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It’s a Slippery Slope…
by Alanah McGinley on 01/28/08 at 01:11 PM ET
Comments (10)
Simon Tonekham’s blog relates this odd story of a Barrie, ON high school hockey player—Adam Zussino dyed his hair blue for the upcoming playoffs, and so the school “unofficially” suspended him.
The school officials told him that “hair colour is a concern to parents because there are a lot of different styles related to gangs.” The school officials meanwhile have to take the issue seriously. The dress code from that particular school states that, “Students shall not have extreme colours and styles related to certain subcultures … not in keeping with Christian values.“
Ummm, blue hair offends Christians...? (That’s a new one...) But anyway, support came from a surprising (or maybe not-so-surprising) source—Don Cherry:
Now he is seeing red on how the people treat Adam. This is what he quoted in an interview: “I have heard of political correctness but this is nuts, I mean what the heck is wrong with blue hair?The principal is obviously not a hockey player, This is ridiculous. What’s wrong with dying your hair for the playoffs? All the junior kids do that, and so do some in the NHL. It shows team spirit.“
Okay, first off, this kid and his blue hair couldn’t be mistaken for a gang member in anyone’s universe.
Try joining a gang with that look, and you’ll get slapped into next week.
But more importantly for Adam’s sake, he might want to consider where all this is heading. Sure, it begins harmlessly enough with brightly-colored hair. But the next thing you know, you’re dressing like this in public…
*more on the story at The Barrie Examiner
Filed in: dumb stuff | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: adam+zussino, don+cherry, hnic,
Comments
There are still idiots around and I’m not talking about Adam.
In Tier 2 it used to be less prevalent or noticeable. Blond, red and streaked. It’s a sign of pride in the team.
Posted by Ted from Innisfil, Ontario on 01/28/08 at 02:13 PM ET
Well, I had blue hair on and off through grade 11, and actually had to fight to get the pink color out of my hair in time for graduation photos.
So I’m probably not the most mature person to judge these sort of things. 
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/28/08 at 02:53 PM ET
Having blue hair does not have any negative effects on society, but the principal’s actions had a very negative outcome. Power corrupts...Mr.Mario Melchiorre.
Posted by Mark Zed from Burlington on 01/28/08 at 05:01 PM ET
It would be nice if one institution was allowed to have rules that are followed, when I was in school, if you died your hair or had a pierced nose or ear, they would throw your ass outta that school pretty damn fast.
I can understand being passionate about your team, but school is school, these things just lead to the next student trying something even more daring, then the next student, and so on.
Maybe I’m getting old, but in the schools I attended any attempt at being different was snuffed out rather quickly.
Posted by PuckHound61 from Speckville USA on 01/28/08 at 06:32 PM ET
Christians only accept blue hair when there’s a bingo card on the table.
Posted by Terry from WestVan on 01/28/08 at 08:17 PM ET
Mark Zed -- I agree - freaking out about blue hair is idiotic. As for “power corrupts,” well…
PuckHound61 -- I’m (frightfully) old enough to empathize with your point of view, but I don’t agree with it. I have zero problem with kids being allowed to be individuals. Blue hair and an effort to be different is not a life-and-death issue to me. While a dress code for kids under certain circumstances is understandable, this situation is just dumb. They’ve told him that he can dye his hair every “normal” color, just not anything unique. So how is that a logical rule?
Schools are institutions children have no choice in - if their behavior is harmless, what’s the issue? And in my opinion, this young man isn’t responsible for the “more daring” issues of the next student… his only responsibility is dealing with his own self-expression.
He is the kid and the school is the authority. Presumably the adults can sort out the distinction between individualism versus “gang” and “anti-christ” behavior… as defined by freakin’ hair color.
disclaimer: I did spend some time in Catholic school, like this kid is in. My opinion my be affected by that...
Terry -- You’re such a smartass...! But true.
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 01/28/08 at 10:38 PM ET
When I did my student teaching, some of the kids with blue hair and piercings sticking out of their face were surprisingly nice, and the rest of them weren’t...just like everybody else. There are wardrobe and personal appearance decisions that are pretty obviously a cry for attention (try a 14-year-old girl in a “Viagra” racing jacket), and there are others that, in this day and age, are just kids being kids. Teachers pick up on these pretty quickly--and there are many things worse than blue hair, trust me.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 01/29/08 at 04:11 AM ET
Wow, I must be the most progressive Christian in the world if we’re supposed to be offended by that! I’ve had blue hair before, mind you it was just a streak and I’ve gone to church with it and nobody said schtum about it. To my face anyways. Methinks these people don’t really have their priorities straight.
Posted by Sherry on 01/31/08 at 10:52 PM ET
he is my friend and he was aloud in class but had to wear a hat. R pricipale just sucks sometimes
Posted by 654154 from shdbt on 05/12/08 at 09:46 PM ET
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Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
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Time have changed, alot. Heck, i’m only 32 and teachers and principles actually encouraged the dying of the hair, shaving of the hair and eyebrows, everybody had a ball with it.
Drag, feel for the young dude.
Posted by Dan from Halifax on 01/28/08 at 01:38 PM ET