Straight-A Student Pulled From Class Over Hair Color
MARSHALL, Mo. -- An eighth-grader was taken out of class Tuesday because of her hair coloring, KMBC-TV in Kansas City reported. An administrator at Bueker Middle School said the girl's red highlights were distracting to other students. School officials said there is a rule at Bueker that hairstyles that are distracting to the educational process are not allowed.
The 14-year-old, who is a straight-A student, said the school's assistant principal told her she had to go to in-school suspension and that she would be there until her hair is fixed.
Meanwhile, Kristen said the hair coloring was an accident. She didn't expect the highlights to be so strong and she plans to tone it down as soon as possible.
Where's the item of the suspension over pierced ears?
Which reminds me to get "Footloose" on DVD.
And I was quazi forced to drop out of one of the high-schools I went to for my pierced eyebrows...
Fucking hell, Texas is lame!
well, it's not like you can expect a big change in culture in only a year.
there's time enough to be a bold and crazy individual like all the other alternakids once you leave secondary school. all this sort of thing is an increasingly strong argument for school uniforms.
This is not a necessity based argument. I had them and was denied education as a result- as if there was much to miss out on considering the school. No one ever needs to adorn their body with alternative means of decoration, but nobody really needs to have a collar on their shirt either, do they? I doubt you could convince anyone that a tie keeps you warm.
Receiving a state sponsored education should not be dependent upon your appearance. I find retarded kids distracting, but for some reason they keep letting them into schools. Why do you suppose that is? While we're at it, why don't we throw out pregnant chicks, foreign kids who don't speak prefect english, and that annoying jock kid who never seems to learn anything. I find this shit very distracting, but it looks like these kids get special attention instead of being kicked out.
Good! My opinion about how someone else should be living their lives should never be the reason they don't receive the same opportunities as I do. Unless we're finally accepting a fascist institution and are prepared to admit that's what we're doing. If we're gonna be evil, just call it what it is and I'll be fine with it. :-)
It should also be pointd out that I left this school in question, removed my piercings, and voluntarily attended a school that required uniforms.
This was my choice, not that of the state.
then you weren't denied education and all your ranting about fascism where none exists is so much spooge. actual fascism would have meant you had no access to any other form of education. but instead, as ever, you could get education if you'd pleased to follow a simple standard of uniformity if not actual uniforms. sorry, but the retards generally are made to NOT stumble in with dyed hair either, so that's a weak example.
I was denied attendance at that particular school based my my appearance. Without attendance, I could not be educated. Is there a flaw in that logic? Though removing my piercings would rectify the situation, I took a stance against it considering people who could justify their nose rings based on eastern religion were allowed to keep them. Does their religion make it any less distracting?
The bit about fascism was a joke.
Retards and hair-dye are not the point. If a kid is squirming in the back of the class occasionally calling out in some strange guttural manner, retarded or not, that's pretty damn distracting. I'm not suggesting they be removed, I'm suggesting that an eyebrow ring does not deter from my or anyone else's ability to learn.
your current music has to be intentional :)
You're new here, right?
? if this is something he does regularly, I hadn't taken notice of it before.
Look back at the entries. Some are absolutely brilliant.
They suspended her for that?! It's not even red, it's like an auburn or so. That's absolutely ridiculous.
Anyone distracted by that must have been blind their whole life and only just gotten the power of sight.
I'm guessing it was distracting to the pedophile teacher who had to keep excusing himself for "relief" in the teacher's restroom.
The published reason makes no sense. The pedophile scenario makes infinitely better sense.
Different it distracting, and even worse; it's immoral.
"We need to bludgeon you with a wrench, dear."
"Excuse me?"
"You're too cute. The football team is distracted. Therefore, the school board has decided to horrifically scar you."
http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html
That was a beautiful short story. Thank you for the link.
I've come across the story's premise many times, but have always been delighted by the spin given to it by the individual author and the culture they represent. Western writers used the format to warn readers of evil businessmen, "well-meaning" tyrants and misguided moralists. Meanwhile Soviet-bloc writers boasted how centrally planning simplified life by making everything and everyone identical, standardized and equally familiar, while warning readers of selfish individuals that threatened the collective socialist dream. What makes Vonnegut's version somewhat unusual is that instead of threatening readers with punishment, he offers them the hope of a reward. Cheers.
that story is hardly pro-individualism uber alles, you know.
Makes me want to go to middle school. Whoever sits behind me won't even be able to see the teacher....
I see the makings of hi-larious situation comedy!
Man, that hair is TAME compared to most of the wild dos I see in the Tempe, AZ region! How stupid!
Hey, they're taking away her individuality, quiet.
Whenever I see an article like this my first instinct is to check if the URL points to The Onion.
Anyway, this kind of inane bullshit is why I will never live in Kansas, and restrict my visits to once every quarter-century.
Wait -- was that Kansas City, Kansas, or Kansas City, Missouri?
