Teen ordered to fix controversial haircut

Teen ordered to fix controversial haircut

www.wavy.com

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. - The celestial scene on Jay Cowell's head, "[is] for God and all the stuff he made on the earth." But Elizabeth City school officials didn't agree. The 8th grader at River Road Middle School was ordered to change his hair because the star shape is also a gang symbol.

"It was a really nice design and they're going to make me take it out of my head," says Cowell.

He was back at the barber Tuesday morning because school administrators said the star is a gang symbol. Barber Rondell Parker designed it with a very different meaning in mind.

"His mom told me he's an A/B student, so I thought of something that could be in the sky for him, reaching for the sky."

Sitting nearby, Jay's mom Natasha. The single mother says she was heartbroken when she spoke to the principal and superintendent.

"The only thing they kept saying is 'we know Jay,' so we know what this means, so we're not suspending him, but he can't return until it's gone."

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10 On Your SIde found some five pointed and six pointed symbols affiliated with major gangs. We contacted the school district. Assistant Supertindent Linwood Williams said he didn't have time to talk on camera, but did say other students have been asked to remove similiar symbols.
Williams emailed us the portion of the student manual regarding gang related activities. In part it reads, "displaying, or selling any clothing, jewelry, emblems, badges, symbols, signs, body markings, or other items" is prohibited.

Natasha says Jay was also asked to remove red, black and green heritage beads in the past. She says her son should be judged as an individual, not by the behavior of others.

What is this world coming to? When you have a child he does well in school and does what he is asked to do, then the star is OBVIOUSLY not gang related.

How about those Starts and Stripes I like to wave... that is for sure GANG RELATED but it should be shown proudly at every school.

Look.. at the end of the day, administrators know what's gang related and what's not. It's just a shame they chose to use this innocent boy as an example because they are too afraid to actually use real gang members as an example..

I know I'm reading in to this A LOT. But this is a repeat occurrence with this kid.

www.wavy.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Link

I beat ya to it sorry. I'm not a fan of this at all. I really wish schools had a little less say over schools dress and appearance.

He must've been practicing Jewish magic

reply to post by Raustin


Yep... you did.

sorry for my lack of research prior to posting.




MODS please close this thread.

[edit on 7-1-2009 by HunkaHunka]

This is not a BAN forum submission elegible. Closing, moving to People and redirecting to OCE.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

As always, calm logical and appropriate Alerts any closing actions as an appeal will be reviewed.

Thanks for your posts.
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