Hey! Teachers! Leave Them Kids Alone!

So this last weekend, my sister and her daughter, (my niece Tallyn) had a mom and daughter day of beauty at a salon where another one of Tallyn’s aunts work. They got their hair styled, and Tallyn got some light purple streaks in her hair (see pic above). It looked really cute, and she’s a kid so of course she loved it and had a fun time.

But when Tallyn went to school the following Tuesday (having had Monday off), she was told by the powers that be that she couldn’t stay and attend class because of the purple streaks in her hair. Yep, that’s the actual reason they gave. Now keep in mind that Tallyn is 7 years old. And her hair isn't a bright color, nor is even all of it purple. She has some relatively subtle streaks in it as you can see, and that’s all. Not that it should have mattered if she showed up with bright night-glo green hair anyway. But someone at the school deemed her hair inappropriate, and she was forced to have grandma come and pick her up.

Grandma is furious, mommy and daddy are livid, aunt Michelle is red hot… I think you get the picture…

So daddy takes her in to school the following day and demands she be allowed back in class, purple streaks and all. They refuse, so daddy says he isn’t leaving until she’s back in class. The principal, who was apparently on vacation while all this happened, was called, she came down, and 3 hours later Tallyn was back in class.

Here’s the thing, you hear in the news from time to time about kids, usually the high school crowd, wearing some sort of “offensive” shirt to school that upsets the more uptight members of our society. These people complain, and the kid is often forced to not wear the shirt anymore. Now while I support that kids right to wear the shirt, I will concede that some shirts are designed to make some sort of statement, perhaps truly offend, and I can see how something like that could be distracting or even inappropriate.

But we’re not talking about teenagers making a rebelling statement here. This is a 7 year old girl who had a fun day at a salon with mom, got some light purple streaks in her hair from her cosmetologist-to-be aunt, and was expelled for it. From.. elementary.. school..

Now there must be another reason right? It couldn’t have been JUST the hair… she must have done something, maybe she was cursing like a drunken sailor in class? Nope. They flat out said it’s the hair. “Because it’s not a natural color.” Now before you rush to judgment and think Tallyn must be some sort of 7 year old anarchist who lives to fight the establishment with an iPod full of Green Day & Sex Pistols tunes in one hand and a bag of pot in the other, she’s not. She doesn’t even know what an establishment is. Nor is this a private school with a required dress code, so I’m not even sure where they get off telling her what color her hair should be.

In fact, there are apparently several other kids in the school who have hair colored far more radically then hers. Which just makes this reaction all the more baffling. She isn’t a trouble-maker. She’s a good kid, who loves school... well... at least did anyway, until mom got home that evening and Tallyn told her “my school is mean”.

So that’s the education Tallyn got at school that day. Her school doesn’t like her.

Is this what we've become? A bunch of unthinking automatons who overreact to things that, in actuality, require no reaction at all?

What are we teaching kids when the adults in charge of them act so retarded? Look, if Tallyn had brought drugs or a gun to school, it’d be an entirely different story, but she didn’t, her big offense was coloring her hair.

I just don't get it.

Goodbye Aunt Diane.

Diana OAKLAND Born March 4, 1939 and passed away on October 13, 2007 after a year long battle with cancer.

Her greatest sense of pride came from her 49 year marriage to the love of her life, Merlin. Together they raised three daughters and were blessed with six grandchildren. Diana found great joy in spending time with her family and friends. She loved to entertain and her home was always open to everyone. She was an excellent cook and gracious hostess. She enjoyed flower arranging, camping at Bainbridge Island and Christmas shopping year round for her family and friends. She was a true lady and lived her life with honesty and integrity. In her last days it became apparent to all that her quiet demeanor masked a powerful inner strength. She will be remembered daily by those who loved her.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Bernard and Laura. She is survived by her husband, Merlin; Daughters, Linnae, Lori, Leslie and her beloved cousin, Clara. She was a great influence in the lives of her six grandchildren, Danielle, Drew, Brittany, Ariana, Darrell and Jim.

Donations can be made to the American Cancer Society.