Jay Cowell of River Road Middle School got a fancy haircut with a star, which he said is "for God and all the stuff he made on the earth."
But the school officials saw it differently, and declared the his haircut a "gang symbol" and suspended the eight-grader until he got it all shorn off.
Did the school do the right thing? Or are they just being a fuddy duddy? http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/weird/Boy_Suspended_Over__Gang_Symbol__Haircut_All__National_.html [Flash clip]
chinese wooden bead bracelets were considered a gang symbol my junior year. marilyn manson shirts weren't allowed either, which i thought pretty funny since kids still wore band shirts that were ten times more vulgar, like cradle of filth.
At my high school, we weren't allowed to wear bandannas, because they were "gang symbols." But if we folded them into hairbands, they were fine. Note that I live in a town of 4000 and there are no gangs. I think schools take "gang symbols" too far. Call me a crazy proponent of freedom of expression, but it's a slippery slope out there. I would rather have the freedom and never use it than it be taken away without a real reason.
Love the line about "individualistic garbage" in a comment on a blog. Seems to me you're being a wee bit hypocritical on this one...
And something tell me this kid didn't roll into his local barber shop and ask for a haircut that'll get him in the news. If that was the case he could have let him imagination run a bit more wild and really offended some people.
Also, maybe we should lay off the kid and his "Stupid Parent" (Don't hurt yourself jumping to conclusions Christopher...) This is just an example of the school system overreacting and not doing proper research on what gang signs are most likely to be. Someone should warn people speaking in sign language they might be next...
Or i'm wrong, either way.
@Ted
Where do you thing gangs are most prevalent? Inner cities? You'd be wrong. "Middle America" is where the gangs are. Schools must take a hard line stance or be over run.
@ Rozeilla
Gangs no longer are affiliated with race lines. The white kid whose parents are married and take him to church every week is just as likely to be a gang member (and for many reasons those kids are more dangerous.
"unprofessional for an 8th grader" - wasn't aware 8th graders (children and STUDENTS) had any reason to be "professional." if anything those are the yrs to do a ton of stupid shit cuz you can get away with it BOOM
"individualistic garbage" - FASCIST FASCIST FASCIST, need i say more?
also obviously it is not a gang symbol, jst a cool haircut. some people...
If however it was decided to be a problem after the student did it, then it smacks of something.....
the schools manual supported their action and the video noted a star is used by gangs.
so many of you love to jump to conclusions.
btw the private high school i went to had a nearby public middle school nearby. it was not uncommon to have the middle schoolers pick fights with high schoolers. so they are not "just eighth graders". gotta love the naive.
January 10th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Good lord. Are we really this frightened by haircuts on (black) kids?"
just wonder if you say the same when a (white) kid wears a t shirt with a pro Religion or pro Bush statement.
Oh and, 8th grade is not as young and carefree as some people seem to be saying in this blog.
And finally, one must accept the fact that the world has rules (many more ridiculous than this one). Schools have lots a rules. And this shaved star, obviously breaks a rule. Also society has rules and stereotypes. Generally, society infers that only thugs, gang members, and criminals shave designs in their hair. This kid knows that. But he obviously thinks its cool. So he shaves a star and aligns himself with that image. Not a good way to prep for high-school.
If the kid's in a gang, banning his haircut won't help. Gangs just find other symbols to use. So when he gets a gold star on his homework, is the teacher passing along a gang symbol?
Ah, uptight middle America.
Interesting @ Omnius
@ Christopher: what kind of profesionalism is appropriate for grade school?, c'mon man. & I never heard of the rule or sterotype that thugs, gang members, &/or criminals get shaved designs on their heads & i'm very familiar with the trend. The younger black celebrities are though (even tho that may mean thugs, criminals, and gang members to you) i.e. Chris Brown, Lil Bow Wow, and many other young black NBA players. (Daniel Gibson), so chill out people. Now if the kid pulled out his eyeball & ate it that wud be a different story
-B.
Ok 3 comments is my quota. I'll shut up now. This post is buried in the archives anyway.
However, I can see how in this case it is actually relevant, since if you wear something that a gang uses even if you're not in a gang you might be mistaken for it by that gang's rivals and attacked so it's more than superstition in this case. Still they should've let the kid know and instead of suspending him send him home, tell him the reason, and to fix it (difference is in the school record).