Student fights code of conduct to keep pink hair
 

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/...Y&pageId=3.8.1

This is a video - but to summarize, there is a student who is willing to fail school to keep her pink hair. She says her freedom of expression is being violated because pink hair is considered a distraction in the classroom.

Her mom is supporting her kid.

Basically, I think this girl needs to grow up. In the workplace, unless she works for Hot Topic, pink hair will not be tolerated and she just needs to learn to live with that.

To ruin her academic record over hair dye is ridiculous - and her mom isn't helping by telling her kid it's ok.

dumb dumb dumb...

My advice would be for this young lady to more wisely pick her battles.

Pretty much, but I would also say the mom needs to be a parent.

If not being able to have pink hair in highschool is the worst thing that happens to this girl, she'll have a good life.

Yep.

The pink hair might be our first clue that you're onto something :)

I think that's awesome. School isn't the workplace and there's no good reason why a student shouldn't be allowed to come to class with pink hair.

The issue is that there is nothing in the school dress code to prohibit it, yet the school is objecting.

Except that the dress code prohibits it. This is the equivalent of saying that student should be able to come in wearing a bra and panties. Following the dress code of any institution whether work or school is a condition of attending (or getting paid)

What's wrong with a student questioning authority and taking a stand against a rule she thinks doesn't make sense?

Nothing, as long as she's willing to accept the consequences.

It's been established that schools have a right to enforce dress codes. Requiring "natural" hair colors isn't different from requiring shorts to be longer than a certain lenght, banning facial hair on guys, or even having a full on dress code of khakis and polos or something.

It's also an issue of picking your battles.

But hey, if she gets suspended due to the hair color AND it's deemed that the school is using appropriate authority in doing so, then that suspension remains on her record. If her, and her parents, are ok with this, so be it.

If I were her mother I'd tell her to dye it pink in the summer but go brown, black, whatever during the school year.

She questioned. They answered. They said no.

Apparently, we can't count on parents to prepare children for "the real world", so we need schools to do that for us. In the "real world" you can't have pink hair and expect to be gainfully employed.

Also, there were a lot of rules when I was in highschool that I didn't think "made sense". Which is why highschoolers don't run the highschool, the admin does.

However, having pink hair is probably distracting to other students in class. This is the basis for many such dress code rulings.

So a highschooler should be able to show up looking like this:

http://www.verdalet.com/showcase/per...a_von_slut.jpg

And the school shouldn't be able to say anything?

I think it's ridiculous, too. There's a difference in having pink hair and, as someone else mentioned, going to school in a bra and panties. My boyfriend had long green hair when he was in high school and no one gave a damn.

Having pink hair is not my style at all, but I agree with you and valkyrie. Don't our schools have bigger fish to fry, like improving test scores or preventing violence?

Yeah pink hair is distracting...for like three seconds.

Some students probably do not have the ability to concentrate as well as you or I might. I think it is wise for schools to mandate that students dress in a certain manner. I don't like school uniforms, but I do think dress codes are helpful. Students have all afternoon/night/weekend to express themselves. I'm sure there are plenty of places that allow workers to have pink hair, but there are also many who don't. I see nothing wrong with preparing them for a work environment which may not tolerate every act of "self-expression." Of course, when they move on to college, they can have whatever color hair they like (depending on the school), and also pick the job they want to apply for.

On a side note, I think this is something greek organizations are good for...often they kinda slap a kid upside the head, giving him/her the message that, "listen, earrings and colored hair don't make you cool, nor do they make you different."
-I'm sure some of you will have something to say about this...

Is that really true? You can't be gainfully employed anywhere in the world with pink hair? Assuming that's true (which I doubt) why should the same "rules" apply to students?

Even if you think it's a stupid rule, it isn't an "unjust" rule.

The school can mandate that you wear closed toed shoes, boys hair no longer than ear length, no holes in your jeans, etc. Quite simply, they are within their rights to do so. In breaking the rule, the student should accept the consequences, or the parent should move to a different school

Oh, and WHY is a bra and panties so different? There's nothing "private" showing... You can wear it on a beach! Why not in class?

