Boy's braids may keep him out of kindergarten

Life is full of rules, and some don't seem to make any sense. But, now this child is in the middle of a contest with the school district and his parents' freedom of their civil rights. That's just awful. If the parents actually have something concrete to show that their request is part of a cultural tradition, then fine. But, just because Dad wants his son to have long hair, is not a reason for the child to not follow the rules. I think, Candy, you've over-exaggerated things a bit. This will be a lesson learned. And, Mom and Dad need to think about what they are teaching their son, if, in fact, this is really a personal choice of the parents.

I agree. However, as an educator for over 28 years, I must say that this sounds like a VERY closed minded community. I wouldn't want Adriel or any other child to go to such a school. He will lose his enthusiasm, his focus, his sparkle, and his individuality. I wouldn't put my child there. I'd find somewhere where he will be accepted and allowed to flourish.

Lee, you hit the nail on the head! The focus should NOT be on this boy's hair but on the enthusiam he has for school and the new possibilities for him. If all this keeps up then he will lose that spark as you said, and instead of having a kid that is eager and wanting to learn, you will end up with a drop out. A teacher and a school have SOOO much more influence on how kids look at education, and to squash a kid excited about learning over something so menial as hair length (when it is part of his culture) is ridiculous to me. I agree with some extremes of dress codes....violent or sexual associated things....but long hair infringes on NO ONE but that kid.

You certainly are closed minded. This is a tradition for native americans. And you sound like a G.W.Bush cloned conserayive that isn't very tolerant or intelligent. Get sa life.. and try to be more tolerant of other peoples lifestyles and the right to observe them

rules is rules what a way to walk the fence line. the family is american indian we have the right to keep our culture alive. this is so bogus back in the day my grandfather was forced to cut his hair dress the way the whites wanted him too.talk english not chickasaw. i see the same thing here mexicans arent wanted to talk spanish in america, arabs arent wanted to talk arabic,just let us be we are just as american as you the boy has long hair until everyone is made to wear there hair short in america. this is their right as parents as humans as americans i say let him go to school learning is the most important thing that matters not that he has braids.

I totally agree with you!

You are so right. This is a touchy subject for me, too.

All of our school have different sets of rules for boys and girls and frankly I do not agree that it is a violation, it will cause a disruption, picture this 20, 5 year oldsall sitting down writing their alphabet and in walks the boy with girls hair. They would ALL sit up and take notice. It isn't fair, but no one ever said it was. My son had to re-dye his hair brown after I dyed it reddish blond because it was a distraction,yet girls can dye their hair any color they wish

Well, John, I've now been living in Texas for 2 years, and while I"ve come across my fair share of morons, there are also intelligent, sensible people if you know where to look!

I am all in favor of school uniforms. At the same time, I am for equality when it comes to dress codes and rules, and I doubt they would force a girl entering kindergarten to cut her hair instead of wear it in neat braids. This is one of my problems with the public schools. Either force all girls to keep their hair short (which is NOT going to happen, and as someone with waist-lenght hair I wouldn't support), or allow boys to keep their hair long.

I wondered, too, when I was younger why the boys were not allowed to have facial hair at my school, but they never forced the few girls who had facial hair to shave their moustaches. Why the double standards?