Girl suspended from school for dying hair pink — yea or nay?
This is a great topic, sure to get people buzzing. In case you missed the story, check out the headline over here, “Pink hair gets girl suspended.” The story comments are already starting to build up.
Mountain Grove Middle School student Amelia Robbins said she dyed her hair pink to honor her father, who died of cancer when she was 6 years old. She says that to her, pink is the cancer color. The 12-year-old said that when she finished 6th grade with pink streaks in her hair, school administrators warned her not to continue wearing the color.
jim63129 says, “Heather Lawson, Rules are rules. I don’t have a problem with someone showing uniqueness, but they should realize there may be a price to pay for their actions. The girl made her statement and the school made their statement. Time for 7th-grader to lose the pink hair.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, McCarty77 argues: “I wonder if the school realizes it’s 2008 and not 1992? With time comes change and with technology comes change. Young kids have the right to express themselves.”
Pop on over to the story and join the discussion, or comment here.
Here’s a link to the story on the web site for KYTV, Springfield, Mo. — with video.
Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
My daughter, who is a natural redhead, had a similar situation when we lived in Valdosta, GA.
She had dyed the underneath of her hair black, which was apparently (and questionably) fashionable, and was constantly being stopped in the halls and questioned about - not the black color - but the red! One teacher told her she would be sent to the office for detention the next day if she didn’t dye her red hair back to “normal”. Boy was she embarassed when she learned she had disparaged a student’s natural hair color. After that they didn’t have the nerve to comment on the black color.
However, my daughter’s response to this teacher and others who commented on her “disruptive red hair color” was to point out the population of Black female students who wore red, blue, magenta, green, etc., braiding and weaves in their hair. No one had complained about them, and that made it look like tremendous reverse discrimination was taking place as the teachers commenting on my daughter’s hair color were also Black in this predominantly (75-25%) Black school.
What I’m getting at is, you can’t let a single perspective rule all. What is “disruptive hair color” to one is “culturally expressive” to another. Let me rephrase this: What is “disruptive hair color” to one is “deeply meaningful and personally significant in a non-disruptive with no ill-intent way”, to another.
I think Mr. Hale is being a little hard-nosed on the issue, and I hope a line item in a school handbook does not continue to prevent him from being a more reasonable, and therefore more effective, administrator in the new school year.