A school sent a 15-year-old student home and banned her from returning until she changed the color of her hair from a purple hue to one that falls within the spectrum of natural hair color.
The student previously dyed her hair reddish hues, which at least fit a school district policy that dyed hair should fall within the “natural spectrum” of hair color. The student’s mother claimed that the change from the girl’s natural brown hair to red helped her “flourish” because she felt “beautiful.” Her mother says dying her daughter’s hair to its natural brown is “not an option.”
Purple, it seems, was just far too much for the school (or, perhaps, her classmates).
This kind of story always gets parents worked up. Part of the upset is summed up with a tired old line: “There ought to be more important things to worry about than a student’s hair color.”
Well, that’s absolutely true. But for me, I mean it from the opposite direction some worked up parents do.
If a student’s purple hair causes a distraction, as school administrators claim, they should have every right to remove that distraction. Even if it means taking away that student’s perceived right to “self-expression” by coloring her hair. School isn’t about “self-expression.” School is about making yourself a productive part of society through education. You can be educated and productive no matter what color your hair is, or, for that matter, whether you have hair at all.
Yes, there are more important things to worry about in our classrooms: how much children learn, how well our education system prepares them to find a job, and how safe they are inside the classroom.
If hair color is so unimportant to the grand scheme of things, the student with the purple hair ought to be able to see that, too. If she’s there to learn, she should be ready to crack open the books with her own natural hair color. Or with a hairdo with adjustments that fall within the school district’s policy.
If hair color truly falls at the bottom of the list of priorities, the parents of the student with the purple hair ought to be able to see that, too. They should be the first ones to say, “You know, they’re right. Daughter, you can wear any color in your hair when you’re out there making your mark on the world, but for now, follow the rules, learn as much as you can, and become that person who’ll change the world.”
And I have to wonder what kind of message we’re sending to our kids these days when we allow them to believe that something that ought to be so “insignificant,” the color of one’s hair, for example, is what defines whether they’re “beautiful.” Or valuable as a person. If someone else suggested to this child that she’d be beautiful if only her hair color were different, wouldn’t women everywhere have something severe to say to that person? (Granted, they should.)
My mom hated and feared school so much that she was physically ill nearly every week of grade school just at the thought of having to go, yet she went because she wasn’t given a choice, and went on to become the first person at her high school to make a perfect, straight-A grade despite all that anxiety. I can only imagine what my mom might have said if I’d decided that I couldn’t go to school or wouldn’t be accepted unless my hair was immediately dyed Chartreuse. It would have been a teaching moment for me, to be sure, even though I probably wouldn’t have liked the lesson. Because back then, what was “more important” was learning.
It’s a shame we’ve somehow lost sight of that.
You are so right, Patrick. What in the world has our society come to. Kids do not need to "express" themselves, they need to go to school to learn, and learn how to follow some basic rules. When the get of school, and into the real world, they will have bigger rules to follow, with much more severe consequences. Parents need to back the school's decisions and help teach their children how to follow rules and have respect for those rules.
Interesting take! “@gingerconsult: Student Hair Color Argument Goes Both Ways http://t.co/JdRY0Ryd via @patricksplace”
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I'm wondering what difference it makes what color her hair is. She's there to learn. They're there to educate her. Is there any proof that her hair caused a distraction? I get sick of us attempting to shove kids into certain molds. I pity the school official who tries to pull this crap with my kiddos.
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@profkrg But isn't it also fair to ask, if hair color should make no difference and if she's there to learn, why doesn't SHE not color her hair and focus on that learning?
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@patricksplace Of course it is, but she's the child in this situation.
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@profkrg Exactly...but then her mother presumably ISN'T a child. :)
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A very similar thing happened to my son ten years ago when he dyed his shaggy blond hair cotton-candy pink (to go with his punk band). Nowhere in the school's (or the district's) code of conduct was hair color listed as an infraction. He was suspended from school - which went on his permanent record as a disciplinary infraction - despite being a straight A and otherwise compliant student. We both learned quite a lot from that experience about what was actually valued at that school: appearance, not substance or worth. The tragic thing about it all? I'm a career educator, and everything I'd ever taught my son about learning and education and the value of critical thinking was suddenly challenged in his eyes due to something as superficial as appearance. Where is he today? He's a philosophy major at USC, soon to graduate magna cum laude. And he's in two local well-known punk bands. I am unbelievably proud of him.
Daily, I fight a battle with my daughter over her school uniform. She attends a public school where the uniforms are not optional but required. We are zoned for this school, and I believe in public education, so I refuse to simply move her to another school. Appearance, it seems - from uniforms to performance on standardized test scores - is more highly valued by our public/parents than actual learning and critical thinking skills. Somehow we've come to equate appearance with substance. Any educator will tell you that sometimes appearance IS reality (high test scores = quality instruction and learning), but often the two do not necessarily go hand in hand. Am I satisfied with her education? Yes. She's learned because of some of her teachers, and she's learned in spite of other teachers.
I don't know how much longer I'll be in education. I'm a lone voice crying in the wilderness, clearly out of step with the demands of the public. I hope we're all ready to reap what we sow.
@LauSmith If there are no specific rules about what is and isn't allowed, then I think that's a different situation. In this case, there's an existing code that even allows students to alter their hair color, as long as it isn't what some might call "too outlandish."
