Hairstyle - distracting to educational process?

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Gorsh, Walter. That child's hair looks fine to me. I can't imagine what the problem is. A lot of the kids that I taught had mohawks, etc. Amazing.

As for the universities, etc. I would think that anything goes in today's world

Re: Hairstyle - distracting to educational process?


Some "educators" clearly have nothing to do but carp on nonsense.

I've been a prof (paralegal studies) and taught people with multiple piercings and all sorts of styles. Any teacher concentrating on that isn't fully engaged, and if students are concentrating on something as innocuous as that girl's hair then you as a teacher aren't doing your job well enough to keep them engaged.

I guess that district already has everyone, hmm, let's see -

Reading at or above grade level Doing math at or above grade level Bound for college Doing music well enough for concerts Making art well enough for museums Speaking sixteen foreign languages like a native Performing scientific experiments written up in respected, peer-reviewed journals Driving defensively Winning all state and national championships in every sport etc. etc. etc.

What a stupid move by an alleged educator.

PS Colleges are laxer. All schools require basic decency in the sense that you cannot go to class nude, and Nazi paraphenalia would be out as well, but otherwise there are few rules. Where I went to High School, we could not wear shorts or micro-micro-miniskirts, mainly so that girls would not be distracted constantly making sure their underwear wasn't showing, and the boys wouldn't be distracted from what the girls were doing. But the hair style fight was lost a long, long time ago and while a boy with waist-length hair or a girl with a mohawk might be looked at a little funny at the High School or college level, they would not be asked to change, and I graduated High School almost 27 years ago.

oh lord.

The resolution of the picture isn't too clear, but I'm guessing this girl's situation was a borderline call ... more extreme cases necessitated the rule and this kid got sucked into the process.

Middle school students are an entirely different breed from high schoolers and beyond. Fads are everything, almost anything goes, and the administration is afraid to take a stand and risk the wrath of the very small minority of "enlightened" parents who defend their children's alleged right to attend school looking like circus freaks.

Lessee ... middle school attire ... mohawks and piercings are passe, although Gothic is so pervasive they have mall stores specializing in it (and I don't believe it's the nursing home crowd that shops there.) Warm weather has arrived, so flesh is in. Beachwear & flipflops are replacing pajama bottoms and fuzzy slippers for girls. The boys are retiring their wannabe gangsta attire for ... beachwear and flipflops ... they probably would be shirtless if allowed (maybe next year) but for now they agree to wear wifebeaters because, you know, it's like a school, man. (Of course less clothing does make it harder to hide the cell phones and Ipods that they all have ... probably another right.)

I don't have the stats to compare educational achievement in schools having strict dress codes with those having lax codes, but in my area parents are falling all over themselves to get their kids in the schools with the funny-looking uniforms. The local city schools opened a brand new high school this year and instituted a strict campuswear policy at the same time. With very, very few exceptions the parents love it. Neighboring districts are discussing similar dress codes requiring uniforms. Today's newspaper had a story about some local schools that have been in academic emergency for three consecutive years. They must now offer vouchers to their students for free tuition to private and parochial schools where I do believe they'll be required to dress like students and not circus freaks. It seems Mom & Dad are finally realizing that Junior can express his individuality at the end of the school day after he gets his education.

Fostering educational values sometimes requires all parties buying into the process.

Interesting, especially Wooda's opinion. (I suppose, schools show and showed here the same attitude as described by jespah.)

Thanks to all.