mixedmedia

Yesterday my daughter brought home a letter from her elementary school.

Here is an excerpt from the letter:

Now, even though I find the wording of the letter to be pretty condescending (suggesting that parents who allow their children to wear these hairstyles need 'guidance' then going on to state that children with these hairstyles do not 'represent' the school) I am not a crusader on this issue. Personally, I would never let my elementary school-age daughter dye his/her hair - I don't think it is age-appropriate. But is a child with brightly-colored hair distracting?

And the haircuts? There is a modest, modified mohawk haircut that has become a pretty common sight on pre-adolescent boys around town and I assume this is true of a lot of places. Designs cut closely to the scalp? I'm not even sure what that is.

Of course, I am not on campus all day, every day but I am there often enough for school events and not once have I seen a child with a hairstyle that I would consider to be "distracting."

And for that matter, how can a haircut be distracting? What kind of "disruption" do you suppose they are referring to? Kids teasing the kids with different haircuts? Children so mesmerized by a hairstyle that they cannot watch and listen to their teacher? What could be so serious and disrupting that the school feels they need to issue a mandate on the kinds of hairstyles that kids can wear? I'm more curious than anything.

Another point of interest:
The community I am living in has traditionally been made up of folks in the white, upper middle class SES. Over the 3 1/2 years I have been living here, the demographic has been steadily changing - there are a lot more minorities living here today than there were 4 years ago and many, many, many more than there were 15-20 years ago. I myself intentionally moved into this neighborhood when I came back to Orlando because it was one of the last highly 'rated' elementary schools in the Central Florida area and I've no doubt it's the same for many other parents who have moved into the area. When I moved here in 2005, this school had an 'A' rating by the federal government. A couple of months ago, my daughter brought home another letter from the school stating that it had received a 'C' rating for the first time ever.

Could this new focus on student hairstyles at my daughter's school have something to do with changes in the racial make-up of the school and its declining federal grade? And, if so, do you think it is a practical and effective way of confronting the school's problem with shifting demographics and declining student achievement?

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Reese

What kind of hairstyle she wearing? Even though Mohawk was mentioned a few times I kinda doubt that's what she was wearing considering your stance on letting your child dye their hair.

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“It is better to be rich and healthy than poor and sick” - Dave Barry

mixedmedia

The letter wasn't addressed to her specifically, I guess I should have made that clearer. The letter was given to all of the school's students.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

World's King

WTF? Kids aren't allowed to shave their heads? How is that disruptive?

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heavy is the head that wears the crown

dippin

by "designs cut closely to the scalp " I think they mean when people "draw" patterns on their heads. Back in high school I had a friend who had the nike swoosh shaved into the back of his head.

pig

I think your school board could learn a lot from a read of Don Quixote. I think they are striking at perceived symptoms, not root causes. And then there is the entire question of whether these perceived symptoms are, in fact, symptoms of anything negative in an educational environment...diversity anyone? Isn't that one of the chief failings of stereotypical Asian educational systems?

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You don't love me, you just love my piggy style

Cynthetiq

I recall having detention with this one girl who shaved her head in a bi-level bob manner which ended up shaved to the skull at the bottom.

Do I think this is a bad thing? No, then again, I went to a private Catholic School.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

mixedmedia

I tend to agree with you, pig. It's doubly disappointing because I have really liked the staff and teachers at this school, therefore this letter was kind of a shock.

I think they are heading in the wrong direction that is not only impractical (micromanaging the 'style' of their students; I can see many problems with the implementation of this standard) and probably ineffective. Perhaps the school is addressing other issues that affect the school's declining status in a more meaningful way, but this is the first statement made by the school announcing any measure being taken to promote higher achievement and it's not a promising one. I'll say it again, I am disappointed.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Cynthetiq

I don't know MM, many public schools are trying the approaches that have been successful in private schools.

