People tend to be inconsiderate.

yeah this is sad but so true to so many in the world. but i know if someone tried or did this to my son, i would be so mad at them. but i used to have long hair and i would hear about it all the time, so i told people i am just trying to be like jesus his hair was to his shoulder

vanillarey that was outrageous behavior on the part of the principal . He had no right to cut off that hair of the boy as he must have known the child grew it for religious reasons. He should have observed that and left the youngster alone. this is just not to be tolerated. shame on him.

That is sad. I don't think that the principal had any business cutting the boys hair off in the first place whether it was for a religious practice or not.

i know its sad isnt it? it really kills me how people are not tolerant of others and other peoples beliefs.. drives me nuts but its like you cant argue with them because they are so blind to their ignorance on the topic

Some people only see what they want to see,Or to put it another way when in Rome do what the romans do.The world should be more tolorant of others harmless customs.There is a lot in the media about accepting other peoples cultures but when it gets down to it,the majority of people have their beliefs drumbed into them from birth and find it very difficult to see any other way of life.I don't think it has anything to do with intelligence as some of these top people have been to public schools and dictate to their followers or religious leaders who are well educated as well.If something is in a religious culture there is nothing you can do about it.

That is unethical for a principal who is in highest position to cut long hair of his students. Either it is religion based. It is an abuse of power. Forcible actions should not be made especially if it said to be religious or not. Being a principal, who is educated, he must give proper solutions for that by reminding them or the parents about the matter. IT will give the student a reaction and misbehavior in effect because that is what seen in older ones. Somehow it has a psychological effect on the student when that actions is applied.

Grrrr. That makes me very angry. Every group and type of person (faith, non faith, etc) has their buttheads! And somehow they often gravitate toward some sort of position of authority over others! So they can be more of a butthead I guess!

I agree. We have to be considerate of others no matter what religion they choose. It is to each their own on what they wish to believe in or practice. We do not have to agree with it but we should not judge either.

Well in my point of view I think if the school has a policy which is against ones custom and tradition then the parents of the boy should not have enrolled him in that school. That is a Christian organization and obviously the boy is not a Christian. The parents should know first what school they chose for their child. I think the parents are first and foremost responsible to know the rules and regulations of the school they are choosing their child to be enrolled with so that if the policies contradict their religion they should first talk to school administration if he could be given some exemptions and if not they could always go to another school. Otherwise, if they just enrolled the child and did not even consider it is a Christian school and did not even find out what rules it has, then that is their fault. All students should adhere to the policies of the school because the school is entitled to its own rules and regulations and all students are bound to follow it. Nevertheless, if I were the principal I will first call the parents of the child to explain the policy. I will not cut the hair just like that. I will give them at least the choice to pull out the child if the policy contradicts their religion or else I will tell them politely that they should themselves cut the hair. If the parents requested for special consideration, then maybe I will give them at least for a that whole school year then after that they can just transfer their child to another school that does not go against tuft hair

How idiotic. A father of the church should be aware of such things as what the boy was trying to do and sanction them. I would think he would have been proud of him and back him 100%! But to forcibly cut it off is just down right assinine. I think the father was being a power munger and not a religious leader at all. It is shocking!

That is wrong! The principal had no business cutting the child’s hair; he should have contacted the parents and discussed the situation with them and not gone right ahead and cut the hair off! If it was my child I would be very angry as the man had no right to even touch the student let alone ruin a ritual that was important to the family which he would have learnt and he waited to speak to them before taking action!

ItHello my friend VANILLAREY Ji, It is for both to understand. Father followed rules of the school, was not wrong, and parent followed rituals, was not wrong.The mis-understanding would have been cleared if Father and school Principal would have come to negotiating table and avoided such incedence. May God bless You and have a great time.

Hi vanillarey, while I do understand the sentiments of the child, and his family, there is this need to bring in some uniformity across the board in a country like ours. We are so diversified, and each one of us has so many customs that if you would let all of us have our way, we would be working only half the number of days you all work in the west. As the child grows up, these beliefs start taking more firm root, and may lead to some severe squabbles at a later stage. We've had ample Hindu Muslim, Hindu Sikh, and Hindu Christian instances, which have been rather violent. There is this need to confine such things to the private quarters, and not flaunt them to the chagrin of others. If one child is allowed to be different today, tomorrow it may be another child's custom that will force the school to bend rules. You yourself mentioned that these customs are odd, and in principal there is no human rights violation. One more thing, many of these people do not follow these customs elsewhere, but here they expect to be allowed to follow such things. Politicians and media fuel such feelings of differences as it is to their advantage. Coming once again to the parents of the child, they must have read the rules, and when they agreed to join the child in that school, they made a legal decision of accepting some rules. They are grown ups, and educated. So it is an informed decision on their part. After taking such a decision, they can't really back out! They could have opted to join their child in some school that was run by they community. Instead, they chose to send them to a Christian organization. Don't you think that it is not fair on their part to cry foul now?

Was it a private Christian school? If it is, was it written in the rules and requirements to not have facial hair? If so, the parents shouldn't have put him there. But if it was a public school without that rule, then shame on the principal. That's just not right.

I can understand the school having rules, but it seems to me that rather than mutilating the young man's hair, the school should simply have banned him from entering there. This is a good reason why separation of church and state is practical. Was there another school this boy could have attended? Was the boy an orphan with no parents? Where I live teachers and other school workers are not allowed to touch students except in self-defense. Clearly this principal abused his authority.

Over here the principal would have gotten in trouble for that. If it were against school rules, he could have sent the child home, but not laid hands on him and cut his hair. Different rules, I guess...