Dress how you want on YOUR time. But at school, or at work, conform to the company's dress code. If your company allows pink hair and piercings, cool, if it doesn't, don't expect to be working there if you don't follow the rules. Same for school, don't expect to avoid suspension for breaking the rules.

Sounds like the girl is old enough to read a handbook...

The video wouldn't load on my computer. Does this girl go to a private or public school?

I'm coming up w/ nothing through Google News...

Anyone have a link to a story?

Can you find a JOB with pink hair? Sure...as someone said Hot Topic. Also, certain (not all) fast food places, record stores, tattoo parlors. Gainful employment implies not just having a job, but one that actually pays all of your bills. Is there an accounting or law firm somewhere in this world who has an employee with pink hair? Possibly, but I doubt they were hired that way, and it's probably 1 in a million places. Would the firm where you work hire an attorney (or even a runner) with pink hair?

Why should that apply to students? Education is not 100% book learning. It's social interaction, and people skills, and etiquette. If you went to a school that focused 100% on algebra, history, and biology and didn't care if it's students drooled on the desks or relieved themselves in the classroom as long as they had a 4.0, then I feel sorry for you.

I understand the young lady's viewpoint and I personally feel that she should be able to wear her hair however she wants. But....(and y'all knew there'd be a but, right?? ;) )

I agree with someone upthread who said she needs to learn to pick her battles. Unfortunately, you can't butt heads with the Powers That Be every single time you disagree with a rule. And shame on her mother for backing her.

I'm not some mindless prole who can't think for herself. I have four tattoos but the people that just hired me for an executive level job don't know that because I keep them covered in a corporate environment. Not sure if that's comparing apples and oranges; just wanted to state that I'm not on the record as being anti-individual.

But you can't turn your life into some Quixotic quest in which everything has to be just.the.way.you.want.it.

Edited to add:
When I was in high school, the administration had a rule that you had to wear socks. That's stuid, right? We all thought so. But wear socks I did. And I really don't think it stunted me in any way.

I wonder if her mom would let her go to a college interview with pink hair.

Her mother is letting her fail school because of her hair. I don't think college is even a concern right now. Especially ones that require an interview.

At the same time, I kinda agree with her mom. The girl's at that age where you really don't care what your parents have to say, and there's nothing that the mother can really do. She might as well stand back, watch her daughter fail, and then when she does, she'll realize that as much as it sucks, sometimes you just have to respect authority and follow the rules that are there. It's a shitty way of learning a lesson, but c'est la vie.

I disagree. First, my parents would have taken my car keys. Then they would have taken my cell phone. Then they would have cut off all spending $, and since I would have had to have my car to continue working, I wouldn't be able to make $ for myself. And then if I hadn't learned after all that, they probably would have sent me to boot camp. But then, that requires ACTUAL parenting...which it seems doesn't happen nowadays.

This is pretty much nonsense - while it may be true in limited parts of the nation (especially more 'traditional' or conservative locations), it's simply not the case in many parts of the nation, whether or not you spout it as such.

Also, ktsnake . . . I know this isn't exactly Tinker v. Des Moines, counselor, but c'mon, don't you think you're being a touch harsh?

Whether or not we feel the rule is appropriate or necessary, the punishment seems starkly out of line in relation to the violation.


ETA:

Look, you work for a plumbing company in the 'moderate' south - you have no basis for making this claim, and simply making it does not make it true. Accounting firms with pink hair - sure. Marketing firms? It may actually be the norm in some places. NYC? SF? C'mon - stop running mouth and start contributing meaningful conversation and not ridiculous platitudes.

I just watched the video... the girl has spent the first week in in-school suspension (ISS). She claims that she'll fail the first 9-weeks' grading period because she's missed five days. Having not been in high school for years now (thank God), maybe the ISS policy is different. But, it was always my impression that you weren't counted as absent if you were in ISS and that you were allowed to get class assignments and work on them while in ISS (thus attempting to prevent students in ISS from failing their classes). Like I said, I have no idea what the current policy is at that school, but it seems odd to me that she'd be failing. I didn't hear any mention of suspension (aside from ISS) for the infraction.