Note: For those who wonder, Kansas City is split in two across two states by the Missouri River.
I was expecting Run Lola Run and I get Lindsay Lohan. Crazy.
Part of my family lives in KS, MO. My mom is there now visiting. I declined an invite from her to tag along. They are all just so "white bread" generic over there!! At least my family who lives there are. I'd probably be bored or bugged by their lack of individuality.
Cookie cutter kids for a cookie cutter school to prepare them for a cookie cutter career in a cookie cutter suburb. This, my fellow fanboy, is our future.
You missed the memo about our grim meat hook future(s).
I'm a girl but thanks for the cookie cutter comment!
Oh, now you tell me. I guess <lj user=jwz> has fangirls too.
Yeah, all of my interesting friends left town for college and none of them came back. The rest either went to school very close to home (i.e. KU) or made or failed to make it through community college. They're the ones buying houses, getting married and pregnant. "Fun" is all too often bowling leagues, karoake (I seriously know two people who own crappy karaoke machines), or Trivial Pursuit.
What kind of person in their early 20s wants to have a house, spouse, kid and generic office job?
They're still my friends, but they just seem to be half-dead to me. The only thing keeping them from being the same generic suburban soccer moms and SUV owners is time.
I have almost nothing in common with them aside from my genetic pool. Well, I do own an SUV but I got it so I could carry metal pieces around for my welding class that I'm taking. They do the whole soccer/baseball/swim team thing with their kids. That's all fine & dandy for them. But I don't really care about that stuff. I guess it's good because it keeps them out of "trouble" so to speak.
I just don't believe in having kids or getting married. I don't see the point in it. And since they've all (my cousins) had kids I don't feel the need to perpetuate the genetic lineage for my family. They've taken care of that! The only thing I kind of worry about is who will see over me in my old age. I prefer to make art, listen to crazy/cool music, go out clubbing/dancing & to friends' parties & concerts.
i mean, fuck, subcultures are just as damned conformist within their own sets of norms, so why on earth are they so hoity-toity about being unique and speshul compared to mainstream-oriented folks? i have yet to meet an alterna person who was more unique than many of the 'cookie cutter' people i've known. there is little enough new under the sun for people to be running around acting as if their rebellious conformity is better than non-rebellious conformity.
Yes, every subculture has it's "norms" or standards. But just because you've grown accostomed to those & think of all who follow them as being conformist doesn't mean other people do. Obviously the girl's new do was enough to deem her as being "wildly unique". Why else would they have taken such harsh action against her?
Also, I am somewhat wildly unique compared to that part of my family. I am not married, have no kids, and don't go to church. I am 35. Not some teenager or 20-something running around trying to be rebellious in a "non-rebellious conformity" way. I am just myself. I don't really try to fit into any culture. I wear fashions that I think are complimentary to my body type. I don't follow trends too much. I listen to virtually every kind of music, & I have friends in all different stratas of life. I feel that every person is unique in their own way, despite how they fit into their own subculture. Just because people will judge them based on their appearance, deciding which category they fall into doesn't mean that's who they are. Remember that the next time you decide to make a snap judgment call on someone you meet or see! You really don't know who they are & you may never get to know them if you decide to dismiss someone based on their "style" alone. Whatever.
I defy conventional standards & norms.
yes, yes, i am sure you defy conventional standards and norms in exactly the approved fashions. in fact, your exact description of yourself is very templated. it is worth noting how non-conventional people tend to be far less accepting of those who deviate from norms than the other way round. go figure.
You don't know me well enough to make such a call about who I am. Your opinion of me is really a non-point because of that fact. I will note that you seem very embittered on this topic. It makes me think you have a lot of self-loathing & enjoy being overly critical of other people.
Have a nice day!
Actually, it's Marshall, MO, a hick town of about 12000 about 50 miles east of KC, MO.
KMBC-TV is reportedly in Kansas City.
I'm always curious about which KC people are mentioning. Seems pretty common that news reports outside of that region (locals there say it's the midwest, to the chagrin of Chicago midwesterners) are rarely specific.
Just watched this week's episode of Adult Swim's "Moral Oral." The opening sequence identifies the town of Oralton as being in Statesota with Kansas on its western border and a much smaller Missouri on its eastern border. Oralton is is in Missouri! Figures.
When you say "Kansas City" it's pretty easy to tell most of the time.
If it's making reference to an actual city (well, a crumbling, decaying, shell of a city at least) then it's Kansas City, MO. If it's suburban then it's in Kansas (likely the suburban sprawl that's technically made up of Olathe, Shawnee Mission, Praire Village, Overland Park, Leawood and others in general ascending order of affluence). If it's a poorer suburb then it's either very close to or actually in Kansas City, KS or over the state line and in Missouri.
People generally don't refer to Kansas City, KS very often. There's very little "city" there since most of that stuff's in Missouri. Since it's both poor and small it typically gets completly ignored. In any case they both spill into each other so it's typically not all that relevant.
