I'd like to say that in this day and age, I'm shocked that it would be an issue. But considering my children can't wear a cross to school, I'm not.

I understand things like mohawks not being allowed on dress codes, but not general long hair on boys, especially when it's a cultural thing.

When it's cultural or religion based there supposed to be allowed to keep it. Like girls wears head scarfs or Rastafarian kids wearing dreadlocks. It's not like he has a mo-hawk, this is silly.

I think the problem lies in not letting boys have longer hair period.
This may be totally wrong of me... but PC stuff has gone too far. Children need to learn that there are people that are different, have different ideas, beliefs, opinions.
Just like Greggie's kids not being able to wear crosses. They should be able to! Just b/c my kids, your kids, or whoever's kids wear something doesn't mean that everyone has to abide by that belief!!
I think it would teach tolerance better if kids were able to express themselves and then other kids would be taught that they need to respect the other kids' beliefs and not make fun of... etc.

Who knows ... maybe I'm wronge ... ***Just my opinion***!!!

"I think it would teach tolerance better if kids were able to express themselves and then other kids would be taught that they need to respect the other kids' beliefs and not make fun of... etc."

I agree.

Doesn't this fall under racial discrimination or something like that? It is his culture. And I am shocked to hear that kids can't wear crosses to school. My daughter isn't in school yet, so maybe this is common and I just don't realize it, but oh my gosh, I can't believe it.

i can't even believe it's an issue... just like i can't believe greggies kids cant wear a cross... how is this something thats a debate. i understand having a dress code & agree that would help to diminish distractions... but a cultural, religious belief, i think it's important to teach our children that there ARE people of different cultures, religions, beliefs... i dunno. i also wouldnt mind a mohawk on a kid tho... i would understand how the school might consider it a distraction but it's still expression and i can't help it... i dont think thats a bad thing.

I wouldn't mind a mohawk on a child - my children wear "faux" hawks because mohawks aren't allowed in their school dress code. I just understand why schools have that included in a dress code, especially in elementary school. They also can't wear colored hair gel, so we save that for weekends and summer break.

It can't be a safety issue, especially if they allow girls to have long hair. Personally I can't see how tidy hair is a problem.
The cross - is it banned because of the religious connotation or is it that all jewellery/necklaces are banned? When I hear of Muslim girls being banned from school for wearing headscarves I think it's only fair that crosses be banned from the same schools too. A Christian child can go to school without their cross, not all Muslim girls can do that.

This is ridiculus!! Whats the big deal if the kid has long hair, its not hurting anyone. People are just trying to be controlling.

absolutely insane! Being part Native American myself, I would be outraged! I know private schools can make rules like that, but a public school??? This has to fall under racial discrimination!

That is stupid, and sad.

When I was in highschool (80s woo), guys could have long hair, wear band t-shirts...what the hell happened? Cute little guy with braids is going to do what..cause gender confusion?

World has gone nuts...

Seriously.

Absolutely backwards, hick, yes, everything that one lady said, they are.

Jewelry is allowed. Crosses are not.

Ridiculous...

Hair length or style doesn't negate a child's ability to learn. I find it appalling that this district would prefer to keep a child out of an educational environment over hair length. Dress code rules should be enforced for the safety of the students and this child's hair isn't hurting anyone. A person's religious or cultural beliefs shouldn't have to be removed when entering school, instead it should be celebrated and used as an example of acceptance and equality.

This is beyond appalling - this school district is missing a wonderful opportunity to teach about different religious and cultural beliefs. Only by learning about others can we stamp out hatred and bigotry!

wow...what will they have rules against next? is there anything left? what is this teaching children nowadays? its telling me that it up to the parents to make sure the kids understand about different religions and cultures, the schools just want to stamp it out.

this is stupid...i am sure letting a boy with braids will lead to 6 year olds with pericing and tattoos coming into kindergarden...we live in a world with more than one monolithic culture (thank god) children should learn to embrace it.

Unfortuantely because the adults have made such a HUGE deal out of this....the little boy..even if accepted into the school will be teased and see as 'wierd' by the kids..because of the some closed mindeed adults

My nephew's had a Mohawk, a real one, since he was eight years old. He's now fourteen. He loves punk music, always has. (So do his parents, not that they dress like it.) He went to an Episcopalian school with uniforms at first and he could only have the Mohawk in the summers, but when he switched to public school at age nine he's worn it year round.

I think it's ridiculous that a boy cannot have long hair. Especially a Native American boy doing it as part of his culture. Guess what, this was their land before we stole it!

