School named after war hero forces child to shave off military-style haircut
School named after war hero forces child to shave off military-style haircut
Adam Stinnett looks up to his older stepbrother a soldier in the U.S. Army. So when it came time to get a haircut, the seven-year-old told his mother he wanted a basic military-style cut. And thats exactly what he got high and tight just like his stepbrother.
Adam got his haircut on March 8. On March 9, his mother got a letter from the principal of Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary School in McMinnville, Tennessee.
It seems they were not all that thrilled with the second graders new hairdo. The principal told Amy Stinnett that her sons haircut was distracting and needed to be fixed.
The principal told Amy Stinnett that her sons haircut was distracting and needed to be fixed
Amy refused to comply.
The following day, she was summoned to the principals office where she was given an ultimatum.
We were told that we had to either cut his hair or he could not return to school, she said.
Amy tried to explain to the principal that her sons haircut was meant to emulate his older brother. But her explanation was dismissed and the principal demanded that the boys hair be in compliance with our rules.
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I have the utmost respect for the military and its members, the principal wrote in an email to Amy. However, we are not a military school and the boys haircut is against our rules.
She tried to reason with the principal but it was a lost cause. So Amy complied with the schools demands.
In order to fix the high and tight, I had to shave his head like he has no hair, she told me.
Apparently the principal at Bobby Ray Elementary School doesnt seem to think a bald-headed second grader is going to cause a distraction.
But Amy also did something else she contacted the Southern Standard newspaper. And as it turned out the pen really is mightier than the clippers.
Military hair cut deemed distracting by Bobby Ray Elementary was the headline and boy did it create some controversy around McMinnville.
They shamed my son and they shamed a lot of military people thats how I feel about it, Amy said. She also would like the school to apologize to her son.
The Warren County School District responded to the newspaper story with a four-paragraph statement telling folks they could not comment on the incident or the investigation on the advice of their attorneys.
This is an internal school matter and the administration of the school district has been advised to address it as such from this point forward, the statement read.
While the district does not have a policy about hair styles, individual schools are given authority to make such decisions.
Neither Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary, nor any school in Warren County School District, prohibits military haircuts, the statement declares.
Well, someone at the district office might want to clue in the principal -- because according to her email military style haircuts are clearly against the rules.
To be clear the school district cannot comment on matters involving students.
I have also received correspondence from several sources who tell me the principal was simply caught between a rock and a hard place implementing a policy that was already on the books. These sources also tell me the principal is a patriot someone who supports the military and loves America.
In other words it sounds as though the school district is throwing the principal under the bus for a rule that she had nothing to do with.
Its a pretty sad state of affairs in McMinnville especially when you take into account that Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary School is named after a local war hero .
Navy Corpsman David Robert Bobby Ray was killed in action during the Vietnam War. His final act of heroism was to use his body to shield a Marine from a grenade. The Marine survived. Ray did not. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
We are extremely proud that Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary was named in honor of a true American hero, the school district stated.
And yet, they chose to shame a seven-year-old boy who wanted to look like a soldier. That school district doesnt know the first thing about honor.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/03/27/school-named-after-war-hero-forces-child-to-shave-off-military-style-haircut/
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What's the big deal? It's a haircut for crying out loud....
just another control freak trying to impose his will on others...... You would think that as a principle he would ne MORE concerned about the kids grades and not his hair cut.....
How on earth can a military style hair cut be deemed distracting? Now, if he had dyed what was left blue or something, that would have been distracting.
I sometimes think that schools have too much power. Especially when they misuse it to this degree.
I wonder what the real Bobby Ray would have thought about this!
((((((((((((LR))))))))))))
You make a great point!
You would think that as a principle he would ne MORE concerned about the kids grades and not his hair cut That's what I'm thinking!!
You make a great point! I agree!
How on earth can a military style hair cut be deemed distracting? Maybe because it's different than what the other children have. I think itmay be a distraction for a few days,but the other children will get used to seeing it, and think nothing of it
Disgusting! As a vet I am extremely offended by this story. I wear my hair wild and long, but that's my choice and this child should have the option, the choice, of wearing a military cut, especially in a school named for a warrior who gave his life so children like him could have freedom! The school board is ball-less and throwing the Principal under the bus. I don;t blame her I blame them and challenge them to show some guts!
This whole story seems weird to me as well Feronia.
This kids lookis almost identical tothe buzz cuts that50% of the boys, including myself, had when I was going to school in Texas, backin the 50's & 60's. Of course, if one was a rebel, then the hair would be longer on top, (with a pompadour), but still short on the sides, (known as "whitewalls").
Heck, in 69 I got into trouble at schoolbecause my hair hung overthe top of my ears.
I guess the times, they are a changing. lol
Thank you forstopping byMM. I was hoping at least 1 Vet would come here and gave an opinion........
Like I said, I just don't get it....it's just a haircut. granted, Rules are Riues...but, this is a STUPID rule IMO.
Today, one sees men's hair in pony tails, and then to the extreme, the entire head shaved......sigh
Well, my head isn't shaved, but I do have a very long pony tail.
This whole thing sounds like a lot of nonsense to me. Spend time on teaching and quit worrying about his haircut. Geezz.
lol I undertsand what you mean, I guess it just depends on which words you emphasize.
Kav..... I agree 100% !!