Let’s make all of the schools “alternative”
Tuesday Afternoon Headlines with Bill Bryant (click on headline to play video)
There will be no more bad hair days allowed at Williamsburg schools. For students.
Newscast transcript:
Williamsburg city schools [Whitley County School District] have banned exotic hairstyles or hair colors for students. That includes Mohawks and unnatural colors such as blue, pink or green. The principal [Kenneth Powell] says the school is trying to bring the regular school dress code in line with a stricter code at the alternative school. The school system says it will send letters home explaining the new policy.
Why apply a more stringent dress code to students at the regular high school? The news story indicates no reason for the change. Unfortunately there is nothing about the new dress policy on any of the school or district websites. Additional restrictions are expected in an alternative school. What has happened to make administrators want to apply these restrictions at the regular schools? Given only the principal’s statement the reason appears to be “just because”.
Comments from cj, an area teacher:
I’m a teacher, but I believe that kids need to be allowed to be kids. High school is when kids get to wear Mohawks and rainbow-colored hair. Most of them don’t have the opportunity to do so once they grow up and get jobs, since most employers frown on it. Of course, at the school where I teach, some of the teachers may be affected by the ban on “any unnatural color” — we have a few teachers with shades of red hair that don’t exist in nature — and there are always a few at any school with lavender and blue hair. Wonder if Williamsburg City Schools will hold teachers to the same standard?
…
I know that many adults don’t see this as a big deal, but I worry about kids that we don’t allow to search through various identities. It’s part of growing up — kids have fashions that adults don’t understand but it helps the kids as they search for who they are. If the worst thing a kid ever does is dye his hair green or purple, that’s a pretty good kid!
It will be interesting to see how they write this policy. I can foresee dozens of pit falls ahead for it. Going blond is unnatural if you are a brunette. What about a student who dyes their hair and then lets it grow back out with its natural color? Half brunette/half blond is definitely not natural. Will a student who has once dyed their hair be forced to continue dying it in perpetuity? How about a shaven head?
Methinks they have opened up a can of worms here.
(Tip credit to cj)
In high school I went through just about every hair color possible. I was a good student and never got in trouble (except for habitual lateness =). My senior year of high school they actually attempted to enforce some of their dress code rules… and what happened? Everyone just kept on doing what they wanted, and many teachers didn’t enforce it after a month or so.
My mom allowed me to do this because she realized that high school may be the only time in my life that I can do stuff like that.
Think about Halloween, when some students dye their hair to go along with their costumes. Is the school going to crack down on them, the day after Halloween?
This is more common than you might think. Almost all districts apply these rules or similar ones to students across the nation. I agree with “pursuing personal identity” completely, as I myself have experimented in the past with some rather radical hairstyles.
Regarding the outrage over this though, it is really quite common and not that ridiculous. Generally these rules are only enforced on those that are “distracting”. It is up to the administration’s discretion whether or not the hair is “distracting”- and isn’t that what we want? Intelligent rules are based on both allowing for proper societal order and on allowing for individual exceptions and differences. That is really the effect of this common policy. I truly don’t get the outrage over this one.
What happens in our schools is what I like to call the He-Man syndrome. Anybody remember the cartoon? The main character used to run around shouting “I HAVE THE POWER!”. Well this is what happens to school administrators. They often have little on no accountability for their actions. The local school board is too worried about getting re-elected to do anything. Most parents don’t pay attention to what goes on in the schools unless it is their kid who runs afoul of one of these bulls**t regulations. We just had an incident here in which some kids ran a Confederate flag and a dead deer up a flag pole. If you listened to the principal of the school you would have thought that someone was killed. Ranting and raving about how those responsible for this would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If they were students they were going to be lucky if they were just expelled.
I don’t really have anything to add to what comments have already been said…
but…I really like that teacher.
Chad
It’s a First Amendment issue - all the kids have to do is all dye their hair blue in protest of something, pick anything - like, say innerleague play in major league baseball, and it’s Tinker v. Des Moines all over again.
As far as the whole “distracting” argument goes, when they ban girls for being well endowed, then we’ll talk. Can’t think of a bigger distraction than that.
I don’t see why colored hair is such a big deal these days. Lots of kids dyed their hair back in the 80s during the punk movement and they didn’t get in trouble. Why are students getting in trouble now for what their counterparts did 20 years ago?
I don’t see what the problem is. They’ve had a policy like this in place at my daughter’s school for years.
You know, Jason’s right. Since they’ve had a similar policy in place at his daughters school for years, it can’t possibly be a ridiculous policy. *sigh*
One more piece of individuality stripped, one step closer to thought crimes. If only you knew, Mr. Orwell.
Jason’s reasoning is even more frightening when you consider we now have a Supreme Court willing to say “We don’t see what the problem is - they’ve had this policy in other countries for years!”
“It is up to the administration’s discretion…”
Not once a “rule” is in place. And it takes a lot of effort to get back to allowing for exceptions, unless the rule makes such allowance - in which case, someone will undoubtedly fight it as discraiminatory.
Hehehe. Our dress code in high school banned “unnatural colors.”
One of the guys had a blond and black checkerboard.
We had this policy at my high school for at least 4 yrs. The color of our socks was also regulated. Any socks that were deemed “distracting” were prohibited. We also had uniforms, male’s couldn’t have more than one earring to an ear (and only in the lobe). Women couldnt have more than two earrings in an ear. Men were allowed mustaches only as long as they well trimmed. Male’s had to keep relatively short hair. This is “public” school.
My cousin’s “public” school makes them wear uniforms, regulates the color of their socks and shoes, makes them tuck their shirts in, and their hair has to be a certain length (if male)
It’s sad really. Imagine how happy I was when I got to college and people came to class in pajamas, unshaven, and disheveled. And the behavior police didn’t show up to haul them away.
get rid of those hiphugger jeans they have now. damn near lost an eye in th hall because of them.
with school dress codes, there is no probleme unless they make it a problem.I have light purple hair on the bottom half of my hair and my principle says that if i dont dye it a nateral color then i will be susspended it is manditory for me to be in school but they are going to keep me out of school.They are being more of a distraction then my hair.me and my friends from school are petitioning agaist the dress code. like it said above “if the only thing i do is dye my hair then i am a pretty good kid.” when i dyed my hair my grades did not go down neither did anyone elses. so where is the distraction?