Sixth Grader Suspended for Getting Popular '90s 'Tramline' Haircut
A student in Baytown, Texas, is the latest kid to be given an in-school suspension for coming to school with a hairstyle that violated school rules, according to KPRC, which has video of the child’s haircut on its website.
Xavier Davis, sixth grader at at Cedar Bayou Junior High, has been wearing his ’do for six months, according to his dad, Matt Davis, but it only became a problem on Thursday when the child walked into class and was immediately sent to the office by his teacher.
The child’s offense? No outrageous colors or style. Instead, Davis has two small lines shaved into one side of his hair — just like his dad. “I was walking into class, and she saw my hair and said, ‘You can’t have two lines in your hair. Go to the office,” Xavier told KPRC. There, the middle-schooler was informed that he’d have to either change his hair or face in-school suspension. “I don’t think it’s fair,” the child told the news station.
The small shaves lines are called tramlines, and they were popularized by stars like MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice in the early 1990s.
School officials claim the haircut is a distraction to other students, according to KPRC, but dad Davis doesn’t agree. “I don’t know if having one line or two is a distraction to learning; it’s not a distraction to me,” Matt told KPRC.
Xavier’s parents did try to address the issue when they learned it was a problem — but, since hair doesn’t grow overnight, Xavier’s mother decided to take a drastic measure: She colored in Xavier’s hair with a permanent marker. “He had a space here and a space there,” Matt Davis said. “She took a Sharpie permanent marker and colored the bottom of his hair in, so in order for him to get an education, we have to treat his hair like a coloring book, I guess.”
In a statement, Beth Dombrowa, Director of Communications at Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District, told Yahoo Beauty:
“While federal law prohibits me from talking about a specific student’s discipline, I can confirm that a junior high student was disciplined in accordance with our student code of conduct for a dress code violation after several warnings. Dress code violations occur in schools across the United States every single day; there is nothing unusual about this violation. Bottom line: the student is in class and was never asked to leave the campus, as it being reported by certain media outlets. The dress code is detailed in our student code of conduct, which parents sign every year acknowledging that they have read and understand our school policies.”
The official dress code of the school district, to which Cedar Bayou Junior High belongs, addresses hair-related rules with the following:
“Letters, symbols, and designs beyond a single straight line, which draw attention to an individual shall not be permitted. The administrator/supervisor reserves the right to determine if a hairstyle is disruptive to the educational process.”
Recently, a teen who attends a charter school in Chicago was also given an in-school suspension for a mane-related violation. Chicago Bulls College Prep penalized freshman student Daisy Chavero for showing up to class with her hair dyed an “unnatural” shade of red (the official shade was called “auburn”), also citing it as a distraction per its official dress code. Her mother, Angie Chavero — who actually dyed the girl’s hair — told DNAInfo.com, “To me, when they say red, I think someone who dyed their hair bleach blond and then red. That’s what artificial red means to me. It’s not fire hydrant red.” The mom added that she would not be able to afford hair dye to change her daughter’s locks to a more suitable shade.
Both boys and girls often find themselves the target of hair-related suspensions — whether they dye their hair pink, red, or even blond. Some are suspended for keeping their hair too long, but rarely are they reprimanded for actually cutting their tresses, as in Xavier’s case. While schools are often rigid in their rules, sometimes students score dress-code victories, as was the case at a Kentucky high school, where an anti-natural hair policy was suspended for being deemed racist.
As for Xavier, no doubt his hair will grow out soon. But for his parents, that’s not the point. Xavier’s dad told KPRC, “It’s nonsense. We send him here to get an education. We send him here to learn. It’s not about his haircut.”
Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty:
Katie Holmes Got a Haircut, and You Might Not Have Even Noticed
People Are ‘Plopping’ Their Hair With Defective LuLaRoe Leggings
Single Dad Is on Adorable Mission to Style His Daughter’s Hair
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty.
