C'mon people. seriously?

Drop The Leash 10

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081011&content_id=3612181&vkey=ps2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb


this pissed me off so much. suspended for expressing himself.


ST. PETERSBURG -- On Monday, Zachary Sharples wasn't even allowed to rest his head and take a nap. On Saturday night, the seventh-grader had a hard time believing he wasn't dreaming.

After watching his favorite team, the Rays, clinch the American League Division Series on Sunday night with a win over the White Sox, Sharples decided to show his support and got a mohawk, a hairstyle so popular among the Rays and their fans that it has now been dubbed the "Rays-Hawk."

Lincoln Middle School didn't take to the 'hawk so lovingly, and Sharples' one-inch hairstyle landed him an in-school suspension on Monday. The 12-year-old, who moved from Palmetto, Fla., to St. Petersburg on Saturday, joined several students in ISS. Among the suspended were a couple of fighters and a few bullies, but just one kid in for the 'hawk.

Rays outfielder and resident bouncer Jonny Gomes saw the story on the local news and quickly got in contact with Sharples and his family.

"The kid got punished for being a Rays fan," Gomes said. "What's wrong with that?"

After Gomes learned that Sharples and his father were planning to attend Game 2 of the AL Championship Series on Saturday night, the outfielder took his show of gratitude one step further and scored the two field passes for pregame batting practice. Gomes also presented Sharples with a bat signed by various Rays players.

"I thought I was just going to the game," said a stunned Sharples. "When they turned out onto the field, I was like, 'What the heck?'"

But Sharples' much-deserved reward was just beginning. Once Sharples got out onto the Tropicana Field turf, the Rays stopped over, one by one, and offered their support.

"Keep the mohawk, man," right-hander Andy Sonnanstine said, giving Sharples a fist bump.

First baseman Carlos Pena offered to write the youngster's former principal a note.

And Rays manager Joe Maddon's synopsis?

"He's like a young Jonny Gomes," Maddon said.

Gomes laughed when asked of his suspensions as a youngster, saying a Mohawk would have been "one of the better things" he did.

"Hopefully, we've got a Rays fan for life -- a Jonny Gomes fan for life," Gomes said. "To make the kid's day -- maybe make the kid's year -- is awesome."

And it's safe to say the trouble was worth it.

"I've been going to Rays games since I was 2 years old," Sharples said. "I went to the second baseball game [at Tropicana Field] ever."

But where did Saturday's events rank?

"This is awesome!" Sharples exclaimed.

Shortly after, Sharples was enthusiastically greeted by Maddon and Rays right-hander James Shields, who pitched in Game 1 of the ALCS on Friday.

Not a bad story for Sharples' classmates. And not a bad ending to his 'hawk, although he has no intentions of taking a razor to the style.

"Not until they win the World Series," Sharples said.

GraySaturday

I think people should be able to express themselves.

BUT...

In a school, there are rules.. some may be silly to some people, but a lot of schools need to have rules about appearance and clothing, etc to keep things from getting out of hand. Just like if a school has a uniform policy, a student is going to get in trouble for expressing themselves by wearing other clothing. If there was a rule about hairstyle at his school, he should have either have followed it, or faced the consequences... I don't know.. rules keep things under control.. stupid or not.

Drop The Leash 10

GraySaturday wrote:

I think people should be able to express themselves.

BUT...

In a school, there are rules.. some may be silly to some people, but a lot of schools need to have rules about appearance and clothing, etc to keep things from getting out of hand. Just like if a school has a uniform policy, a student is going to get in trouble for expressing themselves by wearing other clothing. If there was a rule about hairstyle at his school, he should have either have followed it, or faced the consequences... I don't know.. rules keep things under control.. stupid or not.

ok, but why these rules? what harm is anyone causing wearing what they want, doing what they want to their hair? i can understand if it's offensive but i think in this day and age kids are not expressing themselves as much they should be and these people aren't helping

Rhinocerous Surprise

GraySaturday wrote:

I think people should be able to express themselves.

BUT...

In a school, there are rules.. some may be silly to some people, but a lot of schools need to have rules about appearance and clothing, etc to keep things from getting out of hand. Just like if a school has a uniform policy, a student is going to get in trouble for expressing themselves by wearing other clothing. If there was a rule about hairstyle at his school, he should have either have followed it, or faced the consequences... I don't know.. rules keep things under control.. stupid or not.

And at least rules about hairstyles aren't all that ridiculous. My old school actually had a written rule saying students weren't allowed to wear two watches at once.

GraySaturday

Drop The Leash 10 wrote:

ok, but why these rules? what harm is anyone causing wearing what they want, doing what they want to their hair? i can understand if it's offensive but i think in this day and age kids are not expressing themselves as much they should be and these people aren't helping

Social pressure on children, causing distractions are driving factors in school rules. School is a place to learn, not to be socially pressured further by trends, and the need to fit in with everyone else. Not all schools have a policy for clothing or physical attributes, but some do. Parents should be aware of these policies and discuss them with their children, and offer additional expressive outlets. It doesn't teach a child how to respect rules to just allow them to do whatever regardless. Many work places have rules. I've worked in places where we aren't allowed to have more then one earring in each ear, more then one ring on a finger, we had to have natural hair colors.. I mean.. thats life.. learn it young.

Rhinocerous Surprise

Drop The Leash 10 wrote:

ok, but why these rules? what harm is anyone causing wearing what they want, doing what they want to their hair? i can understand if it's offensive but i think in this day and age kids are not expressing themselves as much they should be and these people aren't helping

Same reason some schools have uniforms. Students are, whether they like it or not, ambassadors for their schools, and the schools have to control the image they put out to whatever extent - whether that's by not letting kids wear Metallica t-shirts, or not letting them have mohawks, or not letting them wear retarded amounts of jewelry. Dress code... when you start going to clubs, you'll understand.

pjfan31

I'm studying teaching, and last semester they were saying how it is good to let children express themselves with hair styles fashion etc as they find out who they are. A bit of self discovery.

Having said that, at my high school, we weren't allowed a haircut that used a number 1 clipper, girls natural hair colour only, clear nail polish, no coloured bras as we could see them through a white shirt. We had to wear our school blazer to and from school, shoes had to be polished.

Now that I think of it, all this money my parents paid for us to be bossed around by them. We paid their wages, we should of bossed them around.

LikeAnOcean

I don't care what people say,.. It's just hair.

If its a distraction, then thats the fault of the distracted.

Social this, social that..

Detentions are bullshit too. I think they would be a good idea if the kid had to come in Saturday to learn or be challenged, but to just sit there? Waste of tax dollars.

Drop The Leash 10

LikeAnOcean wrote:

I don't care what people say,.. It's just hair.

If its a distraction, then thats the fault of the distracted.

Social this, social that..

agreed

_

I understand the dress codes meant to deter expression of gang affiliation. I understand the ones requiring basic decency (no micro-mini-skirts, etc.). I even understand the ones about forbidding offensive or age-inappropriate material (no beer or Playboy shirts, etc.). But I have honestly never understood dress codes governing hair styles. When I was in school, there was actually a rule that girls couldn't have bangs higher than 3 inches tall. Seriously??