However, a code is only as good as the people enforcing it. Caprock Academy in Grand Junction decided to suspend a 9 year old girl from class because she shaved her head. For the record Caprock is a public charter school that is molded on the premise of a classical education, it has established behavior codes including a dress code and going there is a parental choice. There are other public schools available in the area, so its not like following the rules at Caprock is the only choice.
If you are trying to follow the links I provided to Caprock, good luck the server seems to be getting a lot more traffic than it can handle due to the news coverage. It is there and I have every confidence that they posted the rules and made the kids and parents aware of them long before the incident occurred. Which is absolutely the correct thing to do.
Incidentally the section on ladies hair requirements is:
Ladies’ Hair: Should be neatly combed or styled. No shaved heads. Hair accessories must be red, white, navy, black or brown. Neat barrettes, headbands and “scrunchies” are permissible. Hair should not be arranged or colored so as to draw undue attention to the student. Hair must be natural looking and conservative in its color. Radical changes in hair color during the school year are unacceptable.What happened is that little Kamryn has a friend, Delaney who has cancer. The chemo treatments are causing Delaney's hair to fall out. I don't know where Kamryn got the idea to shave her head. I know that other kids have done this and that its been in the news. Let's face it. Saving your head because someone else is losing their hair due to cancer treatments is a symbolic gesture. It does nothing to help anyone. It doesn't help cure the cancer. At best it gives the person with cancer a little mood boost. As symbolic gestures go, its a fine one. I would have done it as a kid. Heck I'd do it today as an adult for a kid.
The result of the head shaving was a suspension from school for breaking "the rules".
As I read the schools rules, I see that they have an honorable intent. The school simply wants to avoid dress and hair styles that are potentially disruptive to the learning process. They crafted their code to reflect that intent. I believe that the rules can best be understood by picturing a 9 year old girl who decides to dress and do her hair in a Miley Cyrus fashion.
They don't want this crap in their school.
What they need to understand is its not the same thing. They should have understood that before they got a bunch of bad press for bad decision making. I believe it was the bad press, not common sense that caused them to change their mind and let her return to school.
I always found it comical that:
ReplyDelete1. School authorities require school attendance.
2. Children universally do not like going to school except to meet their friends and socialize.
3. The highest punishment a school has is to expel the student from school.
How does this in any way restrain unmotivated kids into being scholastic achievers?
As a parent, this is one symbolic gesture I could live with. Kids have a hard enough time fitting in with the herd, and if this girl wants to stand in solidarity, I have no problem.
ReplyDeleteThe big problem I see is that to show commonsense, you have to have the ability to THINK. These school officials, like their brethren across the Country, do not have the ability or inclination to think anymore. They don't need to. They have a list of rules so, Presto, that is what they do. The rules do not let them think, not one iota. The rules were probably drawn up by the school's legal team to eliminate thinking.
Don't get me wrong, I like standards, I like dress codes. I think if schools applied dress codes for every day, it would eliminate a whole lot of bullying because everyone would be on a fairly level playing field. But they should not ignore when a child has a spurt of human kindness towards their friend.
I didn't learn if the girl with cancer went to the same school. It would be interesting to know if she did or not.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand where the school was coming from, but that isn't the motive behind what was happening. They should have taken that into account.
What is the worst thing that could happen? All the kids shaving their heads to look like a kid with cancer. As a parent I'd be proud if my kids came home with that explanation for what happened to their hair.
You and me both Res, you and me both. That is when you know you are on the right parental path. And it makes your chest want to pop its buttons. I don't think the Lord would frown on that kind of pride, do you?
ReplyDeleteNo. We are supposed to rejoice over good.
ReplyDelete