Suspended over 'Ray-hawk'

Ellenton seventh-grader Zachary Sharples loves the Tampa Bay Rays. So much so that he got a Mohawk that has (perhaps unfortunately) become the rallying hairdo for the surging baseball team.

That style might be hot at the Trop. But it didn't go over so well at Lincoln Middle School.

The Bradenton Herald reports it this way:

Before Zachary went to bed, he made sure to wash off the dye so he wouldn't get in trouble at school the next day.
But the boy's 1-inch mohawk still earned him an in-school suspension Monday, said his father Kevin Pennington. Zachary was told he violated dress code.
"I did nothing but sat there," Zachary said Tuesday. "We couldn't talk, it was stupid."
Zachary was given two choices by the school, Pennington said.
He can either shave his head to be allowed back into his classes, or let his hair grow out - in in-school suspension.

See the full story here.

View tampabay.com readers' RayHawk photos

Comments

[JB]

Just another example of lack of judgment that permeates our society. The principle should immediately be audited re what other dumb decisions are being made. And to think this made the papers is ridiculous. The kids parents should have gone to bat and demanded a hearing with the school board. Kids all over have shown their enthusiasm for the Rays. What a nice change of pace!

**they're

[Ray F]

Maybe the school administration is full of blasted Red Sux fans and their trying to ruin the morale of our Republic by admonishing the battle dressing of a young tribal warrior!!!

Just like the Japanese police cut off samurai hair knots in the late 1800's to show disrespect.

[Hardhat0038]

Hey Ed the arseface, why the knock on Sternberg? Mabe if more people would have showed at the Trop during the reg season he would have thought some were actually interested in the tickets.

[Hardhat0038]

Sounds like a freedom of expression violation.

[Hardhat0038]

my god, they can't keep the teachers from diddling the students, and they are worried about a haircut? Losers.

[Kevin]

My name is Kevin and I am the father of Zachary the "Ray Hawk kid." I would like to clear up a few things. First, the teachers had nothing to do with this...it was the administrators. The same administrators that never called my wife or I to let us know that he was in an in-school suspension because of his Ray Hawk. My son is a good kid, he has great grades and doesn't get in trouble. My family and I are baseball fans, always have been, and when you have something going on in this area that's this special you get caught up in the moment. Thousands of people are getting it done — including the St. Petersburg City Council — and my son was begging me to let him do it. I never really thought the school would have an issue with it because the Rays were doing so well...but apparently I was wrong. I know they have rules and I always tell Zachary to respect them. But whose authority is it to decide that his hair is offensive? Who makes that judgement?

I have seen things in schools that are a lot worse. Some people do not understand that sports fans get into their teams and their colors and they enjoy the ride! This is something that may never happen again. So really ... is it going to hurt to let a kid cut his hair in a Rays Hawk and show his support to the team? He's not bringing guns into school, he's not starting fights, he is supporting his baseball team and he is staying out of trouble.

[Teri]

OH and GO RAYS!!

[Teri]

You are so right King Gator!! LMAO
I mean it's just a hair cut folks, but at least it isn't the Mullet! Now that is just plain ugly! LOL

[morganan]

If the Rays don't give this kid a free ticket to a playoff game, something is wrong ....also, isn't it interesting that at least fifty people got worked up enough to write in about this issue, but barely any about the debate last night. Go Rays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Teri]

This is crazy!! WOW people it's just hair, we are so uptight in this country anymore!

[King Gator]

I'm just glad the reign of terror by the "Tampa Cut / Mullet / Business in the front, Party in the rear" is finally over. I welcome the Ray-Hawk with open arms, even if it means we have to sacrifice a few middle school kids. The cause is bigger than ISS. Go Rays - Red Sox Suck!

[Opinion Master]

exactly, how does a mohawk make one appear to be a 'punk' or a 'deliquent'?

when I was in school, the whole wrestling team got a mohawk to show unity. I know of 2 (two) of those guys that became criminal, some became and still our in law enforcement, a few went into the military, one who currently works for the FBI, quite a few started succesful business' in the area, myself, I chickened out of the whole mohawk thing, but never was arrested.

[Carmine]

I read the story and the family is moving at the end of the week, and the boy will be changing schools. Hopefully he dyes it blue again, since he has to sit in ISS for it, he may as well go all the way.

The admin. past the rule, the princapal had the option on what to do. He is the jerk in the story.

