Hairy Tater Tot: Texas School Suspends Four-Year-Old Boy For Growing His Hair Long for Cancer Patients

Taylor Pugh, 4, (known as Tater Tot) is a bit too hairy for Floyd Elementary School’s principal. Taylor and his Dad are growing their hair to donate it for wigs for cancer patients. The suburban Dallas school district, however, insists that boys cannot have long hair and it has suspended him from classes since last month.

Remarkably, the school district is sticking to its position. Mesquite Independent School District spokesman Ian Halperin “We expect students … to adhere to the code of conduct.”

The short hair requirement always struck me as a bit sexist since girls are allowed to have longer hair than boys. So long as the hair is clean and not a danger to the child, why should a boy be required to have shorter hair than a girl? Looking at the picture with the article below, Taylor does not even appear to have particularly long hair.

Even if you agree with the requirement, it is bizarre that the school would not want to encourage such a selfless act of charity. One of my nieces at eight was part of this program and I was very proud of her. It is a wonderful message of giving that has now been replaced with a conflicting message of a senseless bureaucracy imposing arbitrary rules on children.

Not only would George Mifflin Dallas (left) not appear able to attend the school under the hair rules, but some other famous individual would find themselves suspended if they showed up for class.

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