So, dress codes were imposed, it seems to be that the rest of the appearance needs to be addressed as well. NYC's schools have improved test scores and graduation percentages since adopting things like uniforms.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

mixedmedia

I'm glad you brought this up, Cyn, because I was just coming back to ask you a question and then make another comment. And the two may seem incongruent, but they are not necessarily related. Just working through stuff.

Do you believe that you would have had a harder time learning if a handful of students at your private school had unusual haircuts? Because they are making this out to be an issue of disruption and not of image control for its own sake as you would expect to see in many private schools.

The other comment I have to make is about uniforms and I happen to agree with you. If they have serious reason to believe that personal style is affecting the quality of education, then they should just cut to the chase and go to uniforms. Of course, the reasoning behind the theory is still reactionary and based on their objection to the way a certain subset of students look, but at least they are not effectively telling this subset of students that they are not welcome at school with all the 'normal' kids because they look weird.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

uncle phil

not trying to piss anybody off here, but aren't we trying to educate people to be productive in the real world?

i've seen so many mohawks, tatoos, and absurdly placed metal at low-end retail clothing and fast-food places that i don't even want to go to these places anymore...

is there a chance that educators are trying to get back to education?

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- Robert S. McNamara
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"We will take our napalm and flame throwers out of the land that scarcely knows the use of matches...
We will leave you your small joys and smaller troubles."
- Eugene McCarthy in "Vietnam Message"
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never wrestle with a pig.
you both get dirty;
the pig likes it.

mixedmedia

Haven't there always been people who lived outside the margins, so to speak? Every generation has had their fair share - greasers, hippies, punks, etc? And there have always been people who found these looks objectionable. You can't effectively eliminate this tendency from our society and I'm not at all sure that it would be healthy....or desirable (personally speaking).

My daughter goes to school everyday, she learns, she made all-A honor roll. I am not so sure that the way a student looks (or how their fellow students look) affects the quality of either's education.

---------- Post added at 07:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:51 PM ----------

And, on that note, the whiz-kid in my algebra class is a young girl with hair the color of a strawberry margarita (this week). Doesn't seem to hold her back.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Cynthetiq

Yes, I did not worry about conforming via dress and style. I didn't have to be teased about what kinds of clothes my parents bought for me after school and normal attire. When I heard of my cousins, friends, and eventually my girlfriend, public school had a totally different attitude. I went to public school and dressed in my normal school clothes and was harassed for dressing like a nerd. Even got in a fight and got expelled from school for fighting. Luckily for me, I need 50% of the class, and the other guy needed 100%. He had to redo 1 year of HS, I did not.

I'm not saying that it's not possible for people to wear what they want and color their hair, but at some ages it is a distraction. At later ages, the discipline is established and one does just fine in Algebra class

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

mixedmedia

Granted, but my question was whether the presence of other kids with bizarre clothes or haircuts would have affected your education. Would their presence distract you from your own work?

And shouldn't it be a person's choice to deal with the negative effects of being different if that's what they choose? Why should a young person's choices necessarily be limited because there are assholes in the world? Bullies are bullies and if they are not picking on your clothes, they will find something else to pick on you for. There may very well be meaningful consequences to the quality of public education if children are given free reign over their fashion choices, I will accept that if it is true, but I have yet to hear of any of them.

As for the girl in my algebra class she is all of 18 years old, just out of high school and this is not a new look for her.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Cynthetiq

mm, I think you're cofusing apples and oranges. I'm talking about minors and immature teens and tweens.

A person's choice for the negative effects of those choices, we know aren't allowed for most minors. If that was the case, then they could have sex, drink, vote, etc.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Willravel

Shame on them. If I were a student there, I'd give myself a crew cut, dye it orange, and then shave "FUCK" on each side of my head, in protest.

nikkiana

I went to Catholic school for part of my education, so I was subjected to the whole uniform and having regulations banning certain hairstyles and what not... and at least for me, not having to worry about my clothes or my hair because it was already decided for me was kind of a relief. I saved so much time in my daily routine because I didn't have to agonize over it and could focus on other things... like schoolwork. I guess you could say my self-expression was being squelched, but honestly... I just found other ways to do it other than my hair and clothes at the time. It wasn't really a big deal.

