Blue hair causes trouble for teen (couldn't have blue hair because it's gang-related)

[The Straight Story]

Blue hair causes trouble for teen

For a handful of days, 14-year-old Demetre Ortiz had blue highlights in his black hair -- and it got him in hot water.

Demetre Ortiz was sent home from school for having blue highlights in his hair. He has since gotten rid of the blue and has returned to school.
Links:

The eighth-grader at Walter Stiern Middle School came home last Tuesday with a letter saying his hair had to be a natural color, his mom, Cara Smith, said. She kept her son home from school Wednesday under the impression he couldn't go back to class until the blue came out.

"I think it's ludicrous," Smith said. "We live in America, you have freedom of the press and freedom of speech and you can't dye your hair?"

Ortiz dyed his hair to match his wrestling team colors about a week before he was called into the office, he said.

"They said I couldn't have blue hair because it's gang-related," Ortiz said. "I was pretty mad."

http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/360810.html

[Ano Genitus]

1. Ageism.

It disgusts me that this is prohibited for a youngster yet is tolerated, even encouraged, in the superelderly.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. "gang-related" is wonderfully Orwellian.

People use it to excuse all kinds of misbehaviour.

[SoCalDem]

3. Crips out here don't have blue hair..just bandanas

:rofl:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. And even if that's true...

kicking kids out of school because they've got the wrong color bandana is really fucking stupid.

[SteveM]

5. What? Half of Florida is in a gang?

[hisownpetard]

8. Hahahahaaa.

:toast:

[uppityperson]

6. highschool UPjr attended had "spirit day!" where everyone was supposed to wear school colors.

Black and red. The school administration put out a notice that no one was to wear black and red because those were gang colors and anyone wearing them would be sent home for the day. The kids were pretty mad about it all.

[Tempest]

7. Once again the town I live in looks foolish

Bakersfield is highly conservative and backwards as they come.

The school board tried to get creationism into the school curriculum, at least until the Dover decision stopped them in their tracks. So they settled for putting posters saying "In God We Trust" into classrooms.

Bakersfield is near the bottom of the state in test scores, graduation rates and other school metrics, yet they're concerned about some kid's hair color.