5 YEAR OLD SUSPENDED FOR MOHAWK

A 5 year old was suspended from Reid Primary and Middle School in Springfield, Ohio because he came to school sporting a Mohawk. Yup, a Mohawk. At least it wasn’t a Mullet!

The Superintendent of the school Gregg Morris stated, “Our dress and grooming policies are designed to ensure that clothing and hairstyles do not cause a distraction to the learning environment.” It appears as though little Ethan’s haircut was in fact a distraction. A distraction to the other children in his class who were so curious by his new doo that they were in fact, going up to him and running their tiny little fingers through his spiky hair.

So let me ask you a question: wouldn’t the parents have been better off waiting one more month until their son was out of school to give him this crazy haircut? Then he could sport any hairstyle he wanted. I know what many must be thinking, please, it’s just a Mohawk and without the hair gel, it probably looked like a top-heavy crew cut. And I will be the first to agree that polices are set in place for a reason. But you have to be consistent in enforcing those policies.

From my observations consistency is critical. It appears as though the school has a double standard. The football coach from 2009 and 2011 volunteered to sport a Mohawk to “motivate” the kids on the team. Really? Motivate? How is getting a Mohawk motivating? Perhaps the motivation is not to do stupid things? The Superintendent stated this was a very different circumstance. How so? A Mohawk is distracting whether it’s on a 5 year old or a football coach, perhaps even more so on the coach.

I always preach you must lead by example and that goes for the schools as well.