It was a rare show of selflessness for a bunch of middle school students, but showing up with strips of pink in their hair last week earned a dozen Indiana pre-teens suspension. The kids said they were doing it in honor of the school nurse who recently passed away after a battle with breast cancer.
Their parents are refusing to make the kids wash the pink out of their hair, but the school is firm. Dyed hair, says the principal, is distracting.
No doubt the kids went about their impromptu remembrance - which for some kids was also a tribute to moms who've fought the battle and won - the wrong way. If you know hair dye is against the rules, why not slip on pink armbands or wear pink ribbons in your hair? Maybe approaching administration with the plan to begin with would have enabled a school-wide dispensation for the day to honor a faculty member who teachers must be mourning as well. Interviewed on camera, the principal expressed his regret for having to stick to the rules - he thinks it's a good idea. But the rules are the rules - no dyed hair.
You can't fault a principal for requiring every kid follow the same rules. But you can fault the rule.
It's just hair. Is it distracting in the morning when a kid shows up with blue hair? Yes. But show me something that won't get a bunch of hormonal pre-teens riled up. Exactly. Do we have to worry about kids flashing gang colors in schools today? Unfortunately, yes. But tell me how it's any different to have it in a hair streak than a barrette. It's just hair, which I'd rather kids were talking about then picking on the fat kid or spreading rumors that turn a girl into the class slut. It's just hair, which I'd rather my kid were playing with than drugs, booze or guns to get my attention.
When kids want to get attention, I'd like to see them doing it in positive ways - like joining up to dye their hair pink for breast cancer awareness. So maybe we could stop telling kids what they can't do and start telling them what they can do?
Image: WSBT
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