Boy with long hair banned from kindergarten.

The school board will lose this one in court big time. They are discriminating against him because of his ethnicity and, possibly, his religion, both of which are violations of Federal law. This kind of stuff has been overturned in the past so many times - apparently Needville NEEDS to pay more attention to the news!! Even on jobs, as long as the guys pull their hair back and keep it secure, there is no risk. I attended college with a Navajo man whose hair was down to his waist, but he always kept it in a braid down his back. I have to say, he was a very nice looking man!! Just looked up Needville - no surprise - it's in Texas, one of the bastions of equality and civil rights. I found a photo of the boy I'm including.

Are you serious? Thats just plain ridiculous! Aren't there better things to be worrying about - like maybe giving the kid an education?! They should honor the Native American tradition. Afterall the Native Americans were here before we were!

I think is is some kind of discrimination. They would not allow a student that is different because of religious difference. It is just like a non white not being allowed to attend college for white students. It is absurd and the government should do something about it so that these discriminating people would not be allowed to tolerate such an attitude.

That is horrible! They are going against the First Amendment. They can't ban him from going to school because of his hair if that is part of his culture or religion.

This really irks me no end. Don't these jerks realize that long hair is a tradition amongst Native American people? When my mother used to work at a chiropractors, one of the clients was a Native American....he also happened to be a corrections officer and he got the same flack...he had to cut his hair (which was very long) or else..he took the issue to court...and guess what? He won...the only stipulation was that he had to tie his hair back in a ponytail...so why can't they allow this boy to do the same? After all these centuries sounds like the "white man" is still trying to make Native Americans "white"

They could put him in a better school, one that doesn't believe in turning people into little carbon copies of each other. Schools are too nuts about little unimportant crap.

I'm from India and some groups in India believe that a man's hair shouldn't be cut. But most of them put it up in a turban. My son's school insists the hair should be cut shorter than the ear....except for the boys in a turban. I don't think there are any students at his school who are part of the group where they boys can't get their hair cut and can't put it in a turban either. So, that problem has never arisen. I'm not sure what to think...if the school has rules, every child is expected to follow it. If this child is allowed because his religion does not allow it, other kids might want to grow their hair for the sake of fashion. But like the father said, they also have a right to follow their religion. Are there no other schools in the area which do not insist on the hair being cut...or maybe another school which have kids from the same group..so it's not an issue?

I say if this is a public school --- lawsuit!!! this is discrimination with a capital D!!

What the!? I this in the land of the free? I think this is insane. Unless they are doing something at this kindergarden that is dangerous to do if your hair is too long this is unbelievable to me. There surely must be more important things in the world to fight against than a small boys long hair?! In what world are these people living?

It is only right that students have short hair. like it or not the school have to have a set of discipline to adhere to. Only with tight discipline that the school can excel in educating the students. these should start from young as soon as the child start schooling.

I'm sooo... sorry for coming in so late. I'm also surprised by this attitude of the school. They should keep the traditions of local area in mind before taking such a drastic step.

I think it's really stupid that something like this is happening. It is unreasonable what this school is doing. I think that sometimes schools take it too far when it comes to uniforms and things like that. They seriously need to think about the consequences in situations like these. These people are different and do things that are different from us. They should not have to change themselves or change what they believe in. I do hope that he is able to go to school.

Hi bonbon664. I definitely think this child should not have to cut his hair to start kindergarten. It sounds like the school board has no knowledge of the importance of one's culture to one's life. Having long hair is an important part of being a Native American and the boy should not have to be stripped of his culture to go to school. I definitely agree that it is unreasonable to make him cut his hair. Ridiculous. And disrespectful.

Oh I certainly wouldn't send my child there, if they told me that. I'm Native American, and alot of our boys wear their hair long, its just the way it is. Its sounds like back in the early days when they sent the kids to boarding schools and they made them all cut their hair off, because they wanted them to forget that they were Native American and wanted them to be like everybody else, they couldn't even speak their own language, for fear of getting reprimanded for it. I think he should be allowed in school, they should be able to look past it, and see that its apart of his heritage and they can't change that. I wouldn't even let him go there in the first place if it was up to me...

Unbelievable to say the least, I mean how damn petty can you get? We are talking about hair here! To single someone out because of their hair is plain ridiculous. Whilst rules have to be set, there is never any hard and fast rules, what if he was a different religion and he was banned? There would be a public outcry right! What about girls, girls can have long hair, that could be deemed as sexist! If girls can have long hair then boys should be able to have long hair too. Obviously someone is being a jobsworth here, to exclude a boy in this fashion is too stupid for words. I hope noise is made and the stupid board backs down!

its like that in canada. for religious reasons, some people are obliged to wear headgear and there are discussions before the courts in these cases as well. i think he should be allowed to go.

I think schools worry too much about things they shouldn't be worrying about. instead of worrying about the way a boys hair is why not worry about how you can make that child smarter. Just like uniforms. A child can't express who he is by what clothes he/she wears and now its the hair. Whats next are they going to tell us we have to eat a certain thing for our kids to be allowed in their schools.

What makes me mad about this story is the fact that any other religion or nationality will not only get the OK to wear what ever they want but are in fact encouraged to do so but when one of our own peoples(and no matter how many people don't want to think they are) want to be what they are they are told no. How dare any one tell a child his back ground is wrong. I think Needville needs to learn that this is America and we have something called FREEDOM OF RELIGION. I hope the Tribal leaders fight this.

I am sorry but if this is his culture he should not be discriminated against. It sounds like the school needs to be taught a lesson through the legal system about discrimination. This is the family's cultural spiritual beliefs they cannot be discriminated against. Discrimination is illegal.

I think it's outrageous. I don't think that hair styles should be dictated. I think doing so is very offensive and can infringe on the customs, beliefs and cultures of different ethnic and/or religious groups. It shows a total disregard for diversity. Why not also dictate that a girl cannot attend school if her hair isn't longer than her shoulder? That would be equally as ridiculous.