Though, I suppose it's probably a factor in why my hair is now bright blue at age 25.... I didn't get it out of my system when I was a kid.

That said, I've never quite bought the line that mohawks and crazy hair colors were a distraction to others. I tend to think that schools use that as a cop out reason when the reality is that they don't want these sort of hair styles because they want their students to project a "professional" sort of image, not that I think that's necessarily a bad thing... I just wish they'd outright admit to it.

__________________
nikkiana

Cynthetiq

Interesting nikkiana because you say in the first paragraph you benefitted from it. Couldn't that just be the point rather than it be a distraction to others? It is a distraction to one's self... and you put it "saved so much time", "didn't have to agonize", "could focus on other things"

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

mixedmedia

But what are the specific negative effects? Getting beat up at school. What else?

I don't think we are talking apples and oranges, but let's make it real simple. Why should hairstyles be dictated by a public school? I've yet to get an answer on that.

Plus you still haven't answered my original question which was, how would bizarre cuts and colors worn by other students affect the quality of your education?

---------- Post added at 10:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:43 PM ----------

People might want to take note that I supported school uniforms in lieu of picking on certain people for their personal style in a previous post.

My daughters wore uniforms to school when they were in Louisiana, and while they didn't like it, they figured out ways of expressing their style in more modest ways. And that is fine. I am not an anti-school uniform crusader. I object to singling children out and telling them they are not accepted.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Cynthetiq

because I could have easily been focused on it. playing with my hair like I do now.. oh I twirl my ponytail in meetings, stroke it like a cat.... it's distracting :P

It's a distraction to me to see others with it because I may not be allowed to do so. It's about equalizing, my father would never have let me grow my hair to it's length now. So when I saw people with long hair as a teen, I always coveted it.

---------- Post added at 10:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 PM ----------

something that I just saw when leafing through the student/parent handbook.

I'm going to assume that the orthodox jews were allowed to wear yarmulke or even a muslim headcovering would still be allowed. We did have many who were not Roman Catholic who attended that school including many agnostics and athiests. Everyone was required to have 4 years of religion as part of graduation requirements.

Now understand that these are choices, you get to choose to attend this private school. I believe in NY you get to pick which school you will attend and it isn't based on your address like many other places in the US.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Punk.of.Ages

The fact is society doesn't handle abnormality very well. Schools are constantly under the scrutiny of society.

I heard this shit all through school. From when I was in elementary with my rat tail (Yes, I had a fucking rat tail) and my earring all the way to high school with my mohawk and nails in my ears. They used "distraction" as a scape goat then too. It's an image thing though.

It comes down to the fact that more conservative parents would not want their children going to school with children that have those types of hairstyles, and, naturally, schools don't want the negative reputation that could very well cause.

__________________
"The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion..." - Henry Steel Commager

"Punk rock music is great music played by really bad, drunk musicians." -Fat Mike

nikkiana

Maybe I'm derailing a bit, but why should companies be allowed to dictate and make judgment based on hairstyle either? What in society dictates that one hairstyle is "more acceptable" than another? When the school deems these things as being distracting, they aren't really stepping out on a limb... They're reiterating what seems to be the common attitude out in the "real world".

In an ideal world, I'd say they shouldn't be able to... it shouldn't matter. But it does.

__________________
nikkiana

Punk.of.Ages

Distractions to one's self doesn't really make sense to me either. I attended a middle school with a uniform policy and I paid no more, in fact probably less, attention to what I was wearing or what my hair looked like when I started donning a mohawk, and wearing plaid pants, boots, and leather jackets.