***I think it's ridiculous that a boy cannot have long hair. Especially a Native American boy doing it as part of his culture. Guess what, this was their land before we stole it!***

Hilarious!

wow - this "rule" sounds like a hold over from when the Native Americans were colonized. It's really sad. I hope he doesn't have to cut his hair.

I do wonder if girls can have short hair...?

I can't believe this could actually happen — it's so ridiculous.

needville, texas; that's all i needed to know. sad, but no surprise at all.

I read that they're going to court over this! Ridiculous... I hope their school district has a lot of money if they're willing to spend some of it in a court case over hair length. I looked for the e-mail addresses of the officials but couldn't find them!

I just read that the board voted unanimously to uphold the decision that he must cut his hair to attend school but that the parents are going to appeal. This is SO ridiculous, I don't even understand how this can be an issue.
If you wanted to contact someone about this, you could e-mail the school district Superintendent Curtis Rhodes. He was pushing for them to Not allow the boy in.
rhodesc@needvilleisd.com

I just wrote the Superintendent:
I just read the article about your district not wanting to allow a young child to attend school because of his hair length. I'm appalled by the lack of tolerance and acceptance of other cultures. This seems to me to be religious discrimination. The only reason his hair would be a distraction is because the Adults in this matter have MADE it one. His hair length in no way would affect his schooling but by asking him to cut his hair you're affecting his personal and religious life in ways you can't even measure. I truly hope you will reconsider this when he applies for school and look at the situation for what it really is. A child wanting to learn. Is there anything more wonderful than that? Don't be the reason he stays home.

The long hair goes with his culture/families belief's, there for it should be allowed. If they feel like other kids will say "well if he has long hair, I should be able to have the same.." then you need to teach the children that it isn't so much a personal want as a cultural belief (although what 5yr old will grasp that.)

I do believe that hair length shouldn't be monitored; unless it was at their ankles like Cousin IT, then that would be an issue. To much PC action going on.

insane

No wonder this country is so screwed up. How long a little boys hair is that just wants to go to school becomes a major issue. we need to seriously get our priorities straight?

PUBLIC school? AMERICA??? WTF.

I fail to understand why the school board feels the need to set any sort of hair limits, length or colour!!
Who cares! Long, short, braided, mohawk... what's the big deal!
It's not doing any harm to himself or to any of the other students or teachers, so why is it even a topic for control?

elephant heart- i'm with you! this is a "free country" how can one impose a dress code about the length of hair?
meanwhile there are kdg. girls with "brat" and "you can't tell me what to do" shirts and pants (written on the butt) at my school and that's fine.
so weird. i hope this family wins their case for everyone's sake

Renees3, have you heard back from your e-mail to the superintendant?

Nope haven't heard anything back. I'll let you guys know if I do! I hope they're getting a ton of mail and messaged letting them know how ridiculous this is!

I live maybe an hour or two from Needville and sadly it's the same for our school district. Elementary school boys aren't allowed to have hair past their shoulders. They also can't have earrings or sleeveless shirts but of course girls can. I've always thought most of the dress codes were ridiculous and not to mention completely sexist.

A double standard if girls are allowed to wear their hair below their collar bones.

And yes, you do sound like a hick and I don't care if you're from a small town. Let these native americans have the little culture they have left after you've spent the last 300 years taking it from them and replacing it with strip malls and wal mart stores.

Re: Greggie's kids. When I was in school, crosses were banned because I lived in a predominately LDS community, and they wanted to keep out pentacles, and the only way was to ban "all religious paraphernalia." The Mormon kids got to keep their CTR rings, though.

I did go to school in Arizona, where there's also a huge Navajo/American Indian community, and tons of the boys had long hair, so I guess my district was more progressive than Needleville, Texas.

How ridiculous.

It was said in an earlier post by rabidmoon and it may be the reason, are they afraid of gender confusion for the kids? It is still wrong. How is it that other culture or religious beliefs are accepted but the board targets this one? I am unfamiliar of Jewish the customs, but if for example a Jew is allowed to wear their Phrygian cap in class, why wouldn’t the hair length also be allowed. Go figure, they’re trying to make everything politically correct. Then they wonder why adults grow up to be so prejudice towards people who are different.

I just stumbled uppon this doing reaseach for a lengthy paper on first amendment right. This school is completely infringing on the boys rights, not even the boy but the boy's peoples rights. That is a form of expression and a way of life for those people, this shouldnt even be an issue. That school has a wacked view on what is "proper"