new thread
The little boy is of Native American heritage, and has never had his hair cut. School district at first said they would make an exception for cultural/religious reasons, which the mother was submitting paperwork for - but now they are disallowing her son to attend until he gets his hair cut. She's not giving in, and plans on fighting this. As usual, the school releases a statement full of the usual malarkey about 'standards' and what not. It's 2017, and we're still dealing with backwards mentality. School is in Texas, which seems to be in the forefront of boys-with-long-hair haters running schools.
School Blocks 4-Year-Old Boy With Long Hair From Attending: 'It's Outrageous and Outdated'I would yank my son out of that stupid school and start home schooling him. The result would be more than likely a hundred times better than the stupid school could give him. He could let his hair grow and get a better education at the same time. My sister was home schooled and she is an intelligent girl. Good on the mother for fighting this. And I live in Texas! I need to go back to California!
ted
I knew a family when I still lived in MD, that home schooled their kids. The teenage son had fairly long hair. PA has an online cyber school, I believe it's aimed at high schoolers. You use your computer to attend school online, and you receive your diploma from the cyber school. It is free to PA residents, and there's no dress code. Wear your hair as long as you want, dress in your PJ's if you feel like it. Many home school children use the cyber school, as it can be harder for some parents to teach at the HS level.
Not to mention the difficulty of finding the time to teach, I should think.
This is an excellent point.
Ted
Yes, the online school probably would be harder for the parents depending of course on the parents' education level. I attended a computer related school which was mostly online course based. We just watched videos and did labs online. Then we had some in house lab work we had to do in front of the instructors. I did very well in that school and received 5 Microsoft certifications. Our final exams were all computer based. By the way when I started that school I had been out of school for many years and I was 43 years old. I was wondering what I was going to do when the instructor handed me the first book which was 3 inches thick! The school lasted a whole year! I kept asking myself what I had gotten myself into! Well, I made it! It was worth it.
Ted
First off this kid has some great looking hair!
I'm sure most kids his age anywhere don't sport such magnificant manes.As far as with this school it surprises me knowing the public education system is basically liberal controlled in most districts but I guess there are always some exceptions. With all the freedom of expression, when it come personal vanity, I would think this issue would almost be put to bed by now.Whatever happens I hope his family fights to keep his hair.Cheers
Mârk
Hello. I am a little curious why you believe public education systems are typically liberal controlled. While it tends to be true that many educators are part of left-leaning unions, and tend to be more liberal themselves... the districts are often run by school boards, and elected by the local populace. Given that this incident happened in Texas (and the stereotypes of Texan conservationism), I am hardly shocked that more restrictive and staid rules reign. While the teacher who got the child in trouble might not agree with the rule, their hands might be tied by what the district tells them to do in order to keep their job.
I honestly hope this mom takes the case to court. Her son's heritage reasons could open the door for any young boy to wear long hair by his choice, and not simply his tradition.
One thing I would mention here is, where republicans control the white house, the senate and the house, their ascention to power started in Texas at the local level. They ran candidates who won for the school committees, and other local offices. This is one of the reasons why, when you vote, it so critical to vote in those pesky local elections. So in Texas, the teachers may be liberal, but the school boards are not.
It's also critical to watch who runs for school committee, you may not realize until after they are elected, that the moderate candidate you elected turns out to be a right wing radical that wants to force their religious views down your kids throats. (In too many areas of the US of A freedom of religion means freedom for Christian only.) I found that out the hard way many years ago when I was one of the few Jews living in Wisconsin. )
One thing I would also add to this is, Texas buys the most
textbooks, so it is the Texas School Committees that dictate what those textbooks teach. That is why school textbook skip over things like evolution.
Bottom line. Texas sucks but we do have good barbecue down here!
Ted
Soon as I saw the title of the thread, I thought to myself - I bet its in Texas.
Too easy. They're ALWAYS in Texas.
Yeah, sad, isn't it? Texas seems to be the bastion of long-haired-male haters. At least yearly, one of these stories in the news is from Texas. And quite a few involve Native American children who keep their hair long for cultural reasons.
The school district should not have the right or authority to dictate what their students hair appearance should be, given that it does affect the student's out of school rights. They can demand that they wear certain clothes while in class, but that can be changed when they get home. Hair can't be put back on! This is not cultural or religious issue, but an constitutional issue, for both the student and the parents.
Soapbox Bruce
I would also add that at first the school said they would allow him to keep the long hair for cultural/religious reasons. That too is wrong because what if he wanted long hair just because he liked it!There should be no criteria attached to something that is a person choice that hurts no one.Cheers
Mârk
I saw this item on the news. It's sad that after all these years this battle still rages on. Especially in 2017 where you have men growing their hair long, while you have women who often are going for shorter hair.
The school is in Texas which doesn't surprise me at all. I'm glad mom is sticking up for her son.