I was far more worried about looking presentable when I was forced to than I was about not looking presentable when I was no longer expected to.

__________________
"The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion..." - Henry Steel Commager

"Punk rock music is great music played by really bad, drunk musicians." -Fat Mike

mixedmedia

Okay, I can understand that.

But, 1. isn't there some merit to the idea that children need to accept that their parents may have limits that others don't have?

and 2. how is it equalizing if other children are being asked to conform to your parents ideals? Doesn't sound very equal to me.

The only way to equalize would be to insist that all children wear the same thing. Back to uniforms.

Of course, ideally people would just mind their own business and deal with it. It's the behavior and academics that are important, and as far as I'm concerned if a child is being harrassed by another for the way they look, only one of them is displaying a behavior problem.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Cynthetiq

hmmmm strongly disagreee Punk.

Steve Perkins and Dave Navarro went to my high school. (Dave was kicked out for drugs.) Tommy Tedesco's son also went to my school, as did Jerry Pournelle and a host of other free thinking and not conservative movie/arts types.

---------- Post added at 11:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:20 PM ----------

hmmm, I just had a thought, going to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs came to mind as I was thinking about the schools in the Philippines. Very conservative, uniforms, dress codes, priests, sisters, etc. BUT the public schools don't have those same pressures, but still conform in a similar way.

When Skogafoss and I were talking to people about the poor children who can't learn in school because they shared just 1 book for the entire class, and there were several classes per day, you can imagine how difficult that would be to learning. They added, that sometimes they serve breakfast because hunger is distracting. Now this is where you'll have to follow my logic, but if we follow Maslow's needs, it's not far off to say that the rest of the needs are also a distraction if they aren't fulfilled.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

mixedmedia

Understood, but this could also be used to support the idea that school years are the best time for children to express themselves before they get tossed out into the cookie cutter world.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Cynthetiq

but that time does exist... In college... they get to experiment with whatever.... drugs, sex, lifestyles, hobbies....

further, I never worked at Finance companies because they wanted me to cut my hair. I asked for more pay they said no thank you. They insisted I cut my hair. Come the time when it was PC to accept people as they are, most think I'm Indian (feather not dot) they stopped asking me to cut my hair. Go figure.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

mixedmedia

not all children go to college, cyn...

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Punk.of.Ages

I think I'm missing something here. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.

__________________
"The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion..." - Henry Steel Commager

"Punk rock music is great music played by really bad, drunk musicians." -Fat Mike

Cynthetiq

not all parents are conservative that want their kids to have a good education and find value in student handbook code of conducts.

---------- Post added at 11:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 PM ----------

fair, not all children get childhoods could be argued. Isn't the point of being in school to get an education? Not necessarily self expression?

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

Punk.of.Ages

I wasn't trying to say that. I'm simply saying that there are a lot of parents that don't want their children going to school with kids that have these types of hairstyles.

These parents are the ones that complain, and that's the root of this. The parents of the child with the mohawk are probably not complaining about the kid with the bowl cut.

__________________
"The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion..." - Henry Steel Commager

"Punk rock music is great music played by really bad, drunk musicians." -Fat Mike

Cynthetiq

gotcha, well in some places the only kids with bowl cuts are asians... so there you go, they can complain about that too

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

mixedmedia

yes, the point is to get an education, but what is it specifically about self expression that prevents children from getting an education?

I don't think it can be adequately answered because the issue is not about education at all, but discomfort. And I don't agree that people need to be protected from the discomfort of seeing people that look different.

If the children are behaving in ways that are destructive that is one thing and that should be handled the same way all behavior problems are handled irrespective of how the children in question choose to arrange their hair in the morning.

And on that note, I am calling it a night. Thank you everyone for contributing to the thread. I will catch up with you tomorrow.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Cynthetiq

I'm going to go with these 2 from Maslow... it gives an in to someone not belonging, or finding they have low self esteem from others.