General rule of thumb is that the suburbs tend to be in Kansas and the city tends to be in Missouri.
I've also noticed that on "Moral Orel". From the placement it looks like it's around St. Joseph, MO or so.
Ah, St. Joe, the armpit of the universe. How I don't miss that place. (And I live in KC, MO now, which is saying something.)
Yep, I'm still stuck in Kansas (Manhattan) right now after college and trying to find a job so I can get the hell out of here.
I have to admit though that growing up in the wealthy Kansas City suburbs (Kansas side, Overland Park to be specific) we never seemed to have any sorts of problems with this kind of shit. Yes, it was pretty white bread, but I'm not aware of anyone being harassed over hair, clothes, or whatever in my old school district.
The Republic of Gilead is so much closer than most Americans think.
Is there balm in Gilead?
serious question: is that unusual? would most american assistant principals have done different? this seems par for the course at my old high school (in suburban houston).
Yes and no. The vice principals at my school (Laredo TX 1996-2000) would bother my friend about her hair (she had a couple of blue stripes) but they never really did anything about it.
And at the junior high I went to in League City, I received this same punishment for my bright red hair. ISS. Yup. Fun.
She's hot!
As a Canadian, I can safely agree.
I bet the non-straight-A students never get suspended over that kind of stuff!
That exact same thing happened to me. When I was in eighth grade, in fact. Only, my hair was fire-engine red...and I'm a boy...and no one wrote a fucking news story about it. What the fuck ever...
thats right folks! Hair Terrorist #1 right here! destroying classrooms one head of lowlights at a time! I didnt know my job had such an impact, can I get a medal?
oops... reply to wrong comment. I'm terrible at this. I should have stayed on Prodigy.
Highlights are the devil's work.
weird, I remember being distracted in middle school, not so much by anyone's hair, but more so by being shoved around by older kids.
I did get suspended once for defacing the D.A.R.E. shirts they made us wear. they were the product of a design contest, and the winning design was a teddy bear with heart-shaped baloons. They made us all wear them when they came back from the printer. I cut the sleeves off of mine. some friends had "accidents" painting in art class, but only I got suspended, since there was no way to accidentally lose both sleeves.
Accident in shop class?
Meanwhile, Kristen said the hair coloring was an accident. She didn't expect the highlights to be so strong and she plans to tone it down as soon as possible.O cruel, needless misunderstanding! but it was all right, everything was all right. She loved Big Brother.
Living (physically) in Kansas City, at the juncture of the fine states of Kansas and Missouri, I am often distressed by the overwhelming inequality in the amount of national-level idiotic things Kansas accomplishes (refusing to teach evolution, passing anti-gay marriage ammendment, etc.), as opposed to Missouri. Good to see the Show-Me State finally stepping up to do their fair share.
hairrorist defined
Oh please. Back when I went to school (which wasn't that long ago) any sort of hair colouring would get you suspended.
Kids these days, especially in school environments, are subject to very rigid regulations. What's amusing is how employers and HR managers are now complaining that Gen Y has no initiative!
Has anyone found her LJ handle?
Think I need to get my contacts checked, I somehow ready "Has aonyone found her labia?" there.
*rubs eyes*
Apparently I need to learn to spell common English words, too.
we had that rule in my middle school, too. (i'm from the kc area) so i'd just dye my hair different "normal" colors...until one st. patty's day i kool-aided it green and it ended up turning bright yellow. since i was a "good kid" nothing came of it, but this girl couldn't go to an awards ceremony at the end of 8th grade because her hair was pink. and is it just me or is pulling a kid out of class and making a big scene a *lot* more fucking distracting? jesus.
.
Been to an US school in Louisiana for a couple of months, and there it seemed totally normal, that kids got suspended if not completely shaved, or their arms were too long (or skirts too short),... it always seemed weird to me, but it appeared so natural over there, why make a fuzz about hair now... I don't think they need a reason to suspend someone for her appearance,.. that's what rules are for :)
I'd do her.
I was WAITING to see who would say this, as I was totally NOT going to be the first.
Is it just me, or is that look on her face the "I want to STAB YOU," look? Not that I've seen that frequently or anything.
As a certified creepy old man, such looks no longer effect me.
Where might an aspiring creep get certified?
Florida
Wow, "distracting to other students" is forbidden.
It sounds like "distracting to other students" must map one-for-one with "anything the administration doesn't like."
Typical repressive meme, alas. "If it were up to me, I'd let it go. But the students/your co-workers/[someone else] have complained."
I missed interpreted the -A bit and thought I had missed the memo regarding the new dyed hair gay underground. Thinking that the article would reveal establishment's struggle to subvert the subversive. Alas the truth was woefully disappointing.
"Won't someone please think of the children, and then do exactly what I say without question because of the children?"
I'd so keep my hair colored indefinitely. No need to go to class. The school suspends me too many times over it they may start having legal problems about attendance per year and have to revoke the rule.