The parents of a Louisiana rising eighth grader will transfer their son out of his school after the principal asked him if his braided hairstyle symbolized he was in a gang.
Though the cornrows are not listed as banned in the school’s code of conduct manual, administrators and educators working at the Christian school expressed concern. One official was captured on audio expressing how she misses a time when little boys had “regular little haircuts.”
Ashley and Damon Thorn believe the school was out of order to label their son, Dalon, a gangster based on a hairstyle his mother styled for him in their home.
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On Monday, May 15, a little over a week before the end of the school year, the student arrived at Calvary Baptist School sporting a new braided hairstyle. While he thought the braids were cool, the youngster did not get the same response from the adults at the school. He shared how the adults made him feel.
“I picked him up, just like normal, and asked, ‘How was your day? How did your friends like your braids?’ ” Ashley Thorn said to NOLA.com.
She recalled, “We’re driving out of the parking lot, and he said the principal pulled him aside today and asked if his braids represented being a gangster.”
She and her husband were shocked by what her son said his principal said to him, particularly because, she said, the hairstyle was not an infraction under the school’s policy.
The school’s dress code does not restrict students from wearing braids or cornrows.
“An acceptable well-groomed haircut is required of all male students,” the manual states before detailing, “hair will not reach shoulder length nor will bangs be long enough to cover eyes. Rat-tail and Mohawk-type haircuts are not acceptable. Dreadlocks and afros over 3″ are not acceptable….
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