(no subject)

[stormdog]

Here's a link to a story about a male high school student who's run afoul of the school board over his long hair, which he's growing to donate. This is, of course, not the only story like this that I've seen. Schools often require male students to keep a certain hair length.

This is deeply problematic for me. As someone who is face-blind, I recognize other people, and to some extent myself, by hair. Hair is a really significant part of my self-image. It's not an exaggeration to say that my hair is the single most important physical feature to myself.

There may, *may*, be some situations where the benefits of mandating a certain hair length for people outweigh the drawbacks. But I also believe that causing problems for people like me is far from the only drawback. I don't believe educational institutions should have the power to regulate physical appearance of their students, except perhaps to disallow profane or pornographic material on t-shirts and things of that nature.

(I have some major problems with Locks of Love, too, but that's tangential to this issue. It doesn't matter why he wants to have long hair. He should be allowed to have it.)

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/10/ohio-student-suspended-for-growing-out-hair-to-donate/