Strange Famous

the irony... just too painfull....

Oh God....

An American school... telling a child... that he cannot have his hair styled in the way which American people have traditionally done for 1,000 years....

Calling a Indian style of wearing hair a "punk" hairstyle...

Oh God... too much irony...

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Astrocloud

Honestly, physical appearance is just a distraction. I still feel that way. In the end we'll all make lovely tombs so I let people enjoy their Blue Mohawks while they can.


However if you insist on judging people by their choice of appearance:


Why don't they just get normal haircuts?

shakran

Then what the HELL have we been arguing about? Letting the kid get a mohawk is knuckling under to the superficial whims of popular culture.

Uhh. Please tell me you're joking. I've never heard of a traditional Indian dying his hair with kool-aid.

filtherton

We must be thinking of different popular cultures. I was thinking about pop culture in terms of the culture of the majority, which, if this story is any indication, is decidedly anti-mohawk. If mohawks were a force of popular culture then they'd be more, well, popular.


The superficial whims of popular culture that i referred to are the ones that set the arbitrary guidelines about what are and aren't acceptable styles and behaviors for the masses.

Flat

Wow, punk rock at the age of six, eh ? That just goes to say something about the state of punk I surpose.

Anyhow, they should've left the kid alone imho.

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mingusfingers

It was for good behavior. That's stupid.

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venusinfurs

Leave him alone. He's not a problem child. He's not hurting anyone," Levey Padocs Sr. said. "He's an individual, and that's how he's expressing his individuality."

That kid has good parents..FUck teh system and their rules of conformity. The american school system strives to makes its youth a mindless robot and a conformist to society...for the most part....bah i say!

matteo101

Stupid americans. Let the kid express himself anyway he wants, I mean honestly he's six years old. When I was six I was picking my nose and watching the flinstones. If he wants to wear his hair a certain way, then who the fuck cares.

michel

it's a doo, let him do what he wants to dew

analog

1. We're talking about a kid- not you, not an adult of any kind, not someone applying for a job, not anything other than a kid being a fucking kid. There are plenty of things one can do while still understanding "how things are". This kid can blue mohawk himself all he wants while still understanding the implications of wearing/keeping it.



My personal opinion is that "slippery slope" arguments are some of the most unfounded, nonsensical, bullshit filler arguments I ever read during the course of debate. There is nothing to found them on, nothing with which to support them, and are pure fabrications based on personal agenda.

Quote:

For another, when's the last time you passed by a guy with neon hair that you didn't look over at him? You really want YOUR kid busy looking at the idiot with the smurf hair when he's supposed to be learning how to read?

Novelty quickly wears off, nullifying this point- most especially in those who lack long attention spans- like kids.

Quote:

For yet another, it teaches the other children that if you want attention, the easiest way is to dress or groom yourself to look like a sideshow. Forget accomplishing something - that's hard. Just dye your hair and do your best imitation of a centurion's helmet and you'll get all the attention you want.

I don't find any evidence to support the argument that the child in this instance wanted a mohawk just to be noticed. This is speculative at best, and only showcases your own (low) opinion of the subject without addressing the matter more directly (i.e., societal demands placed on young children, responsibility of parents, etc.).

Quote:

Plus, whether it's disruptive or not, it teaches the kid with the mohawk that it's OK to look like a freak, and if people don't accept you, that's their fault. That's total bullshit. It's just like the people who run around in gothic clothing leading each other around with leashes attached to studded collars around their necks, then wonder why they can't get a job anywhere but a used CD store. These people are idiots. If you want to be accepted in society, you have to conform to societal norms. If you don't care about being accepted, that's great, more power to you, but don't bitch when society doesn't give you a job.

Highlight 1: If you don't like me because of how I dress, then that IS your fault- and it's also your tough luck. According to what you (several of you) say, you would treat me like scum if you saw me walking down the street and think nothing of me. To those who know me, the clothing belies my demeanor, my goals, my faith, my personality, and my ability to know when to dress apropriately.

Highlight 2: These people to whom you refer and who you use to typify the sub-culture you are bashing by calling them "freaks" have NO illusions as to why they find it difficult to further themselves in society. They know quite well that people in general can be dickheads and won't be more accepting of what they see around them. Need I remind you all that women were second-rate citizens for all history until recently, and people of different races are still being mistreated, looked over, harassed, and killed simply for being a different color?

Call people "freaks" and exclude them if you wish, but don't think that makes you Mr. or Ms. Perfect 2004. If many people believe a stupid thing, it is still a stupid thing.

That's your opinion, and insulting.

Come down to the south in the right areas and run your mouth about gays being "normal people". While you're at it, add soemthing about how great black people are, they'll love you for that.

People like to forget that the normal of today was very often extremely taboo yesterday.

In the last 100 years:

1. Slavery was normal. Very normal. Sidenote: Many of the "Framers" of the constitution some of you like to historically suck-off on a regular basis had them.

2. Women couldn't vote. In fact, they had little to no rights whatsoever- including owning property. Beating a woman meant she deserved it, and was also quite common.

...and those two are just off the top of my head.

Goth, punk, raver, "normal", gay, black, white, purple, Man, Woman, Child... we're all human beings. Some of us, regardless of cultural affiliation, will be stupid, misguided, assholes, aloof, indifferent, rude, brash, weak, powerful, attention whores who bash those different than themselves just to be seen, attention whores who change their hair color and pierce/tattoo themselves 50 times, and just plain old common jerk-offs. Just because "some" are, doesn't mean "all" are. What a horrid way to stereotype people.

moonstrucksoul

WTF.
stay on topic please.

