Boy suspended for wearing his hair too long

[Hoodie]

If the rule stated "No student is permitted to have a left arm." Would you cut off your childs left arm and THEN fight the rule? I doubt it.

I know - "But hair will grow back." If she cut the boy's hair to their standard, it would take many, many months for it to grow back to where it is now.

Yes, this is extreme. But it makes the point.

No it doesn't. It's a non-sequitur.

And if any place required me doing anything to my sone I didn't agree with, I wouldn't send him there.

Of course, I think long hair on boys looks ridiculous. Makes them look like neglected orphans. Poor kid doesn't even care and is being used by his mother.

 

[okeydokey]

If the rule stated "No student is permitted to have a left arm." Would you cut off your childs left arm and THEN fight the rule? I doubt it.

I know - "But hair will grow back." If she cut the boy's hair to their standard, it would take many, many months for it to grow back to where it is now.

Yes, this is extreme. But it makes the point.

This is the most ridiculous comparison I ever read.

 

[DizBelle]

This is the most ridiculous comparison I ever read.

Of course it is ridiculous. So is requiring a boy to have short hair when girls can have long hair. If hair is disruptive, then it is disruptive regardless of the gender of the person from whose head it grows.

Don't the schools have more to worry about than the length of a student's hair?

The point is that sometimes you can't follow the rule and THEN try to change it. Because if you follow the rule, the damage is done.

 

[ckay87]

I can't believe any of you think it's okay to establish a rule that requires a boy to have short hair. If the same dress code dictated that a girl maintain long hair, you would be LOSING your minds!

 

[bettymae1121]

I can't believe any of you think it's okay to establish a rule that requires a boy to have short hair. If the same dress code dictated that a girl maintain long hair, you would be LOSING your minds!

bingo!

 

[JessicaR]

7 pages and no real conversation on why its OK for girls and not boys.

 

[Plannin'Shannon]

I can't believe any of you think it's okay to establish a rule that requires a boy to have short hair. If the same dress code dictated that a girl maintain long hair, you would be LOSING your minds!

Personally, no, I wouldn't be losing my mind. I just wouldn't send my child to a school that required such a thing. Just my opinion of course.

 

[disykat]

I still remember the day a child came to school with a mohawk when I was teaching kindergarten. I felt like I spent two days dodging bullets until the excitement wore down.

The last thing that certain child needed was negative attention drawn to himself. I worked very hard to keep that hairdo from being a painful experience for the child, but I'm sure his feelings were still hurt from some comments. (The kids didn't respond well to it!)

The things parents do to their kids!

This is one reason why boys and girls sticking to some sort of norm can be helpful for a calm school climate. Bullying, teasing, and disruption does happen when things are outside the norm.

 

[KirstenB]

7 pages and no real conversation on why its OK for girls and not boys.

The best answer I can come up with, it's a social norm, especially in young children. Kind of like if a boy wore a skirt to school. It would be very distracting, and draw attention away from learning.

 

[luvmy3]

7 pages and no real conversation on why its OK for girls and not boys.

I don't have an answer to your question, I don't believe that if there is a long haired rule, it should only apply to boys. However, I don't believe that we have the right to just go ahead and break that rule just because we don't believe it should exist.

 

[ckay87]

Personally, no, I wouldn't be losing my mind. I just wouldn't send my child to a school that required such a thing. Just my opinion of course.

And I would agree with this if it were not a public school where there is no place for sexism, IMO.

And I just can't equate boys with long hair to boys wearing skirts. Long haired boys haven't been that rare since maybe 1965(?) This is where I get stuck, personally. Have we been living it a time warp? Time marches on and things change. Our judges don't wear wigs anymore and young boys aren't expected to wear short pants.

 

[cheermom1]

I think the majority here is that it is ok for a boy to have long and this rule is stupid and needs to be changed ..here is where things get messed up..the way the mother is choosing to handle this ....I may not do it the way she is and other here may not either but this is they way she is doing it ...we can't change the way she is handling this what so ever so WHY are we arguing???

this is a public school and this issue is a non issue the rule needs to be changed period...if they don;t want other issues in the school then why are they keeping this one???

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

7 pages and no real conversation on why its OK for girls and not boys.

Basically, for the same reason that it's OK for girls to wear dresses. It is a cultural norm for our country.

Not every culture or country is the same, or needs to be; but we all have norms.

 

[hentob]

Basically, for the same reason that it's OK for girls to wear dresses. It is a cultural norm for our country.

Not every culture or country is the same, or needs to be; but we all have norms.

