This makes me sick.

This really gets my blood boiling. There is a school district in Texas that is punishing a 5 year old boy with isolated in-school detention (for the last six weeks!!!) for practicing his religious and cultural belief of wearing his hair long. The rules of this district are that boys must have hair above collar length. Their "compromise" was to allow him to braid his hair and stuff it down the back of his shirt. I don't know if any of my dear readers have ever stuffed their hair down the backs of their shirts before, but I have, and I know it is a huge pain in the rear end. Very uncomfortable, scratchy, and just a big irritation all around. And I don't live in a hot, humid environment like Huston, and I have only ever kept it back there for a minute or two. I also most likely have much finer hair than this little boy, which would mean less bulk and irritation, I would imagine.

Why is it okay for little girls to have long hair, but not boys? Why is it okay to still religiously discriminate against people in 2008? Why is it okay to bully around and shame a 5 year old boy who has done absolutely nothing wrong? How is that going to help him? I am sickened at the actions of the Needville Independent School District for humiliating a young boy in this manner.

Here is a snippet of the article:

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas today filed a lawsuit against the Needville Independent School District (NISD) for punishing a five-year-old American Indian kindergarten student for practicing and expressing his family's religious beliefs and heritage by wearing his hair long in violation of school rules.

School officials have forced A.A. into isolated in-school suspension because he and his family refuse to abide by a district mandate that he stuff his long hair, part of his American Indian religious and cultural heritage, down the back of his shirt while at school - a requirement that would cause A.A. shame, embarrassment and physical discomfort.

Read the rest of the article here.