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Filed under: In The News, Tween Culture
Turns out parents best not encourage their kid to express herself with hair color -- or at least they need to read the school handbook before heading to the salon with their tween or teen.
When Stephanie Plato showed up to school with the cool new hair color her mom got her as a present for her 12th birthday, it cost her two days of school, according to ABC affiliate KTRK.com.
The Texas sixth-grader's cool new "do" of red and blonde highlights streaked through her naturally light brown hair earned her an in-school suspension.
"I was shocked," Stephanie's mother Jessica Leyer tells KTRK. "They said she had to go to ISS (in-school suspension) or she had to go home, so I took her home because I didn't want her to sit in ISS for her hair color."
Officials at Cobb Elementary in the Channelview, Texas school district say the red highlights violated the student code of conduct. But Stephanie's mom says she never intended to violate the rules.
"I think it is bright, and it is brighter than we intended," Leyer tells KTRK. "But, I don't think it is a distraction or that kids won't be able to sit and concentrate in class because of her hair."
Meanwhile, sixth-grader Plato says the red and blonde streaks were a big hit with her classmates.
"They said they liked it and it was cute," the student tells KTRK. She adds that she wanted the hair streaks for her birthday "because they're cool."
But cute came with a cost. Plato was not allowed back into school until her hair was once again streakless. She had to color it a dark brown to hide the red and blonde, says her mom.
This is not the first time hair coloring caused a stir at school.
Last August, four San Antonio high school students, including honor student Damaris Duarte, received in-school suspensions for hair color, according to WOAI.com.
"There's a girl in my first period who has pink hair and I don't think it's fair I have to change it when I've had it the same way for four years and she has bright pink hair and she gets to keep it," Damaris tells WOIA.
As for Stephanie Plato and her mom Jessica Leyer, they have been schooled when it comes to hair styles. "Read the handbook," Leyer tellsKTRK.
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ReaderComments (Page 7 of 14)
2-17-2011 @ 4:19PM
morgan said...WE LIVE IN A DICTATORSHIP. why is she getting in trouble for expressing herself through her hair? tell my exactly why a 12 year old cant have HER OWN hair the way she wants it.
People that is bothered by this can you please give my one example of how this effects your life? you need to mind your own business and worry about your own life. her hair color isnt bothering you.
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2-17-2011 @ 6:51PM
claraluz said...The problem is that the girl is only 12 -- why would her mother encourage her to do that to her hair? What next, when she is 15 she will get a boob job? Liposuction and Lady Gaga (should be Lady Caca!) makeup at 16? WHY do we encourage young girls to try and be sexpots at such a young age? Wha't's wrong with 12-year olds selling Girl Scout cookies and playing ball and enjoy being young while they can, without obsessing about their appearance and trying to emulate the latest "pop tart"????
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2-17-2011 @ 4:30PM
lken06880 said...i think you have jumped to outrageous conclusions, boob job and liposuction. i don't necessarily think 12 year olds should dye their but that's the mothers call not the schools.
2-17-2011 @ 4:23PM
Kirk Foley said...This child left behind.
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2-17-2011 @ 4:25PM
lken06880 said...it figures tis was in texas, carrying guns is ok but hair color isn't.
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2-18-2011 @ 10:33AM
doc said...School administative nonesense. Hair color is a priority in Texas and in Iowa boys and girls can wrestle each other. Better get it right our students are already behind the world in education and shools are worried about hair color and intersex wrestling.I got it now, the teachers and the administartors are MORONS!!!!
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2-17-2011 @ 4:27PM
Sharon said...A school district wants to have a dress code - fine. But everyone including the teachers should follow it. When my child went to Mary Marek in Pearland, Texas (Alvin ISD) - half the teachers wore knee length pants, sweat shirts and flip flops. Its really hard having a serious conversation about your child's education with her 3rd grade math teacher who is wearing flip flops and black nail polish. The school nurse was a biker chick who rode a motocycle and wore leather to school. Absolultely true story. Dont believe me - go sit in the car pool lane and check it out yourself.