Call me crazy, but I think it is culturally acceptable for males to have long hair in the USA

Maybe pre-1970, but in this day and age, most people won’t even blink if they see a male with long hair.

 

[KirstenB]

Call me crazy, but I think it is culturally acceptable for males to have long hair in the USA

Maybe pre-1970, but in this day and age, most people won’t even blink if they see a male with long hair.

Maybe it depends where you live. We live in a very conservative, rural county. It is very rare to see a K-2nd grade boy with long hair. Older than that, and some of them do the long bangs look.

 

[auntie]

I think it's an issue percisely because short hair for boys is a cultural norm. That being said..it is a public school. Suppose in this public school you have children of middle eastern decent that wear turbans...their hair is quite long. We had a kindergarden boy..who had very long hair. To the point of his being mistaken for a little girl. In his culture they do not cut their hair at that age..and he did not yet wear a turban. (please forgive my ignorance..as there is likely another word for the head gear..yet I'm not familiar with, and simply refer to it as a turban). Often the crossing guard would tell this same child who ran ahead of her(his) guardian..to "wait for your grandma" when she(he) was attempting to cross the street. Crossing guard then proceeded to tell Grandma she needed to keep her grandaughter closer to her. Grandma answered that she'd do that..but then pointed out to the crossing guard, the she was a he..and that in their culture the hair is worn long.
Now it's a public school, and this child had every right to be there. Should he cut his hair because in the American culture..boys generally wear their hair shorter?...
A public school has to think of all cultures..not just that of the majority. The idea that he should go to another school..may not be a financial option..nor should it have to be. Certainly if you don't like your public school options in the area you reside, it's a parents prerogatives to seek out a private education. In that case, I'm afraid they will be facing many more rules than those in the public sector.

Again..pesonally speaking..I think the kid featured looks ridiculous and needs a hair cut. This is about mommy, not wanting to let go of her little snowflake and wants him to stay her little baby . Get the kid a hair cut. It's obviously not part of his culture..but I still say it's their right to have him wear his hair to his behind if they want him too. The school board has created more of a distraction by making an example of this child. I would have bet that given a few months..junior would have been crying for mommy to get him a hair cut so he could look like his classmates. Kids that age just want to look the same. District should have let this play itself out.

 

[Hoodie]

Call me crazy, but I think it is culturally acceptable for males to have long hair in the USA

Maybe pre-1970, but in this day and age, most people won’t even blink if they see a male with long hair.

I disagree. In a professional environment it is still very rare to see males with long hair and rather frowned upon. I think 10-15 years ago there was a little surge of young professionals trying to make long hair acceptable, but that has fallen by the wayside.

Peronally, I think long hair on males looks sloppy. On young boys it makes them look neglected and unkempt. On teenagers it just makes them appear like they are trying to be rebellious (whether they are or not. And those were the ones I dated in HS!) and on adult men it just looks plain stupid. Like they are desperately trying to hold on to a "cool" factor that they didn't really have. Or, desperately trying to grow the little hair they have left . It ALWAYS, regardless of age, strikes me as low class.

 

[Planogirl]

I think that this whole thing is silly and I personally like long hair on males. The school has a rule and it seems bizarre to spend so much time and energy over contesting such a rule. I don't always agree with rules but they are what they are. If I don't like them I can work to change them rather than cause such a public fuss. But that's just me.

 

[TanyaLovesPooh]

The school has every right to enforce the rules it has in place. The parents should comply or find a different school.

 

[DizBelle]

I disagree. In a professional environment it is still very rare to see males with long hair and rather frowned upon. I think 10-15 years ago there was a little surge of young professionals trying to make long hair acceptable, but that has fallen by the wayside.

Peronally, I think long hair on males looks sloppy. On young boys it makes them look neglected and unkempt. On teenagers it just makes them appear like they are trying to be rebellious (whether they are or not. And those were the ones I dated in HS!) and on adult men it just looks plain stupid. Like they are desperately trying to hold on to a "cool" factor that they didn't really have. Or, desperately trying to grow the little hair they have left . It ALWAYS, regardless of age, strikes me as low class.

The only person this says anything about is YOU. YOUR peceptions. YOUR thoughts. YOUR idea of what is right. That has no bearing whatsoever on reality. Young boys with long hair are not necessarily neglected. Teenagers with long hair are not necessarily rebellious. Males with long hair are not necessariliy low class. Just because all males you have encountered with long hair you considered low class (which doesn't mean they were, just that you thought they were) doesn't mean that all males with long hair are low class.