Friday, February 29, 2008

Kindergarten Student Suspended for … Mohawk

His mohawk is so distracting to the educational process that it simply cannot be tolerated, according to the school district. Thanks to The Early Show for the story. The mother has been warned before. Based on my observation of the haircut, pictured here, it appears to be all of 2-3 inches at the most.

I’ve been in all kinds of schools – middle class schools, Title I schools (low income) and schools in between. I’ve seen kids elementary school children with mohawks, ear piercings and colored hair. The business of school goes calmly by with no problems.

Says the principal: “Ruda's hair became a disruption more recently when Ruda arrived freshly shorn.

There is either more going on here and the school is using his “disrupting” haircut as a way to rid themselves of a troubling parent, or the school is just being too invasive in their desire to force cultural beliefs onto students and families.

Sometimes, elementary schools can tend to be a bit of a microcosm of religious conservatism at least as far as the administrations and teachers are concerned. Remember, I said sometimes. Think back to the craft fair holiday vests and denim jumpsuits of many elementary teachers. Sometimes, elementary schools can have blinders on about the particular cultural standards and beliefs they feel should be represented by all families with children.

Where the Mom messed up is that she should gone to the superintendent and then the school board, rather than rushing to the media. That’s just bad form.

1 comment:

Busplunge said...

There was this student in Jarrett Junior High, about 15 years ago, she was real artistic and was a performance artist, she dyed her hair bright green. The district wanted to suspend her until she got rid of the green hair. She would skip school a lot (she was a rebellious kid). The third time she skipped, the district suspended her for 10 days.