“Crystal’s Soapbox,” published each Thursday, is a column by conservative Texas mom Crystal Arcand who loves to rant about issues that relate to her kids….and yours.
A Texas mom went before the Mesquite school board Monday night because she is unhappy with the school. Her four-year-old son has been isolated in the library with a teacher’s aide since November. Why? His hair doesn’t follow school policy for length, but his parents won’t cut it because, “he loves his hair.” Well, there’s a reason for totally disregarding rules – the four-year-old doesn’t want to follow them.
You’re totally kidding me with this, right?
Taylor Pugh likes his hair long, and Mommy and Daddy can’t stand to make him unhappy. So instead of making him unhappy for a few minutes, hours, or maybe even days by cutting his hair in accordance with school policy, Elizabeth Taylor and Delton Pugh have subjected their son to isolation for 6-8 hours a day for almost two months. He says he misses recess the most – I bet that hasn’t made him unhappy at all. The poor child has been in the school library every school day since November!
Notice I say Elizabeth Taylor and Delton Pugh – the parents – have subjected the child to this treatment – not the school. Why? The school has policies. The school is enforcing the policies. That’s the way policies work – you don’t follow them and you pay the consequences. It starts at school to train children to be respectful, civil, law-abiding citizens in the real world. It’s not a question of whether or not it harms anyone else. It’s a question of respect for authority.
District officials said before the board meeting that they would enforce the dress code. Then it came out that Taylor wants to grow his hair out to donate to Locks of Love in honor of an aunt battling cancer. Wonderful and sweet. The school board conceded the boy’s good intentions and compromised, saying he could keep his hair long, but it has to be braided close to his head and above his collar. His parents refused the compromise, saying that braiding his hair makes his scalp bleed.
Excuse me, but if your kid’s scalp bleeds when you’re braiding his hair, you’re doin’ it wrong! Instead, they are still sending him to in-school suspension everyday with his hair in a ponytail, knowing that it’s against school grooming policies. The boy’s father (a tattoo artist, of all things) says, “I’ll move out of this school district before I’ll force him to cut his hair.” Good luck finding a school district that won’t ask you to cut Taylor’s hair, Mr. Pugh. Elizabeth’s response to the school board’s ruling (with one of those huge horn-things in her ear?): “He doesn’t have to just take this.”
It’s parents like these that we can thank for all the hoodlums that refuse to follow rules and spout, “I don’t have to listen to you – you’re not my mother!” to anyone that dares cross them. Gee, I wonder if young Mr. Pugh ever gets told “no,” or has a bedtime, or if he has full run of the house. I’m guessing the latter. You want your son in regular classes with his friends instead of in the library all by himself? You want him to be a positive contributor to society when he grows up? No problem – get a grip and cut your kid’s hair! It’ll grow back, but his morals won’t.
Comments
MesquiteMom
January 18th, 2010 - 9:00:27 AM
Also note that this 4-year-old is in a free program offered to those only children from Spanish- only speaking homes or those children that are below the poverty level. My children did not have the opportunity to attend a school so early because they were not poor enough, even though I was a single mom making 10 dollars an hour. This is an OPTIONAL program meant to minimize the opportunity gap for economically disadvantaged students!!! This kind of blatent disregard for the rules associated with the free opportunity this child is given sickens me, and I can only pray that this child grows up to realize the ignorance of his parents decisions.
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Jennifer Hudock
January 18th, 2010 - 6:24:04 PM
It's one thing to teach your child to be an individual and make strong decisions. It's an entirely different ball of wax when the parents are touting the system that allows their child to get a good education. What a shame.
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