Texas 4-year-old barred from school over long hair

Should a boy be forced to cut his hair in order to attend school? A Texas mother says no, which means her 4-year-old son will be barred from entering a public kindergarten school. 

Four-year-old Jabez was turned away last Friday by Barbers Hill kindergarten center as the boy’s mother, Jessica Oates, 25, was told that her son’s hair was too long, the Houston Chronicle reported. 

So Oates decided to put her Jabez’s hair into a bun on Monday. This still did not pass dress code. 

Oates told the Chronicle that she has no plans on cutting her child’s hair, despite her having to miss work with Jabez out of class. 

“It’s not an option,” Oates told the Chronicle. “It’s part of my child.”

As of Tuesday evening, Barbers Hill has not spoken publically about the incident. 

“Why in the world would I worry about my son standing out?” Oates wrote on Monday on her Facebook page. “If anything, he can stand out for his wonderful little personality. It’s the community that will treat him as a pariah, as far as I’ve seen, as well as your school district.”

According to the district’s dress code, hair for boys Pre-K through fifth grade “will not extend below the eyebrows, below the ear lobes, or below the top of a t-shirt collar.” The dress code continues to say, “Ponytails or tails are not acceptable on male students.”

These rules do not apply to female students, according to the dress code.

“Students who come to school in violation of the dress and grooming code will have the opportunity to correct the violation,” the district’s dress code reads, “if appropriate, to prevent loss of class time. However, consequences for dress code violations will be enforced.”