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my 10 year old son decided years ago to never cut his hair (it's down to his hips in a braid)...i believe it's his body and hair and he has the right to do as he pleases, as long as it hurts no one...it probably helps that i have long hair and happen to prefer it, and there are many adult males in our community with long hair...does anyone have any advice for a single mom that would support my son re: the flack he sometimes gets from rude people of all ages? he often hides his braid under his shirt or a hood when i think he should be proud of his indiviuality...thanks!
Nice made up story....
really man, first off If a 10year old boy did have really long hair of his own free will, he would flaunt it to everyone. if he was ashamed of it that would mean it was a parent trying to force him to have it. and long hair doesnt even look right on the majority of boys under 15, because their faces havent fully matured, what you get is a really girlish looking boy. I have seen it once though, at the mall, it was only at about 2 years length, but still for a 10 year old thats pretty long, and he did anything but hide it.
It does sound more like his mother wants him to have long hair.
My wife and I both have long hair, and we have two children, a boy and a girl. Our daughter has long hair, and our son used to, but opted to get it cut short (he is now 10). I am careful to take a neutral attitude, unlike my own parents. Well, alright, I openly prefer long hair on both sexes, but the children get to make their own decision.
One of the couples we are friends with has a son aged 11 who has always had long hair, and no-one in their right mind would ever have thought he was a girl at any age. IMHO, even very young children of 2 or 3 are usually immediately identifiable as boys or girls no matter what they wear or how long their hair, but people let their social conditioning override the evidence of their own eyes.
One thing that doesn't help is the media. Adult long-haired males get slammed on TV being being erroneously typecast as badguys. It is even worse for kids. Where are the long-haired boys on Barney? Or Sesame Street? Don't laugh! They exist in real life, and TV doesn't validate them, just like in the bad old days no black kids were televised. Of course, it is different. No-one can change their race, but we should not be brainwashing kids from age 2 as to how they ought to look. Naturally, at that age if they have long hair it is probably because dad does, but TV should not be giving them the message that there is something wrong with them and their dad!
I accept that your story is true. We have had similar stories here before. What is also often the same is that an adult in the child's life is living our his/her issues through the child. You give yourself away when you say that you think he ought not to be hiding his hair. 1) Hiding his hair means he feels conflicted. 2) How you feel about his hair should not be an issue--if indeed it is his hair.
I personally think that kids wear way too much of their parents crap to be putting this kind of pressure on them. In many ancient cultures, long hair on a manw as a sign of his own independence, wisdom and stature. Short hair was what little boys wore, a sign that they were still under their parents control.
Robert
... No one could possibly believe this old story. I will tell you what, if you believe this story, I?ve got a used car I want to talk to you about....
I believe this story. After working at a day care for 4 years and 9 years as an elementary school aid I have seen lots of little boys with long hair. Probably the longest I have ever seen was @ three years ago on two brothers who were in the 5th and 6th grades, which would probably make them 10 and 11. They both were very cute and had beautiful blonde hair slightly below the waist. They usually wore ponytails and braids, but sometime they would wear it down, and it was gorgeous. Yes, they got teased for looking like girls, but last I heard it was still long. So long haired little boys do exist. Their mother had even longer.
Julie
It's not that we don't think that there are young boys with long hair who actually exist, it's about the people who come to this board with this same exact story on a semi-regular basis and never follow up with not only a response to everyone who responds but don't ever post anything ever again on this board (unless it's the same person who does this from time to time under different names).
They make the same statement, ask the same questions for advice and never engage in converstation on the topic they started, never say thank you, never post a pic for proof (a back shot would be fine if they are worried about putting pics of kids online).
It's predictable and lame and if you stick around awhile you will see it again.
I don't doubt your story at all, mam'. I would like to see a picture if it is alright with your son and you though. You can even e-mail it to me and I will host it on my server here at home and post it at this board for all the guys to see.
Let your son know that there are a lot of people on this board that think what he has is a wonderful thing and that what other people think against him just simply makes those people rude and mixed up people. Ask him to be truly honest about how he feels about his hair also. Good Luck and Peace!
Heh, this same post comes up once or twice a year. They never respond and of course never post a pic.
Sometimes they do. Here is a picture of a boy from my daughter's class in grade school a few years ago. His mother sent me this photo. I was holding out for one that showed his hair better, but I never got one, so this will have to do.
This one didn't, again.
The reason they never post a pic is because they are worried about giving their son's picture to a bunch of strange men, which is understandable. I have a 10 year old son myself, although he cut his hair a few years ago.
Funny that they don't EVER respond and say that. This is the point.
Like I've said before, there are ways to take pics of a kid and his hair without providing some sort of fetish pic.
I believe that there are kids with very long hair but the person(s) who keep putting up this same post have demonstrated that they are full of just one breath of hot air.