When four year old Taylor Pugh started to grow his hair out for Locks Of Love, he had no idea that what he was really growing was a suspension from his school's pre-kindergarten program.

BALCH SPRINGS, Texas (AP) -- Taylor Pugh has been suspended from pre-kindergarten because he likes his hair a little on the floppy side.

The four-year-old sat with a teacher's aide in a suburban Dallas school library Wednesday while his friends played and studied together in a classroom.

"They kicked me out that place," said Taylor, who prefers the nickname Tater Tot. "I miss my friends."

Taylor's locks - long on the front and sides, covering his earlobes and shirt collar - violate the school district's dress code. He has been punished with in-school suspension since late last month.

Uhhh, OK, I guess. Under what draconian ideal does the school board feel that growing your hair out for kids with cancer is wrong?

According to the district dress code, boys' hair must be kept out of the eyes and cannot extend below the bottom of earlobes or over the collar of a dress shirt. Hairstyles "designed to attract attention to the individual or to disrupt the orderly conduct of the classroom or campus (are) not permitted," the policy states.

...

On its Web site, the district defends its code, saying "students who dress and groom themselves neatly, and in an acceptable and appropriate manner, are more likely to become constructive members of the society in which we live."

YEAH, FOUR YEAR OLD. WAY TO CALL ATTENTION TO KIDS SUFFERING FROM CANCER, YOU JERK. Seriously, the reasoning behind this is borderline offensive. First, the fact that the kid has longer hair is somehow disruptive? The kid's four; four year old children can find a pencil rolling off a desk disruptive. I would know, I taught a herd of them for a couple years.

And then, with the implication that short hair leads to students who are more 'constructive members of society'? Screw that! The kid who is growing his hair out for cancer patients is a constructive member of society. I applaud the parents for sticking to their guns, especially over something as dumb and soul-numbing as a dress code for little children.

Nicely done, Floyd Elementary School. Surely your precious dress code is more important than acts of charity to sick children. Maybe once we get the dress code thing down pact, we can start work on banning certain words or ideas, because really, Communism is just disruptive and only calls attention to one's self. After that, why don't we take out all those pesky minority students, because surely a black face in a sea of white ones is a distraction. Long hair means the terrorists are winning, people!

|