28 May 2009

It's good I don't have kids...

Because of things like this. The story:

BARLETT, Kan. -- There's controversy at a Kansas school after a teacher shaved the head of a 6-year-old boy because of his haircut.

Derby McReynolds had his hair cut in a short Mohawk.

Bartlett school officials said that was unacceptable, and sent him home.

His parents trimmed the boy's hair to what they said resembled a military cut.

The next time Derby went to school, the principal had a faculty member shave the boy's head.

"They said we were being unfair to Derby, by letting him cut his hair cut that way. He wanted it that way. If you ask me, they were being unfair to Derby by not allowing him to keep his hair the way he wanted it," said Casey Sandusky, the boyfriend of Derby's mother.

"The school district in general is always trying to balance that student's individual right of expression with the expectations of the building of each of the teachers, of parents and other students," Labette School Superintendent Dr. Chuck Stockton said.

His parents said Derby is wearing a hat until his hair is long enough to cut into a Mohawk again this summer.


Reminds me of a case here at home, where the daughter of a friend of the family was overheard telling a friend she thought she might be pregnant. Word got back to the guidance counsellor, who took it upon himself to restrict her to his office until she took a pregnancy test.

Now I don't know about y'all, but if a child of mine had something like this happen, I'd be looking for some time alone with whichever school drone was the perp. And chances are, they would think long and hard about EVER doing something similar to another kid.

Yes, children don't enjoy the same set of rights as adults. But things like this go way beyond what's acceptable. The sad part is, parents don't fight back, to keep the admins in check.

Kinda like how we let the gooberment keep getting away with stuff...

H/T to Jay G

3 comments:

none said...

I was doing some checking and come to find out my kid's school reserves the right to deal out punishments and decisions about policies without contacting the parents.

that shit doesn't fly with me either.

Silverwuulf said...

I'm a bit confused, the kid went from a 'hawk, to what probably resembled a high and tight gone wrong, to shaved head? School not only overstepped boundries, they overstepped common sense. There's not a whole lot you can do to make a mohawk magically go away, and the results will look military or bald.

heheheh- mom and dad should ask junior if he is interested in dying his hair.

Anonymous said...

Way back in the day (OK, 20 years ago) my high school reached a modus vivindi on the wild hair. Mohawk OK if it was less than 5" high from the surrounding scalp and all one color. Nothing impaled on the spikes, no multi-colored wonders. ANd since most of the guys were in auto shop, the shop teacher's word was law for safety considerations. It worked out pretty well, and as far as I heard, no parents ever got called. Now, skirt length and violent pictures on tee-shirts, those were the real battles.
LittleRed1