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shakran

Astounding. The pro-mohawk side spends the entire thread talking about how a 6 year old can't possibly be self-aware enough to get any long-term implications on the appropriateness of hairstyles, then you step forward and say he can understand implications of wearing a mohawk. Which is it?





Your personal opinion eh? care to say what you founded that on, what you support it with, and why that's not a pure fabrication based on personal agenda?

Besides, it's not a slippery slope argument. Learn what slippery slope means before you go randomly labelling arguments with it.




Simple. If someone doesn't care about being noticed for their looks, they don't do anything special with their appearance. You wear earrings because you want people to see them. You wear a necktie because you want people to see it on you. Same thing goes for a mohawk.




Again, you're astoundingly wrong. If you are asking me for a job, and I don't like your mohawk, that's YOUR tough luck because I will NOT be hiring you.

Wrong again. This is becoming a trend. I personally don't give a crap what you do with your appearance. I DO get annoyed when you alter your appearance to one which the majority of society does not accept, then bitch and moan when society doesn't accept it. You should have known that before you altered your appearance, and I frankly have no sympathy for you if you do it anyway and people don't like it.


I don't know you. I also don't care how you dress.

Oh really? Then why do I hear so much confused bitching from them that "society doesn't accept me!" They KNEW that when they did whatever it is that society doesn't accept!



Big difference. You're born with your skin color, and you're born with your gender. You're not born with a mohawk.



I'm not excluding them from anything. I'm saying that if they want to dress that way, and then they get excluded, they should have expected it. If they want to be included, they should try harder to fit into mainstream society. If they don't care about being included, then they can dress however they want.





You, sir, are full of shit on this argument. I note with interest that you pick on southerners for being racist against black people. Isn't that a prejudicial statement? I've lived in the south and the north, and southerners are no more racist than the northerners. Plus the fact that this statement, in addition to being a load of crap, has nothing whatsoever to do with the argument at hand. Being black is not the same as having a blue mohawk. If you cannot see the difference, then it's pointless to debate with you further.

And when mohawks become mainstream, then it will be OK for people to wear them to their jobs and to the classroom. Until that day comes, however, they're not appropriate for those places.

It was? Really? I had no idea that we still had slaves in 1904. I thought slavery ended with the civil war, in 1865. The fact that you clearly don't know history (or math, one of the two) aside, slavery involved a violation of human rights. Would you care to tell me how many times Amnesty International has fought to allow schoolchildren to wear mohawks to school?

Well at least you have the 100 years right here. Again, this is a human rights issue, not a fashion issue. Don't confuse the two. And by the way, women are still oppressed the world over. Many african women have their genitals mutilated (obviously, not by choice) when they reach puberty. Don't you think this is more important to fight against than the idea that a little kid shouldn't wear a mohawk to school?


He says, as he proceeds to stereotype everyone on the opposite side of this argument, and throws in southerners while he's at it. You're not even consistant with your views across one single post. If stereotyping is wrong, then it's wrong in all applications. It's not right only when YOU do it. . .

Cynthetiq

you guys gotta keep it civil. even the moderators participating in this debate need to do so.

I'll say it one more time those of you debating heatedly.

You don't have kids. You have opinions. When you have kids your opinion may or may not change, but you do have something more than just an opinion, you have the responsibility of another human being. With that in mind, remember you don't have that responsibility now.

There's no need to get so upset or uptight about such a philisophical argument as to how to raise children.

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shakran

Cynthetiq, with all due respect, I don't think you can dismiss out of hand the opinions of those without children just because they don't have kids. Having a baby does not automatically endow you with the wisdom to see this issue properly, while leaving all the childfree people in the dark.

I've been thinking about the "I dress the way I like, and if society doesn't like it, screw them" argument. What if I were to wander around downtown buck naked? Does the same argument apply?

I mean, gee, I want to be naked. If society can't accept that, it's THEIR fault, right?

Cynthetiq

No that's not what I'm saying at all, but the heated arguements are only just that of opinion and could not be tested out at all.

If a person comes to give you advice about cars and has no experience with cars do you take their advice?

They may have theoretical experience from reading and seeing, but they don't have practical knowledge.

that's what my point is.

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raeanna74

If the kid got this hairdo a month ago as stated then the school should have dealt with it then. "Levey Padocs Jr.'s father said he allowed his son to get the distinctive 'do more than a month ago for behaving better in class."

If they accepted it then they shouldn't have taken issue with it the day of the photo. I really doubt that they got permission to wash the dye out - they would have had to ask for the permission the day of the photos. They could have just as easily asked the parents the day before to wash it out for the photo and he could return to his usual style the next day. If they had a issue with it then the school could have cleared this whole charade up long before it got to this point.

I don't really care if one of my daughter's classmates has funky hair. She is barely 4 yet and does have a distinct individual taste in her dress and looks already.

My daughter will not wear or dress in the extremes though. She will be allowed to follow her own tastes within certain limits. If she wants to color her hair she may with natural colors. Once she's an adult she can play with more funky things if she so chooses. Also she may wear clothes that follow the fashions but nothing extremely exposing or gaudy or gang representive of course. This will be my personal parenting style.

These parents may have just allowed something that they wouldn't normally because of the boys behavior. I think colored hair is minor compared to the bad behavior that some kids display in class. I would rather him learn than look they way most people see as normal.

The school could have handled this much better. They did not. The parents are justified in what they are doing though I think they might be going a tad overboard. My kid would not be attending that school again if I wear in their place.

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