Boy Got a Haircut Like His Military Step-Brother, School Suspended Him

Reason ^ | Mar. 27, 2015 | Robby Soave

[Salman]

There is nothing quite like the petty despotism of the public school system. A boy from McMinnville, Tennessee, was suspended after coming to Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary School with a haircut deemed inappropriate by the principal. It was a "high and tight" military-style haircut that the boy had requested so that he would look more like his step-brother, an active-duty soldier.

The principal did not budge, leaving the boy's mother no choice but to shave his head so that he could come back to school.

[Shimmer1]

It's unlikely that I've forgotten the military dress codes, as I was a Navy wife for 23 years, not that that stacks up against a good bit of volunteer work. (rolling eyes)

For your edifying information, I was asking the other poster what HE thought the real issues were. You couldn't see that by the wording? And you have family that were military. Oh wow, you're the only one that had that. Did YOU perhaps serve??? or maybe you were just an armchair soldier?

Maybe a mtn was made of a molehill, but you also did that, with your exalted "volunteerism" la ti da.

[fieldmarshaldj]

I think the real issue is that the principal acted stupidly here and deserves a LOT of heat for doing so.

[fireman15]

We thank you for your husband’s service and for your support of him. I am sorry if I misunderstood that your comments which were addressed to me were actually meant for someone else.

I mentioned the volunteer work that we do to indicate where we are coming from, not to try and get some type of praise or admiration from you or anyone else here. Recognition from high command is not given to people who have made only casual commitments to the type of work that we do. Your dismissive comments, “(rolling eyes)”, “la-ti-da” and trying to somehow make us feel bad, indicates to us only the type of person that you seem to be inside. We are the type of people who spend a major part of our time getting out and doing for others. I don’t really consider that something that should be made fun of; even if we do have disagreements here.

[GeronL]

If a girl came in with that haircut they would assume she had discovered her inner dyke and leave her be

[SamAdams76]

When I was going to elementary school back in the early 1970s, it was quite the opposite. You did not dare grow your hair to where it even touched the top of your ears. We have a very strict principal who fired the music teacher for playing Beatles music. Blue jeans (as they were called in the day) were banned, as well as sneakers.

If I had access to the Internet back then, I'd be all over Twitter about it.

[Shimmer1]

No, those comments indicate the contempt for bragging about your (and wife’s) connection with the military. I would otherwise be proud and thankful for someone like you. Maybe you weren’t aware of your condescending tone? I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad, actually I didn’t think it would affect you. It just struck me wrong.
don’t worry about the kind of person I am inside, which is not shown by a few words here.
Ok, I’m done. I can’t type too long at a time, usually. :)

[NorthMountain]

Yet another reason to abolish government schools ...

[fireman15]

You are correct that a few words here typically are poor indicators of how any of us are inside.

When I was growing up, my mom and dad both worked but we didn’t have much money. I was given no choice about my haircuts, when my parents decided it had gotten too long they dropped me off at the “barber school”. The directions from my dad to the student barbers were very simple; “cut it short” so we wouldn’t have to come back for a long time, and “do it fast” so I won’t have to wait when I get back from my other errands. As long as what I wanted fit these two requirements everyone was happy. Strangely all of my haircuts looked about the same no matter what I thought that I wanted. But, within a few minutes after the deed was done I went back to not caring about what my hair looked like.

I like many others here have both children and grandchildren. Growing up each occasionally perceived even trivial matters to be “soul crushing” injustices. But despite this we all continued to love each other and none seem to have any debilitating psychological scars from not always getting what they wanted. I am pretty sure that in the long run little Adam won’t be traumatized very much by the decision of his mean and nasty principal.

[Shimmer1]

I just saw this comment. I was busy visiting my new grandson in the hospital. Tomorrow I have medical procedures all day, But tonight, I feel pretty good.
I grew up in a family with little to no money too. I understand. I raised my boys at the local college for haircuts and tooth care too.
I don't get the "soul crushing" stuff either. My kids (nor I) fall for that. Soul crushing. ha!!

[fireman15]

Thank you for the nice message. I hope that your grandson is going to be OK. Good luck with your medical procedures. I am sorry that my messages sounded condescending. I am pretty sure that our views on nearly everything are very close.

[Shimmer1]

I figured that out too (that our views were very close) Sorry that your previous post just struck me wrong. haha. We’re on the same side!!!! I have a poem for you to read (you and your wife, she’ll like it, I think) Let me go look it up.

[Shimmer1]

p.s. grandson is fine, he’s just newborn. They’re coming home today.

[Shimmer1]

The Soldier's Wife

When she was a girl, her dreams were bold, as bold as her fine, free gaze;
And every gift of grace and mind was hers in her younger days.
When she was a girl, a golden girl, with a soul as fine as fire.
She could outshine the brightest jewel that a rich man's love might buy her.
Yes hers could have been the glittering path through a careless, carefree life,
But she fell in love with a soldier, so she became a soldier's wife.

Away from the home of her childhood she marched at her husband's side,
For she chose a wide and winding road when she became a bride. And somtimes the road was a hard one, so different from what she had planned;
And sometimes she wept for the home she had left as she lay in a foreign land;
And sometimes her steps would grow weary as she followed the drum and the fife;
But she set about making the world her home because she was a soldier's wife.

She learned to build a hearth for them wherever her man was sent;
And she knelt to plant a garden every time he pitched their tent.
Yes, she always planted a garden though she never saw it grow,
For she knew before the flowers came that she would have to go.
But she left each garden gladly though it cut her like a knife,
For she hoped it might bring some comfort to another soldier's wife.

To the hardships in her married life she brought one simple truth,
A promise that once was spoken in the ancient words of Ruth:
"Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
They people shall be my people and thy God shall be my God."
She shared his joys and sorrows as they made their way through life,
For she was proud to love a soldier and to be a soldier's wife.

She bore the weight of worrying what fate might hold in store;
And the wordless fear of waiting when her soldier went to war;
And the nights that she spent fearing that her waiting was in vain;
And the pain of wanting someone she might never hold again.
But she bore his children gladly through uncertainty and strife,
And they never heard her crying for she was a soldier's wife.

She raised a soldier's family with the faith her love had taught her;
And she gave the pride she had inside to her son and to her daughter;
And she taught them to love freedom and to know what it was worth,
As they helped her plant her gardens in the corners of the earth.
And she never wished for better than the road they marched through life,
Because she was as much soldier as she was a soldier's wife.

*by Caroline Franklin Berry *

[fireman15]

Congratulations on your new grandson! Thank you for the poem also. My wife comes from a line of military wives. I hope that you won’t mind if we share it with others. We have frequent contact with Family Readiness Groups.

Reading over my posts to you... I would have been offended to. Sometimes I peck out things without considering other people’s feelings and I am sorry.

Good luck with your medical business today. There is not a lot that I dislike more than going to the doctor. I actually almost died from not getting a ruptured appendix treated until a week after it had ruptured and I had developed an infection. My wife told me that if I didn’t go to the hospital she was going to kill me herself.

[Shimmer1]

I’m with your wife! Take care of yourself, so if nothing else, you can take care of her!

Please share that poem all you want. I got it off a site, I should have given you the link, shouldn’t I have? If you need it, I’ll look it up again. I can never find it until I type in the last line and do a search.

[usconservative]

That principal needs his ass kicked.

[Shimmer1]

Now that I notice it, the last line had a small error too. It was full of typing errors that you’ll need to fix.

Because she was as much a soldier, as she was a soldier’s wife.

[cycjec]

yes, but it’s known only to the principal and his
controllers.