To the poster who said they would lose their job for getting a mohawk, IF you are in the profesional field fine, but I would look for a new job, field to get into.

To tell your kids that school is their job, I pity your kids, never having an chance to actually be kids.

I teach my kids to be respectful, and that teachers are not there to baby sit them, not that they can't have some fun in school and as children.

They both, to date have been main stays on the Honor Roll or better.

life is to short not to have some fun.

[evan]

There should be only one Adminstrator city wide handling all apparent dress code violations.
In the current system,each Principal decides on his own if the code was violated,while at the same time another principal would allow the student to attend class with the same "hair do".
Rules should be enforced fairly City wide in the system.

[ed]

again, this country needs to get over itself

[Jay]

ALL the boys should get mohawks. What will they do then? I guess schools don't promote team spirit anymore. Does being in school make you a second class citizen? What a waste of school resources

[Maria]

Personally I find it really irritating that a haircut that would normally get kids in trouble and would label them as punks is suddenly okay to conservative folks just because they're fired up about baseball.

[tim]

Stop attacking teachers over this decision. This came down from the principal and other administrators, NOT the teacher.

[TechRider]

School admins are still cut from same cloth as they were 35 years ago. Just trying to exercise control to prove that they have power.
"Those that can't, teach. Those that can't teach, become administrators."

[terminator]

Manatee County school district folks are a bunch of blooming idiots.
First they want to CUT their teacher salaries, then they want to RAISE teacher healthcare premiums, now they want to put a kid in CSI for a mohawk?
Oh yeah, almost forgot, the district covered up for some black kid star QB at Lakewood Ranch last year even after he was caught with a loaded gun.
the mucky mucks at the Manatee district dropped the ball and the kid kept right on playing until this summer....when he shot and killed some dude!
Brilliant!
It's guys like Manatee who give FloriDUH public education a bad name.
They should be taken out and lined up in front of a firing squad for being so stupid!

[Art]

"A mohawk is an unusual haircut, and it draws comments from the kids," she (the district's director of secondary schools) said. When students start commenting on it in class, "it's hard for teachers to calm them down."

If that's true, those teachers are clearly inept at completeing the most basic tasks of their jobs. A teacher has to settle down almost every class he/she teaches every single day. If that cannot be accomplished, that teacher needs to go back for more training. Or find a new job...

[TTT]

With the amount of kids dropping out of school this is a joke!! The administrators need a wake up call. I do not care how the kids (or teachers) are dressed as long as they learn (or do their jobs). What a joke!!!!

[MD]

This is not something a student should be suspended over. Administrators overlook swearing, girls dressed like whores and boys wearing pants around their ankles and t-shirts with massively inappropriate sayings. Who cares how a student's hair is cut and styled? Lots of kids have weird cuts or colors. It causes some talk for 5 minutes and then it becomes old news.

I think it's absurd this kid will have to sit in ISS until either his hair grows back or he shaves his head. Talk about a disruption in one's education, not to mention such a ridiculous penalty for having a passion about something that goes beyond his own self, which few kids today even understand. If I were his parents, I would lodge a formal complaint against the county. Idiotic things like this are far too commonplace among admin because they've no clue what is going on or relevant anymore.

And people wonder why I quit this profession. Look at who is calling the shots and it's no wonder teachers are overwhelmed. Too many idiots at the wheel...

[Emme]

I saw this kid's hair cut.You can't be serious about him being suspended.What other important decisions does this principal make?How to sort his paper clips?Let's close schools and have kids learn on line.Save money.No more adminstrative salaries.No more kids being killed by buses.No more expensive school overhead.No more teachers molesting students.There is really no good reason to have them anymore.

[Dr_Dug]

Obama hates Ray Hawks too.....

[mm]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[JAR]

Suspending the kid is really stupid. I'm getting a kick out of adults going back and forth over proper English and spelling errors. We have become so dependent on spelling correction programs that we don't even bother to edit the dumb mistakes that the programs make. What's even better is you can tell when a reporter uses it and their editor misses it.

[T. Yeti]

"Posted by: Joe

A fohawk gets you in trouble these days what about the kids wearing there pants to there ankles.. Couldn't expect anything less from a Florida school since there one of the worst in the nation because there worried more about this stuff"

Coming from someone who obviously never graduated from anywhere.

[Dawn]

Home school. If a school has nothing better to do then to punish a child over a damn haircut, then it's time to close them. Give me more money while I find more ways to punish your children needlessly. What is this child going to do, pluck a hair and stab someone with it? Our schools are no longer learning institutions they are concentration camps. Parents stand up for you children!

