I feel like I am back in the sixties. The Beatles are shocking us with their long, beautiful hair. That seems really silly now, especially with football players hurling themselves down the field with their braided locks flowing behind them.
Thus, the article about a four year old braving the system by coming to school out of "hair dress code" seems a bit out of place.
Taylor Pugh, 4, may love his long hair, but Mesquite ISD officials do not. His brothers and best friend have short hair that meets the district's dress code.
It's too long, Mesquite ISD administrators say, and Taylor can't attend class with other students until he gets a haircut.
It doesn't matter that Taylor is only 4.
Since early November, the pre-kindergartner has had lessons with a teacher's aide in the library at Floyd Elementary School, cut off from other students. Neither his parents, who refuse to cut his hair, nor the school district is happy about that, but no one knows when it is likely to end.
I understand that schools need dress codes. However, when I taught middle school a few years back, teachers spent a good portion of every day making sure that the students abided by those codes. The moment a motivated administrator or teacher turned his or her back, the shirts came untucked, and the pants drooped lower. The reason I use the word motivated is because some of us simply grew tired of fighting a losing battle while losing precious class time to boot. If we did send students to the office, they simply returned with smirks on their faces. We then got to reteach them the information that they had missed. Who was being punished here?
Long hair on guys has never bothered me. One of my adult male students recently had his hair pulled back in an Antonio Banderas style ponytail. No one seemed to care. He was attentive in class and asked meaningful questions.
Personally, I think that students should be allowed to wear their hair any length that they want, as long as they keep it clean. If the hair is smelly and purple, that's another story!