Unfortunately, in our society, appearance DOES matter. It matters too much, to be sure, but it matters. This is a lesson, I'm afraid, everyone learns at some point, whether it's in school or in the real world.
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I know dozens of kids with hair of all colors, many them are on the honor roll and have gone on to college. It only becomes a distraction when the adults make it one.
My internship was at a family and youth service agency and one of the kids who came there to help out had a rainbow Mohawk, he graduated and when on to college to be a graphic arts designer. I saw him last year and he had grown out of his Mohawk days.
@DianaCT For some students, it may well be a distraction. It may even encourage others to bully them because they're intentionally trying to be different. I went to school with a guy who dressed like he was a member of Duran Duran. He was bullied and shunned unmercifully and to this day, some 25 years later, he's still bitter about it.
For every student who might feel a benefit (or a parent who feels their child benefits) from such unique self-expression, I worry about those who don't...and who grow up full of resentment for the rest of their lives.
At what point is it acceptable to tell students that they need to focus on learning, not on hairstyle or fashion?
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How do they prove causes a distraction? I have purple in my hair. Never have I've been told my hair is a distraction. I feel more and more school is all about teaching people to be good corporate cogs. They should never express themselves outside "the normal" hues of what is acceptable. Just do what you are told, memorize your lessons, and for pity's sake don't think. Don't standout. It's just like the corporate world really. If purple hair is distracting other kids from learning, I'd say that teachers are not engaging students in the material. Maybe work on student engagement instead of enforcing rules that quash creativity and self-expression. This is a thought provoking piece, but I just don't agree that being like everyone else really facilitates learning.
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@Michelle_Mazur But to one degree or another, isn't that the expectation — right or wrong — that most of us will face in the "real" world? Should a school not reserve the right to set SOME kind of limits of what is acceptable?
Some schools require a strict uniform policy; isn't it better to allow them wider latitude in their appearance as long as there are clearly defined limits rather than forcing everyone to look EXACTLY the same?
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But - playing devil's advocate here - wouldn't the "distraction" caused by a students unusual hair color be temporary? I'm not sure that there wouldn't be much more of a distraction than would be caused by a pale blonde girl suddenly dying her hair black and going goth. Once folks had seen the change, it would quickly become commonplace.
When I was in middle school, the district got a deal on some paint and painted some of our classrooms a fluorescent lime green over the summer. For the first few days the walls distracted me so much that I was unable to concentrate. It was almost as if they buzzed, I remember thinking. Once I became used to seeing it, it was no longer a problem. Some of our parents complained, but the color remained and I can't say that it was a problem. A student with purple hair would certainly be much less of a distraction than lime green walls, in my opinion, so I don't think she should be made to change her hair color.
I should point out that if the student wanted to create waves and do something different - and surely that was part of dying her hair purple - she certainly accomplished that, now didn't she? She learned that sometimes being different causes others to become uncomfortable and want to change you back to being like everyone else. That's kind of sad, really. I'm not sure that was what the school intended to teach or perhaps it was. I'm not saying that falling within the norms that society has created is always a bad thing but I have to wonder if we shouldn't focus on curbing more harmful behavior rather than something like one's hair color.
@Cathryn (aka Strange) Fair enough...but let me ask this: where do we draw the line? For some students, being "too" different leads to bullying, which is itself "harmful." No matter where that line occurs, won't someone have a problem with it?
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@patricksplace @Cathryn (aka Strange) I don't think a child should be discouraged to be themselves because they might get bullied for it, but to be themselves in spite of it. The approach to dealing with bullies should be to teach kids not to bully others, and not teach them how to avoid being noticed by being different. Besides, isn't that what teenagers have done since time immemorial, tried to distinguish themselves as individuals (even if they do so by defining their individuality by the standards of some subculture).
As for the "distraction" argument, I don't really buy that at all. Purple hair is very common among the teens now. We had goths and emos and whathaveyous when I went to school, and they certainly weren't keeping us from hitting the books - there were plenty of other things keeping us occupied, such as the opposite sex. Their hair colour was of no distinction.
Unfortunately, if the school's draconian code insists on "natural hair colour" - of all things to worry about - then the student and her mother don't really have a leg to stand on, legally. Switch to a private school and check their dress code first. It is a shame that individuality is so unappreciated these days, when it is precisely the most individualistic persons who tend to end up shaping our world the most.
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@patricksplace @Cathryn (aka Strange) I agree with you that we need to do what we can to stop bullying behavior. Wouldn't a better solution be to teach children that there isn't anything wrong with being different and to accept people for who they are? I think that would end bullying a lot quicker than teaching children to try not to be too different to avoid being targeted. After all, a child confined to a wheelchair or with a physical disability has no choice but to appear quite different from his/her classmates, right?
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@Cathryn (aka Strange)@patricksplaceExactly Cathryn, we need to teach our children that diversity is OK. We have to teach that we have to get along with who are different whether it is the color of their hair or their gender identity or their sexual orientation or whatever.
The last couple of weeks I have been working on a Power Point presentation for a workshop that I’m giving next month at a conference. The workshop is going to be about school policies on diversity and how to write an inclusive policy.
Patrick is a television producer, writer, Mac lover, and Christian, though not necessarily in that order. He has a natural dislike of double standards and poor grammar.
