Needville Kid's Fight To Wear Long Hair Goes On

hoppyfrog

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http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/07/arocha_versus_needville_isd.php

13 July 09

The six month battle between the Needville Independent School District and an Apache family seemed to be over after a federal judge ruled in January that the school district has to let 5-year-old Adriel Arocha attend regular classes, despite his long, braided hair...

and

Needville permits girls to wear their hair long and in exposed braids, so any claim that long, braided hair is per se dangerous or unhygienic is facially inconsistent with the grooming policy itself...

more at link

I am stunned that a public school district in this day would think it's okay to force a child not to wear long, braided hair. Unbelieveable.

Hoppy
 
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/07/arocha_versus_needville_isd.php

13 July 09

The six month battle between the Needville Independent School District and an Apache family seemed to be over after a federal judge ruled in January that the school district has to let 5-year-old Adriel Arocha attend regular classes, despite his long, braided hair...

and Needville permits girls to wear their hair long and in exposed braids, so any claim that long, braided hair is per se dangerous or unhygienic is facially inconsistent with the grooming policy itself...

more at link

I am stunned that a public school district in this day would think it's okay to force a child not to wear long, braided hair. Unbelieveable.

Hoppy

And, what an absolute waste of taxpayer's money!
 
I'm with the two of you - this leaves me speechless.
I guess they have never heard the saying 'You have to choose your battles'?

One would think there are bigger things to spend their time worrying about than this.

'Tupid.
 
"Television cameras and photographers focused on the townsfolk who packed into a classroom at Needville High School. Locals were interviewed inside the classroom and outside the school, and the majority said they didn't want a long-haired kid in their kindergarten; it would be the first step in letting in big city problems."

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2008/07/post_1.php



:floorlaugh: These "locals" need to take a little vacation.....

Native American Culture Tour

http://blackhillsvacations.com/vacationpackages/packagedetail.cfm?p=3558
 
omg are we back in the 60s again where the school would battle over guys with long hair??
 
Wow! This makes my small hometown (which I think the average mind is still living in the 1700's) seem like New York City! Unbelievable! So many prejudices still alive in 2009 in the Land of Freedom and Opportunity.
 
"Television cameras and photographers focused on the townsfolk who packed into a classroom at Needville High School. Locals were interviewed inside the classroom and outside the school, and the majority said they didn't want a long-haired kid in their kindergarten; it would be the first step in letting in big city problems."

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2008/07/post_1.php



:floorlaugh: These "locals" need to take a little vacation.....

Native American Culture Tour

http://blackhillsvacations.com/vacationpackages/packagedetail.cfm?p=3558



Does this mean they are going to make the little girls cut their long hair too? These people are crazy spending this much effort on the length of this boy's hair.
 
omg are we back in the 60s again where the school would battle over guys with long hair??

And teachers prowled the halls measuring sideburns and the lengths of skirts. (Since it was usually male teachers, the obsession with skirt length got pretty creepy, IMHO.)

Oh, and let's make kids who don't wear socks parade around all day with paper bags on their feet. That'll show 'em!

Ah, memories!
 
I cannot believe that in the 21st century, we are still trying to police the length of a male's hair. It is sexual discrimination to have long hair allowed on female students but not on boys.

This is absolutely ridiculous and a terribly inexcusable waste of taxpayer's money.
 
According to our tradition, we will not cut our boy's hair until he reaches three, and I feel the tsk tsk from some people I know as his toddler mullet gets a little out of control, but it is my right as a parent to follow my heritage, as long as I keep him clean and groom him appropriately. It is ridiculous to apply arbitrary mainstream gender-biased values on everyone - North America is a land of diversity, and we should all accept that people have different practices.

Sounds like hair neatly braided and well taken care of shouldn't even have been a concern for this school - they should pay more attention to maltreated children than ones whose parents are trying to maintain their culture or beliefs in dignity.

This case is so very silly. "Big city problems"...? There should be some nice middle ground between "big city problems" and "small town narrow-mindedness," please and thank you.
 
