Ohio: six-year-old's mohawk earns suspension from school

I thought this was settled law in Ohio...

The school does not have the right to determine your hairstyle because they are not only doing so for the school day but for the rest of the day and all of your days off as well.  In effect, they would become the sole determiner of your hairstyle 24/7 thus eliminating several of your Constitutionally protected freedoms.  The school can, however, require a uniform, or other dress code, since that requirement only affects one for an hour or so before the school day, through the school day, and a short time thereafter.

I was in the public schools back in the 80's, and there was a court decision about this back then.  It may have been that the school could specify a maximum length for hair, for safety reasons, but it had to apply the same standard to both sexes.

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by: Storm @ Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 15:08:55 PM CST

WTF??? A six year old's hair cut is disruptive?

  Most six year olds have a short attention span to begin with.  This is much ado about nothng but control over a family.  We don't like Mohawk hair cuts and we are the powerful.  As she states there are uniforms which removes most of a persons individuality anyway.

 Conform or you will be out.  Sounds like bible study camp.

If I make sense? it was quite by accident.

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by: HappyCat @ Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 15:12:30 PM CST

whatta crock

I love it when something that doesn't cause actual student distraction generates hysteria about what a distraction that thing is.  In truth, they create a distraction by focusing on something the students aren't.  Guess what, students get distracted by cute students, cute teachers, bullies, ugly (and/or overweight, since "fat" = ugly in this society) students, etc.

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by: ol cranky @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 08:51:34 AM CST

From Someone Who Lived There

(For a while)

Hi, I'm new. :)  Wanted to weigh in on this. Parma's not particularly super-conservative, but it is heavily Catholic. So this doesn't surprise me. It isn't a place for rebels or non-conformists.

While I think it's a bit of a ridiculous to-do for the school to make a fuss over hair, it's one of their rules. Both the parent and the child knew going into the charter school about the dress code, yet they ignored it as if it didn't pertain to them.

This isn't a discrimination issue, it's a dress code issue. And while it's a silly dress code issue, it's still pretty plain that the kid got plenty of warnings beforehand, which were summarily ignored.

So even though I think this is 'much ado about nothing'...I'm siding with the school. Please don't flame. :(  It's just a news story about hair.

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by: natgeo72 @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 08:56:30 AM CST

Sorry.

But I don't think the 1st Amendment should stop at the school house door; even in charter schools.

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by: Jon Michaels @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 13:22:11 PM CST

[ Parent ]

True!

Admittedly, I didn't think of it in terms of 1st Amendment rights, but more in the way school administrators must have seen it, i.e, "What's next, if we let the kid with the mohawk in, will the other students come in wearing clown noses and whatever else just to be cut-ups and disrupt class?" The slippery slope argument.

Anyhow, yeah, good point.

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by: natgeo72 @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 13:49:38 PM CST

[ Parent ]

It's ridiculous.

And it reminds me of a story I read last fall about a 3 year old who was suspended from a Maryland private school for have his hair in locks.

http://tinyurl.com/24voph

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by: Cousin J @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 11:46:16 AM CST

For Cryin' Out Loud

We're talking about a little boy!  Although I don't like mohawk haircuts personally, I wouldn't deny him the right to wear one.  Of course, there wouldn't be any argument if he had a nice, little, religious-right, republican hair-cut.

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by: Jon Michaels @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 13:12:01 PM CST

When I was a kid...

I went to high school in the '70s and I remember that a girl was sent home for going to school with a Farah Fawcett hairdo!

It was quite a scandal.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 13:24:17 PM CST

Hairspray (1988)

Geometry Teacher: Tracy Turnblad, once again your ratted hair is preventing another student's geometry education.

Tracy Turnblad: It's feathered, not ratted.

Geometry Teacher: Whatever you call it, it's a hair-don't.

When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 13:33:30 PM CST

Mohawks were hip...

... about 1962 when I was a six year old.  And what if the kid IS a Mohawk?

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by: richmx2 @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 14:37:54 PM CST

Check this one out...

Debate over crucifixes at an Albany high school
Two students deny gang connections in the flap

Is a crucifix a religious symbol or a gang insignia?

An Albany high school principal made up his mind and suspended two students for wearing them. The school suggests the crucifix could signal gang behavior.

District 8J school officials say they are trying to be proactive and keep gangs from getting a foothold. The kids say they are not gang members and feel they are being singled out.

When is a religious symbol, not a religious symbol?

It's this cross that caused trouble for South Albany High School freshman, Jaime Salazar. He says he refused to remove the crucifix when asked to by South Albany principal Chris Equinoa, leading to a five day suspension. The student says the cross is a gift from his mom.

Salazar explained, "She says she felt bad because they're accusing us of being bad people when we're really not."

"To be honest, this is the first incident I've ever had with the crucifixes," says Albany Police officer Ken Fandrem, who is also the school resource officer at South Albany.

Fandrem says he's heard of kids in other school districts wearing crosses or rosaries to signify gang affiliation and it's something that needs to be tracked. He adds this is not racial profiling and tells KVAL,
"We don't pick any color. We look at what the problem is at the time; what we have going on."

Executive Assistant to the 8J superintendent, Jim Haggart, says, "In this case, they were also alerted that it might be religious medals or rosaries worn around the neck of a student."

The boys believe their Latino background makes them targets in this case, but school officials say race is not the issue. They say it's campus safety.

However, civil libertarians say this is the kind of policy that can backfire.
Director Dave Fidanque of the A-C-L-U of Oregon explains, "The critical thing is keeping the kids in school. I worry about any enforcement action by school officials if they don't know what they're doing."

"It's something the police had told the schools to be alert about; the principal responded to that and asked the student about it. It's not a racial thing," states Jim Haggart.

Meanwhile, it was back to school Monday for Salazar without the crucifix, saying, "My mom told me to wear it no more."

Junior Marco Castro was suspended 3 days after refusing to take off a string of rosary beads.

Principal Equinoa refused Sunday to talk to a reporter from our Portland affiliate (KATU) and didn't want us on campus today.


When you look for the bad in mankind, expecting to find it, you surely will.

- Abraham Lincoln.

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by: Fritz @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 14:50:43 PM CST

Hey, maybe there is a "war on Christianity" after all - LOL

What next? The American flag condemned as a gang symbol, I expect.

Here's what I find about compromise--
don't do it if it hurts inside,
'cause either way you're screwed,
eventually you'll find
you may as well feel good;
you may as well have some pride

--Indigo Girls

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by: Hypatia @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 18:07:07 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Crucifixes and violence

The principal has a point, in a way. Except that I would classify the Catholic Church as more like a mafia organization than a street gang.

Also, a crucifix is a violent depiction of a man in the process of being executed. Kids wearing such violent imagery could raise some Columbine-like concerns.

Rosaries, on the other hand, are probably a necessary educational tool that many students need to help them pass their exams.

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by: Stephanie @ Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 18:46:01 PM CST

[ Parent ]

The more we ban silly things

the more power we give to the silly things. If we mandated that all boys wear one earing, the non-conformists would wear any number but one.

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Claim to fame: Posted first PHB diary to be demoted

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by: cindik @ Sun Mar 02, 2008 at 09:43:44 AM CST