Discrimination of Native American boys in schools

[Yellow Jacket]

http://newspaperrock.bluecorncomics.com/2010/01/teachers-aide-chopped-native-boys-hair.htm

I found this old story disturbing on different levels.

1)The aide cut the child's hair without parent's permission.

2)To a native american, cutting of the hair is a disgrace. It is an extension of who they are, symbolizes strength and other meanings varies from tribe to tribe. It is a religious and cultural identity. To others, especially the elders in the tribe, an action like this is a reminder of the past. Of times when they were forced to give up all they knew, cut their hair, give up their dress, their names, their religion. All forced by the Christians who thought they were doing the right thing. It stripped them of who they were, a huge scar most tribes everywhere have felt. The
hair is a symbol of strength. Here is a video that better explains what the hair means.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNhkx5ZBmwU



3)Not only the aide cut the hair, but had the child look at it once it was cut. Humiliation. School is for teaching, not cutting a child's hair or humiliating or shaming them. A teacher's job is to teach and uplift, enlighten their students. Not lower their self esteem or impose their own personal beliefs and force a child to observe them.

4)The lack of response from the school and from the police department.

I found other examples of similiar stories.

http://www.houstonpress.com/2008-07-10/news/a-native-american-family-fights-against-hair-length-rules/print/

http://oyate-oti.com/?p=472

Shouldn't every child have a right to an education regardless of their religious appearance?

Does a school have a right to deny education based on the length of a child's hair?

Why is there no length requirements for girls, but one for boys?

Shouldn't schools be religiously tolerant of other's religion or cultural dress and appearances. For example, yamakas, hijabs, and in this case, Native American boys long hair?

What should be the acceptable response by the school for such acts, as the teacher aide demonstrated? Even if the child isn't native american? I did see other articles of teachers and aides cutting students hair without parental permission those of whom weren't native american.

 

[cosmictraveler]

I am not trying to start an argument but would like to bring up head lice. Many times lice infect the heads of children and they bring them to school that affects other children by spreading the lice to everyone that may be around them. Perhaps this is what the teacher saw when they cut the hair, so that the lice wouldn't have a place to hide and to show the lice to the child. I don't know all of the details but it is reasonable to have the child's parents at least know about any problems before the teachers take any actions at all.

 

[John99]

yes cosmic. Head lice is a major issue in schools. But of course if it is YOUR (not you) kid dispensing the lice then it is ok but if your kid GETS the lice eww wee look out...call the ADLU and wait because at least one of them needs a new beemer.

 

[visceral_instinct]

That's so wrong I can't find a disgusting enough curse word for it.

Teachers are there to teach. And to some extent, to give moral guidance. NOT to force children to conform to their petty little social norms. The argument about head lice does not hold water. No teacher would dream of cutting off a girl's hair.

 

[spidergoat]

I've never heard of any teacher cutting off anyone's hair, that's an invasion of privacy! There were even kids in my school with foot-long mohawks dyed red. (But if the kid was such a warrior, he wouldn't have allowed it to happen).

 

[Neverfly]

I am not trying to start an argument but would like to bring up head lice.

According to the articles, no mention is made of lice, at all.

It seems logical that if the school was on the defensive for the act, their FIRST line of defense would have been lice, had that defense been valid.

No, the articles make it pretty clear that lice was not involved.

I cannot decide from reading them, if the teacher was aware that the act was ritualistic and that was her intention...
Or if she thought she was doing the boy a favor ("What's wrong with his parents!? Grump!") and stood him in front of the mirror as if to say, "Now look how nice you look."
As with all articles, it's vague.

Whether it was malicious intent or an innocent mistake, something ended up wrong and that's for others to step back and look- learn- and try to apply such knowledge in their lives.
The teachers aide should be dealt with accordingly by those in charge around her that can effectively investigate her motive for the act.
However you look at it, the lady had no business whatsoever doing as she had.

 

[John99]

Neverfly, believe it or not head lice is always a problem in schools. The only thing that got me wondering about all this is that all the older men in that short video HAD cut their hair at one time because a say 50yo man who never cut his hair would be much longer than a little past the shoulder.

 

[John99]

That's so wrong I can't find a disgusting enough curse word for it.

I'm sure you can.

 

[Neverfly]

Neverfly, believe it or not head lice is always a problem in schools.

The fact that headlice is a problem in schools is well established.
But what does that have to do with this case?

Unless you can demonstrate that lice was involved- the point is utterly irrelevant.

The only thing that got me wondering about all this is that all the older men in that short video HAD cut their hair at one time because a say 50yo man who never cut his hair would be much longer than a little past the shoulder.

Trimming and keeping the hair neat is not the same as cutting it all off.