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2-17-2011 @ 4:29PM
assistsd said...I don't even know what to call this ridiculous move. Did she hurt someone? Did she upset someone? How does coloring her hair - and it's not that bovious - violate any school canons?
Sounds like vendetta. Sounds like discrimination. Sounds like jealousy.
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2-17-2011 @ 8:50PM
murfusmc said...IF THE IGNORANT PARENTS CAN'T FOLLOW THE RULES THEN KEEP THE BED-WETTERS OUT OF SCHOOL AND HOME SCHOOL THEM, QUIT DISRUPTING THE SCHOOLS.
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2-17-2011 @ 4:44PM
steph4avsice said...maybe parents didnt think red hair ment a natural shade of red. maybe they thought "neon red" ! you are a horrable person to refer to "kids" (exspecilly at that age) as bed wetters.I HOPE TO *ELL YOU'RE NOT A PARENT , OR AUNT OR UNCLE , OR SIBBLING. AND MOSTLY I HOPE YOU CANT NOR EVER WILL BREED!!!
2-17-2011 @ 4:44PM
Jim said...How stupid and petty. The school's energy could be used in a more constructive way.
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2-17-2011 @ 4:33PM
Grandmakitty2 said...Give me a break! When my daughter was in school, easter egg colors that washed out were in style. Ten years ago, yellow sttripes, orange, bright reds, blues, oranges, etc. could be seen in high schools - and middle schools - and not on gangs! It was an expression of teen age springtime explosion of vitality. This child's hair is not out of line.
Reply
2-18-2011 @ 3:23AM
Nick said...Its kind of a double edged sword here.
On one hand, rules are rules and are meant to be followed. They are put in place to build some kind of structure within us. At 12 years old, you are still impressionable and need a set of guidelines to follow to make you become a responsible adult. If she was 16+ then you would know if she paid her dues as a responsible young lady and it sh ould be OK.
On the other hand, their really isn't anything wrong with the coloring she chose. I could understand if she dyed it lime green, or blue then it would be a total distraction and not suitable for a 6th grade classroom. I understand freedom of expression and i am all for it, but 12 is too young to be expressing yourself. You still haven't dealt with reality yet.
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2-17-2011 @ 4:44PM
Jim said...Donna----What 'trash' are you referring to? Speak up so we can all hear you.
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2-17-2011 @ 9:18PM
trish said...Her hair looked nice and not offensive, BUT she was TOO young for it, what is wrong with her parents?? They should have waited a few years to let her dye her hair, this isn't a thing a 12 yr. old should be doing, they are going to have a child out of controle if they let her have her way SO young, wonder if they ever say NO to the girl??
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2-17-2011 @ 5:29PM
Walter said...I am a NJ high school Board of Education President and it is STUPID actions like this is what gives school board members and school officials bad reputations. This was just plain stupid-the administrators and board members are the ones who should be suspended, not the student.
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2-17-2011 @ 4:51PM
DSherline said...Regardless of what anyone thinks, the last sentence of the article says it all.
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2-17-2011 @ 5:00PM
eastadam said...Personally, I don't think it should matter what a students hair looks like or what kind of clothes they wear, as long as it is the correct size, covers all the regularly covered parts, & has no offensive language or graphics, what matters is he/she attending, is hygienic, & is sitting quietly, even if bored & doesn't really want to be there as I never want to be.
Their hair can look like a Jackson Pollock painting for all it truly matters.
Focus on the real issues.
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2-17-2011 @ 4:54PM
kathy said...The streaks in her hair aren't that big of a deal but the fact is that the school dress code forbids it. If the mother had read the rules then there would have been no problem. People who want to start up with lawsuits are nuts. I died my hair when I was 12 and I grew up in a small Texas town... that was in the early 70's and I didn't have to worry about the school... my parents had me at the salon the next day to get it covered up! Just follow the rules and get over it!
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2-17-2011 @ 4:54PM
Robert said...Of course she makes 2 trips to the hairdressers then goes to school andd they let her come back the next day instead of when she showed up. Can you say PERSONAL VENDETTA? Get yourself a good lawyer hun and make them pay big time for thier childish antics. Then get rid of the school board before they turn your school district into iran.
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