__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.

shesus

This post is very generalized, but I'm using it to try to explain where the school's personnel may be coming from.

It's very hard to teach these days. The kids are over-stimulated and want everything now. They lack patience and attention spans.

Children are very egocentric. They are building self-esteem and very interested in their appearance. An observation that I have made is that the kids stayed in the bathroom longer when there were mirrors available. I can't tell you how many lipsticks, brushes, mirrors, little containers of mouthwash, and various pieces of junk jewelry I confiscated and stored in my desk drawers. I had 2 drawers reserved for distracting items. There were also many toys, but we're focusing on appearances in this thread.

I can completely understand why this letter was sent home. For one, the kids are focusing more on what they look like than learning. Second, they don't do this by themselves. They ask their friends how they look. Third, you have the 'good' kids who are tattling that the other kids are not doing what they should be doing. What a waste of time and a huge distraction.

There may not be many of these types of students, but what you find out when you are in a room of 20+ kids is that it only takes a few to break concentration and cause loss in learning time. When there are so many issues going on to take away from learning, style is usually an easy thing to change because it can visibly be maintained. Of course, nothing is easy when it comes to teaching and managing a bunch of kids and their parents.

On the other part of this discussion, adults are hopefully mature enough to choose a style and not be aware of it all day. Your strawberry hair girl probably doesn't sit with a mirror and brush in class messing with her hair while instruction is taking place.

Also, the designs shaved on the head may be a problem if there are gangs around. I don't know your area, but that has been issues in other schools I've been in. Then again it could be suburban moms just trying to be the 'cool' mom with the punk kid.

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JumpinJesus

Of course, as you well know, focusing on students' appearance is the educational systems' way of ignoring the problem and believing they can solve it by putting the blame for the inadequacies of the system on the students themselves.

It's a case of the powers that be pretending that a superficial solution to a deep-rooted problem will suffice.

The one area where I can agree is in gang-infested areas. Of course, a lot of gangs worked around this by adopting school colors for their gang colors. Which makes fighting educational deficiencies on aesthetic grounds a pointless battle.

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"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses

Xerxys

I kinda sorta agree with the schools's footing. I went to school in uniform and long hair down to my shoulders. I had to cut it before being admitted. Now I have long hair, I twirl it too .

This was with the mentality that, in school, we're there for one reason and one reason only. To focus on education. Yes, anything 'different' so to speak would be a distraction. The part I disagree with the school is not using uniforms. I guess they should just leave it at let the hair be neat, do whatever you want with it after hours but have it ready for an interview at 8AM every morning. Simple discipline.

Will, weren't you the same person who once said that school is to teach you how to cope with an environment that you cannot change? Laws that you have very little power over? Your post disappoints me.

Of self expression I have to say no. In a classroom is not OK to walk in with a mohawk despite the fact that you have the highest grades. Other classes such as drama or arts, maybe but when it comes to theory and philosophy, I have to go with dress decently. A good hairstyle does not necessarily keep good kids good, that's not my point. My point is when I see free expression in the classroom, I tend to wonder what else your so "free" to express.

JumpinJesus

why is it not okay to have a mohawk in math class?

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"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses

Cynthetiq

really? yet it seems to work so well for private schools where the grades, graduations, and acceptance to better higher learning (read not community college)....

seems that the superficial solution works pretty well across America.

---------- Post added at 12:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:54 AM ----------

for these reasons:

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Willravel

That sounds like something I may have said sarcastically. If you've given up on changing the rules, you're a drone. Sheeple are the enemy of progress and obstacles for people that mean to bring about change.

School, for many unfortunately, is a place where you're simply fitted with facts and taught to be in line, but it's when our education system intends to create free-thinking, problem-solving, creative people that we all flourish because it nurtures greatness. It's the latter that should be encouraged and the former forgotten. When I name education as the most important job, I'm referring to real education, not institutionalized indoctrination.