I couldn't believe it when the principal was quoted as saying that lawyers, doctors and other professionals don't have long hair. My DH has long hair and is a technical professional who has worked with CEOs. I work for a hospital and I see Drs with long hair all the time. A friend of mine who is a lawyer wore long hair for years and years. This is like saying little girls can't cut their hair short!!

I feel like the district is fighting for their right to be right, rather than fighting on a specific principle. This is a public school, not private, and there is no way they can win this in a court of law.
 
This is ridiculous. If the little girls are aloowed to wear their hair in this style then its absolutely nobodys business but the little boy and his family how he should wear his. It shouldnt have anyhting to do with religion or culture etc either - it should be as simple as a personal choice.
 
This is ridiculous. If the little girls are aloowed to wear their hair in this style then its absolutely nobodys business but the little boy and his family how he should wear his. It shouldnt have anyhting to do with religion or culture etc either - it should be as simple as a personal choice.

ITA - but I'm glad it was a kid with a cultural explanation to break the rule. It's got more foundation that way. These people seem to think that "personal choice" makes no difference at all when it goes counter to their Cold War ideas of what proper conformity is. sigh.
 
My brothers were not allowed to graduate from 8th grade (this was in the early 70s) because their hair touched the back of their collar, and I remember my mom fighting it for awhile but they eventually had to cut it shorter in order to graduate. This was a Catholic school. My father just died the year before. She was so fed up that she took us all out of the school and put us in public school.
 
My brothers were not allowed to graduate from 8th grade (this was in the early 70s) because their hair touched the back of their collar, and I remember my mom fighting it for awhile but they eventually had to cut it shorter in order to graduate. This was a Catholic school. My father just died the year before. She was so fed up that she took us all out of the school and put us in public school.

There's the difference. Catholic schools are still like that, by and large, and they have the right. My son just graduated from 8th grade, and last year two boys were not allowed to walk with the class because they refused to get their hair cut. Stupid? Totally. But we were all warned and we signed the handbook - parents AND kids. Sigh...

This is a public school and they are just wasting a whole lot of money to look like fools. How on earth any lawyer is advising them to continue on is beyond me. They don't have a leg to stand on! If I paid taxes in this district I would be PISSED. How about they focus on some of the real needs of the schools there?
 
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This is a small district outside of Houston. It is rural school that has a high achieving academic record. A year ago when this family moved to Needville their reasons for the child's long hair was less well defined. They have in the interim time acquired political backing[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] with deeper pockets.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This article tells how this all started.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-07...ican-family-fights-against-hair-length-rules/[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This is a slippery slop for any school. If they make an exception for this child, they could have others defying their dress code for less passive reasons. One way districts keep [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]out big city influen[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]ces, such as gangs[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif], is to set standards for dress that prohibit[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]s hair and clothes that groups use to assert power and influence. Truthfully, this dress code is the will of the community. Absolutely, this is not how the district wants to spend its money[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif].[/FONT]
 
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This is a small district outside of Houston. It is rural school that has a high achieving academic record. A year ago when this family moved to Needville their reasons for the child's long hair was less well defined. They have in the interim time acquired political backing[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] with deeper pockets.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This article tells how this all started.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-07...ican-family-fights-against-hair-length-rules/[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This is a slippery slop for any school. If they make an exception for this child, they could have others defying their dress code for less passive reasons. One way districts keep [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]out big city influen[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]ces, such as gangs[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif], is to set standards for dress that prohibit[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]s hair and clothes that groups use to assert power and influence. Truthfully, this dress code is the will of the community. Absolutely, this is not how the district wants to spend its money[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif].[/FONT]

I guess the school board should explain to its constituents that it is probably going to waste a lot of money defending itself against these people, and will probably lose in the end. It truly IS a form of sexual discrimination to allow long hair on little girls and not on little boys. And maybe it could suggest to its constituents that the money would be better spent educating the surrounding communities on "tolerance" for others personal choices. Public schools, by their very nature, are open to the public. And not every member of the public is going to choose the same haircut, live the same lifestyle or be of the same ethnic background.

Everybody understands the need to keep gang related crap out of our schools. But a child's haircut is up to his parents, IMO. If the kid is neat and clean, if he shows up at school with his homework done and ready to learn, if he does not appear to be abused, the school should be thankful.
 

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