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School Suspends Student Over Colored Hsir
Ohanian Comment: Okay, you need to watch the video. This is a soft-spoken, 12-year-old well-behaved kid with a cause. When my friend Kay Jones sent me the link to the video, I was worried by the ttle. I admit I roll my eyes a bit when I see neon pink, maroon, and green hair in Burlington's city square, usually accompanied by tons of ominous-looking piercings. I don't want to spend my energy defending really really gratuitously weird. But take a look at the video--and at the cartoon. I seriously suggest that if you find this disruptive, you need to get out a little.
Amanda's school closed its website for the summer and has not started up for the Fall. I looked because I wondered if there were faculty photos--and if any of the faculty had enhanced blonde hair.
It looks like the district offered kids fun activities, as well as free breakfast and lunch, over the summer. So let's hope they lighten up over Amelia's hair.
Maybe everybody should think about raising teacher salaries. With teaching experience at Amanda's school averaging 11 years, including nearlyhalf of the staff with Master's degrees, the average teacher at Mountain Grove Middle School earns $32,954. Readers of this website know that I rarely rant about teacher salaries, but I find these wages disturbing. Instead of working to get the public to think about this, the administration gets the public worrying about the pale pink hair of a 12-year-old.
Principal J. T. Hale offered this Januray 1008 greeting to students via the student-run Panther Press:
Principal’s Corner
I would like to begin the first Principal’s Corner of the year by saying “Welcome Back” and I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday break. The beginning of each New Year brings about a wonderful opportunity for each of us. We can begin this year with a fresh start! We can form better habits, make good choices and choose to have a positive attitude. I’m sure that you have noticed various students and staff sharing bits of wisdom over the intercom in the morning. This new program is called “Project Wisdom” and it shares words of wisdom that set a positive tone for the day for everyone in the building. We are trying to increase understanding of core ethical values and foster caring behavior. Let me conclude this Principal’s Corner by saying, “Have a great day or not, the choice is yours.” Let’s choose wisely and make this a great year!--Mr. Hale
I humbly suggest to Mr. Hale that the new school year should include helping a 12-year-old with pink hair have a great day. And let's hope that instead of worrying about that 12-year-old's hair color, the district superintendent will worry about how to train the high school website organizer about apostrophes. Remediation needed on Menu's. Now this is a serious infraction.
by Marie Saavedra, KY3 News
MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. -- With the start of school comes reminders of the rules, like what students can wear and how they should act inside school walls. At Mountain Grove Middle School, those rules are the reason a student is back home when school has barely started.
Keeping students focused is always a challenge. Amelia Robbins, 12, says her style is not to blame for any distractions.
Amelia is a star student who always does her homework, her chores and her hair. While the style changes at will, she takes the color seriously.
"My father passed away when I was 6 years old, and I find the color pink is the cancer color and he died of cancer," she said Wednesday.
When Amelia finished 6th grade with streaks in her hair, Mountain Grove Middle School administrators weren't fans.
"He said, ‘Okay, it's fine this time but don't do it again,’" said Amelia.
Over the summer, with her mother's permission, Amelia dyed her whole ‘do. The color controversy was not forgotten, however, and her school year stopped days after it started.
"He said, ‘You're suspended until you can change your hair.’ I don't feel like I should have to, because I'm expressing myself as an individual, because they constantly tell us, ‘Be different, don't follow the crowd,’" said Amelia.
"If it's something that's getting in the way," said Principal J.T. Hale, “we try to address it and curtail it as soon as we can."
Administrators’ authority over distractions is in the school handbook. Amelia says it lacks specifics, however.
"Lay it plain and simple in the handbook: ‘You're not allowed to have these shades of color -- pink, green, whatever.’ But pink could be a shade of red, so can redheads not go to school?" asked Amelia.
"We want it to be equal for everybody, nobody getting any more attention than anyone else, and we just go on with the process of education,” said Hale.
The biggest question now is Amelia’s education.
"I really want to get back to school so I don't have to make up too much work but I'm willing to not be in school to resolve this case,” she said.
And she thinks that's fine with her inspiration (her dad).
"I think he's probably really proud, because I'm fighting for something,” she said.
Because of privacy law, district administrators said they could not specifically discuss Amelia's situation, but talked in general terms about its policies.
Her parents say they’re talking to an attorney and, while they support Amelia wholeheartedly, they are weighing their options for how long to let this go, to dye her hair back, hire a tutor, just something to get her back on track. Hale says the district will work with families in this situation to get students back in school.
— Marie Saavedra
KY3 News
2008-08-21
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/08/22/saavedra.pink.hair.KYTV
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