So what do you think of this?

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Oh Son of a bisquit maker NO!!!!!!

I would be livid fighting mad! They would have never met a mother with her hackles up more than me. Jamie had hair like that...well not quite like that but he had long hair all his little life until he entered 9th grade and had to cut it for JROTC. When he cut it for that, I cried!

Dont they dare tell me that my son isnt a constructive member of society...he was a MARINE for GODS SAKE!

They are morons!
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
GRRRRRRRRRRRR

He's a BABY for crying out loud!

I don't have issues with hair. After all, Onyxx DYES HERS BLACK. Eww.
 

jal

Member
It's ridiculous. There are more things to worry about that are going on in our schools than the length of someone's hair.
 

DaisyFace

Love me...Love me not
Really? Really????

There are no larger, more important issues in that school district so that they have time to fuss over the length of a child's hair?

Perhaps this would be a good school district for some our our kids, as the school staff obviously has plenty of extra time of their hands.
 

flutterby

Fly away!
This is a really good way to make school into something the child doesn't want to do.

And the school is paying an aide to sit with him all day during school. Wonder how they justify that.

This is beyond stupid.
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
I like how they call it a distraction. Yeah...like all of the other little kids are going to be distracted from their work because they are sitting there staring at this spectacle of a hair style all day long. :slap:

It's ridiculous. But I do agree with DaisyFace....obviously their school is so perfect that they can focus their attention on grooming.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
What really chaps my hide is the boys hair is to be one way but little girls hair can be another way. Ok...lets make it even. All kids must be cut in bowl cuts like little soldiers.
 

Andy

Active Member
What century are these people living in? It is amazing the old rules that are never updated to match current days living. And more amazing that people actually strive to enforce them. I can totally see that rule written years and years and years ago when kids showed up to school and sat in fear of saying a peep least they get a whack from the teacher's cane. As times change, policy and procedures need to be reviewed and updated. Now a days long hair in boys (and very cute in the little boys) is an every day occurance. This is NOT a sign of rebellion.

I think he looks very cute and totally in fashion with a lot of kids around this area. I have seen one or two little boys with longer hair and don't think anything of it. It is who they are.

I really like the dad's comment of the school being more interested in the boy's hair than his education. Whatever happen to the basic expectation of just showing up clean? As long as the boy keeps it combed and healthy, I would say leave him be.

Oh my goodness!
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
I like the idea of school uniforms and dress codes. It tends to keep things within the realm of appropriateness and reasonableness. It also can level the playing field in an economically diverse school population and take some of the focus off of fashion.

But, that being said, it unreasonable to assign such rigid guidelines as in this story to a public school. What about a child with religious considerations? Or cultural differences? It's discrimination and bias, in my humble opinion.
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
Our district has a dress code with similar hair guidelines for the boys. Religious and cultural exceptions are made. Hair cannot be "an unnatural color," meaning pink, blue, green, etc. And honestly, I agree with the guidelines. Employers often have dress codes, and for children, school is their job.

If the parents choose not to follow the school's guidelines, and are placing that much importance on their child's hair, let them home school him. Why the child is growing his hair is irrelevant to the school, just as it would be irrelevant to your employer.
 

Josie

Active Member
I think the school and the parents are both making too big of a deal out of it. Maybe the school should be a little more relaxed about its policy, but they have it and in my opinion, the parents should cut his hair so he can go to school and be in the regular classroom.

I'm in TX and a few years ago, there was another boy who wouldn't cut his ponytail so he couldn't go to school. He was also pretty young when the whole thing started and it dragged on for years. I don't know how it got resolved.

difficult child 1 just started public school this year and the district has the policy about no unnatural hair colors. She never did color her hair but some of her friends at her old school did. Anyway, teachers can and do color their hair unnatural colors, which doesn't seem right to me. If it is distracting for students to do it, it would seem just as distracting for the teachers to do it.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
My generation grew up with dress codes. Hair a certain length and style for boys. We were handed a guide book at the beginning of every year (period) read it, memorize it, follow it or face the consequences. No exceptions. This was my upbringing. We were told this was for the rest of the class and I think in some way it was so that we all "LOOKED" like decent young people.

Boys COULD have long hair (I grew up in the 70's and 80's) if they did? They had to wear a dress-code appropriate wig during school hours. Dresses had to be as long as the end of the tip of a girls middle finger (hands extended at body length). Boys shirts were to be tucked in, belts worn, no beards, no piercings, no visible tattoos.

Things have changed drastically. A lot of people have somewhere along the way decided that it does not matter one little bit or mean that dressing nicely equates to being nice. While I agree with this is some ways - and completely understand that this little boy is an exception and an exception could be made I also think back to the Native American Schools that whites took Sioux children to and made them give up all their Native customs, including their hair. Forcing your beliefs on someones established culture is a far different thing and I think that's where the lines got blurred.

As far as this little boy? If the school had established rules? If the parents KNEW the rules? They should have asked for an exception for him if the hair is being grown for some worthy cause and possible this would be a non-issue.

I will note - that DF has hair the length of his back, has tattoos, piercings and yes, we get the "stares" all the time. He's quite educated, and is a wonderful man so we get the judge a book by it's cover all the time. He also looks unapproachable - which for us is mostly good as we are allergic to most people. It's never mattered to me what anyone has looked like. It has always mattered to me about rules - but if I wasn't happy with them? I went to bat to change them.
 

trinityroyal

Well-Known Member
I went to a school that had uniforms, and VERY strict rules about how the uniforms were to be worn. Tie knotted in a Windsor or half-Windsor, top blouse button done up, knee socks pulled up to the knees, specifications about the colour and types of sweaters, socks, ties, hair accessories, earrings, hair styles, makeup and nail polish we could or could not wear.

I didn't like all of the rules, but I could have changed schools to one with no uniform, or a less rigid dress code. I chose to stay, so I chose to be bound by those rules.

Those parents chose to stay, but they're choosing not to have their son be bound by the rules.

Are the rules stupid? Perhaps. But since they exist, they need to be followed. If necessary, the parents can advocate for the rules to be changed, or for an exception to be made for hair grown in support of that cause, or some other way. However, I don't think that having their child just break the rules is the right approach. What does it teach that little boy about dealing with the many rules and authority figures he's likely to run into throughout his life?
 

everywoman

Well-Known Member
There are a lot of rules and laws that I think are really silly---but they exist, and whether I agree with them or not, I, as a parent have to expect my children to follow them. I don't think that teaching a 5 year old that he doesn't have to follow the same rules as everyone else is a good idea. We are raising a generation of children who have a sense of entitlement about their "rights." They don't have to follow the rules that exist because mom and dad will back them up. While the rule is silly, it is a rule. And as a parent, it is our responsibility to make our children learn to follow the rules of their environment, not that they can pick and choose the ones they want to follow.
 

muttmeister

Well-Known Member
I think it is ridiculous; we are supposed to be a free country for heaven's sake. I understand rules to keep people safe and rules to keep students from being disruptive; etc. But making a big deal out of a 5 year old kid's hair is stupid. I think that teaching a five year old or a 50 year old or anybody else that he has to follow a rule just because some jack donkey decided he should is a terrible idea. People who do what they are told, when they are told, just because they are told explains why we have stupid bureaucracies and people who don't have any idea how to think for themselves and be responsible for themselves. It is ridiculous.
 
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