Girl, 8, Banned from Taking School Picture Because of Her Red Hair Extensions

Debates surrounding school uniforms, dress codes, and issues associated with them are nothing new. However, when these matters hit close to home, it becomes much more personal, bringing up anger, arguments, and tears.

Many of us may remember picture day at school. When we were very young, for the most part, our parents used to dress us up. This was to put our best foot forward and keep the memory alive of us slowly growing up.

Unfortunately for one little girl and her parents, in 2019, despite all the effort they put into making her look adorable for the day, she ended up crying instead.

RULES ARE RULES

Eight-year-old Marian Scott's school, Paragon Charter Academy, has a specific dress code policy they sent out before photo day via a recorded message.

The father, Doug Scott, claimed he had not heard this message before. Furthermore, although there are outlines in their handbook as to how children can and cannot dress, the dad believes how they handled the situation was highly questionable.

HOW RIDICULOUS

Doug remained irate around how the school reacted to his daughter sporting nothing more than red in her bun, picking her out, and refusing to take her photo. The dad expressed:

"This is unclalled for to pull her to the side."

He explained that her hair was done at home, asking why they didn't just call her parents instead of making the third-grader feel singled out.

TWO SIDES TO THE STORY

Doug questioned the underlying assumption that her red braids would cause a disturbance. In his own words, he exclaimed:

"They let her stay in school... so if she's not a disruption to the class, then why is she a disruption to the picture?"

Ben Kriesch, the school principal, commented that they still allow students to remain in school with a week to change their hair or any dress code violation. In this case, the school code outlines that the children may only sport natural hair tones.

THE AFTER-EFFECTS

The parents did end up complying with the handbook and removed her braids but insisted on more precise lines of communication going forward. Beyond the negativity surrounding this incident, the dad said there is some good to be found:

"I think it's good that this happened because now people are going to get the opportunity to see what is really going on."

You May Also Like: Mom Buys Her Kids' Teacher a New Car and Delivers It Straight to the School

Do you believe the parents should be conscientious of keeping track of the school's codes? Should the academy learn to handle these situations in a more diplomatic manner? Or both?