 

[John99]

The fact that headlice is a problem in schools is well established.
But what does that have to do with this case?

What they do to avoid lice infestations is keep the kids hair short because, for some reason, around that age you start to see that problem. There was just a case where a white kid didnt want to cut his hair either which is really weird because when did kids not wanting to cut their hair make it into the news. The only reason i say this is because most\many native american men do cut their hair.

 

[John99]

T
Trimming and keeping the hair neat is not the same as cutting it all off.

You have that reversed. His hair was trimmed and not cut all off.

 

[Neverfly]

What they do to avoid lice infestations is keep the kids hair short because, for some reason, around that age you start to see that problem. There was just a case where a white kid didnt want to cut his hair either.

For the last time: Demonstrate that this is the case and that was what was going on or the argument is moot.


The schools here send out a notice to parents requesting that a childs hair be cut if there is a fear of lice.
Lice is easy to get rid of. Without chopping.
If there is an infestation of lice in a school, the children are examined and parents are notified.
No one whips out the clippers. They MIGHT whip out "Rid" but it's more likely that they will notify parents.

You have that reversed. His hair was trimmed and not cut all off.

Sigh...

Exactly. Which was the counter-argument to your claim that the 50 year old man shouldn't have so little hair.

 

[John99]

Neverfly, when you go to school there are rules, i dont know what to tell you about that.

Lice are very hard to get rid of. My cousin had them when she was around 12yo and she had long hair but none of us other kids (5 of us) had the lice and our hair was cut short. Must be something about long hair that they like to nest in so i am just saying that there is a lot of truth to that and they jump around.

 

[Neverfly]

Neverfly, when you go to school there are rules, i dont know what to tell you about that.

And when you lay your hands on other peoples children, there are rules, as well. And there are consequences.

I know exactly what to tell you about that.

As far as lice goes:
https://health.google.com/health/ref/Head+lice
http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/common/lice.html

Easy.

Also, irrelevant. Demonstrate that lice was involved with this case or drop the argument.

 

[milkweed]

Going over the first article. Here's my opinion.

baloney on the religious aspect. Cultural, ok I can accept some aspects of their cultures had symbolic hair meanings/traditions. The answer is in the article itself:
Snipped some content for length
""When you've chopped off someone's hair you have taken away their pride,"

"The worst thing to do to someone, historically, is to take their hair," she explained. ... past centuries where men were shamed by their enemies in battles by having their hair taken from them.

...the length of hair and the way it is styled can be incredibly symbolic in Aboriginal culture. She said some traditionalists believe that the cutting of hair represents a time of mourning the loss of a loved one."

So what we are talking is not so much religion as personal superstition.

One only needs to go to the Nishnawbe Aski homepage to find plenty of examples of short hair on both young boys and old men.

http://www.nan.on.ca/

That said, the Teachers aide was completely wrong to cut the kids hair, I dont care if the kid is canadian, mexican, indian, thai, whatever. It is a boundry/decision that the PARENTS get the final say on, not some part time school employee. No different than if the bus driver had cut some kids hair.

 

[John99]

And when you lay your hands on other peoples children, there are rules, as well. And there are consequences.

Now you are being dramatic.

I dont know why you posted those links either. I know what head lice are and i sure as hell dont want them. It isnt the point that the kid did\does\may not have lice. The point is that head lice are a KNOWN problem in schools and the way to avoid that is keeping hair short. Do you understand this much?

 

[Neverfly]

Now you are being dramatic.
It isnt the point that the kid did\does\may not have lice. The point is that head lice are a KNOWN problem in schools and the way to avoid that is keeping hair short. Do you understand this much?

It demonstrates that lice was involved in this case or it gets the hose again.

 

[John99]

That said, the Teachers aide was completely wrong to cut the kids hair, I dont care if the kid is canadian, mexican, indian, thai, whatever. It is a boundry/decision that the PARENTS get the final say on, not some part time school employee. No different than if the bus driver had cut some kids hair.

The kids hair will grow back to where it was in a few weeks and i am not aware of any religious reasons for american indians not to cut their hair. I guess there are rules as to the length and we must remember rules are made for everyone if not then that is discrimination.

 

[Neverfly]

The kids hair will grow back to where it was in a few weeks and i am not aware of any religious reasons for american indians not to cut their hair. I guess there are rules as to the length and we must remember rules are made for everyone if not then that is discrimination.

Does that school have a rule about length of hair? If so, present a citation.

 

[John99]

Could you imagine the other kids. "Why does he get to have long hair?"

I agree though on some point and tbh, i would make an exception for the kid but then that can also lead to other problems. Still i think that since most, if not all, Indians DO cut their hair then its kind of like "i dont want to cut my hair".