."

"The rule requires tops and bottoms for girls. It's never, ever been questioned in my 34 years," said Parks and Recreation Department Director Doug Hood, but the (Nashville) Tennessean noted Tuesday that, of 29 rules posted on the department's website regarding pool policies, only two mention proper attire and neither specifies tops and bottoms for girls.

Parada has lived in California and Hawaii, she said, and acknowledged the rule.

"Now that I know it's a cultural thing, I'll comply with the cultural norm. From now on I'm definitely putting a top on her. I don't see the need to traumatize her," she said.