Has her freedom of expression been violated? Maybe. Is it a stupid rule? Maybe. But, it's a rule nonetheless. If some rules are allowed to be broken but not others, how do you know when it's appropriate to take action against the 'non-stupid' rules (i.e. not having weapons on campus)?

I can see both sides.

There must not be much going on in Houston (I think that's where they said this was happening) for this to be making headlines.

Ok, as a bank employee in the midwest, I'll state that not only are there no bankers/tellers with pink hair, but I haven't seen a movie theater employee, waiter, or sales clerk with pink hair either (and these aren't necessarily "careers" just jobs)

In the majority of "professional" fields, particularly those involving human contact, pink hair will not work. You can in fact work, and have a career, in fields where funky hair is the norm. These are the exception and you have to acknowledge that.

I right now I work in the Moderate south, but I've lived and worked and visited other places too. Growing up in IL, I've made enough trips to Chicago to know that it's not norm there, and that's a pretty liberal area. You can always find exceptions to norms, but for the most part, I doubt pink hair is acceptable in 95% of professional workplaces. Can I find stats to back that up? I hope not, because I hope no one's wasting their time polling places about whether pink hair is against the dress code.

I'm guess I'm wrong for focusing on the fact that it was such a BAD dye job in the first place....

lol, I just didn't watch the video ;) It was probably done at home by her or her friends. I had friends who were super into that, but they used "natural" colors. By which I mean they died their hair Black, Brown and Blond at the same time. It passed the school's dress code.

Our dresscode went as far as to spesify that your hair had to be all one (natural) color.

DONNA MARTIN GRADUATES!

I am sooooo disappointed in this child's parents. :( Life is definitely about picking your battles, and this is the wrong one to pick. Regardless of the school's reasoning for creating the rule, they are 100% in the right to create and enforce it. Anyway that she shakes it, she's going to lose. The rule is not outstide of the boundaries of normal dress codes, most people are not going to be sympathetic to her preference, and she voluntarily chooses to attend this school that happens to have a dress code. I can't see where anyone will support her enough to help her win. I'm sad that her parents would let her walk into such a losing battle. I have to agree w/AlphaFrog that my parents would have definitely nipped that in the bud. While I think that I feared my parents far too much for them to need to do anything more than TELL me to go change my hair color, they certainly would have enjoyed making my life hell if I had pressed the issue.

According to the video, the school's Code of Conduct only states that hair has to be neat. It did NOT say that hair had to be of a natural colour.

My high school had the same problem 10 years ago, after green and blue hair started appearing. The following year, a "natural hair colour" clause was put in to the student handbook.

It's a public school. Sorry I couldn't find a link to the story :( All I could find on the website was the video.

Basically she wants pink hair, school district prohibits that, so she is sitting in on-campus suspension while her hair is pink. She said in her interview she is willing to fail all her classes during the first grading period to prove her point.

I love you.

Anyway, it's a public school. One of the greatest things about having attended a public school was the diversity that surrounded me every day. It wasn't quite like Degrassi High with spikes and pink hair, but it was pretty close. Lots of kids had piercings in strange places before they were the norm. One boy cut off his eyebrows. Girls were always borderline haute cotoure (sp?)..... and even now where I live, girls are wearing pink, green, purple, even white extensions.

I'm proud to live in a place that values those differences. How are people supposed to get used to living in a diverse world if they won't allow kids to BE diverse?

And it's stupid to say that coming to school in a bra and panties are the same as having pink hair. It's underwear, you fools.

I hope the ACLU gets involved.

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

How about just tell the girl to obey the rules or go somewhere else. I went to a public highschool with 5000 students and I never saw any definace like this. Although the school was in a very nice part of my hometown.....which is already very wealthy (for a town of 100,000) and very conservative to begin with. Didn't see a whole lot of kids like this. At all.

THANK YOU!!!

I kept reading the posts waiting for anyone to comment. I could understand her fighting if her hair was actually HOT PINK or something. Her hair is hardly pink at all. Lighter than this smiley -> :p
It's a gross mess. She should wash her hair and return to class.