[Amanda W.]

LOL 10:45. I couldn't have said it better!

[fireprincipal]

The principal of this school should be fired immediately!!! Forget individuality and freedom of speech and all of that. What is boils down to is that this principal does not care about his students and their learning. Schools should be about the students and not the parents, school board, haircuts, etc. As a teacher this would not be a distraction in any way to my teachings and I would love it if sy students showed support of their team. Things like the Rays being in the champioship is what brings communities closer together. Fire the principal for not caring about the students and hire one that has a love for students and love teaching students.

[Curt]

Hey Kris there is more to this story.The principle is a Boston Red Sox fan. He knows his team is going down so he took his frustraation out on a little kid.

[JD]

Can't he argue that he was trying to cut down the transmission of head lice?

[Nancy]

How about polling the parents to see if the temporary hair style is offensive or distracting in their opinion? Personally I would rather see a child supporting a sport and his community than require that he shave his head and, in effect, support a potentially racist stereotype. If the administration is so worried about distractions, perhaps they should take a look in the mirror and see how distracting their actions have been. Do we no longer foster freedom of speech and individuality in our schools? How sad!

[kris]

I believe there must be more to the story. Perhaps there was a warning to all students the week prior that a 'Ray-hawk' would result in suspension.

But in todays world this sort if ignorance is, sadly, almost expected.

[Jon]

the mohawk should be allowed as long as the Rays are still alive. Once the season is officially over, then go back to the standards.

[Amanda]

Hey Steve, take it easy. I had a biology teacher in middle school that couldn't spell worth a hoot, but was a BRILLIANT scientist and a fantastic teacher.
As for this whole situation, it's ridiculous. It's a one-inch mohawk. Who cares? Really, how "distracting" could that be? I understand, though, that's part of the school's official dress code. Even so, an in-school suspension is really too harsh. Maybe a warning? Tell him he had to have it shaved by the next day, or the end of the week? (Or, ideally, by the end of the playoffs!)

[John]

Come on people, why are you insisting on chastising the teachers? The in-school suspension was an administrative decision. You know, done by those people who have 12 month jobs when kids are there for 10 months. Talk about overpaid. I realize that many administrators are very good but, the administrator/teacher ratio is way out of wack. Send all administrators back to a real classroom once every 5 years, for a whole year, so they can stay in touch with reality.

[poster]

I personally know these people, Zach did nothing to warrant in-school suspension for his haircut, his father Kevin has one as well, all he did is show up to school and they gave him suspension, Zach had said to the principal good thing it wasn't blue and the principal replied saying if it was blue they would have expelled him. Are you serious!!!

[Steve]

Uh, excuse me, Pinellas Teacher (9:45 a.m.), but it's "heels" not "heals." And you're a teacher, huh? Kind of sums things up, don't you think?

[Teacher in Pasco]

I wish my kids would wear a "rayhawk". It would at the very least show that they were dedicated to something positive.

[Cheryl]

to poster at 10:56. Putting forth your best personal image is completely separate from being materialistic. My kids always look their best, without being materialistic. We live within our budget, which lately...is a Walmart budget.

"Most people see these kids with mohawks and think...punks. You can scream they are being shallow...all you want, but it is the truth."

Yes but shouldn't we be teaching our children that looks are not important? The "image is importance" argument takes you down a slippery slope where kids demand the most expensive clothes and jewelry while neglecting the importance of non-materials.

[Cheryl]

to poster at 10:45

LOL...you do have a point

[to poster 10:41]

Both myself and my husband are in professional fields where we would absolutely lose our jobs if we showed up in a mohawks. We've always taught our kids that school is their job...and to treat it as such. People downplay the importance of image. Most people see these kids with mohawks and think...punks. You can scream they are being shallow...all you want, but it is the truth.

[Sim]

Good job Lincoln Middle School. Don't worry about teaching kids reading, writing, arithmetic, instead teach them no matter what they do in life they will only be judged by their appearance.

How is shaving his head the solution??

"Not a very good image for Tampa Bay."

Cheryl have you ever actually looked at Tampa Bay? Haircuts are the least of our troubles.

[James]

Are you kidding me. My taxes are paying for these people to suspend a kid over a haircut. It's not a gang thing you idiots. Stop wasting my money. Instead of chasing kids like this, apply the lost time and money to teaching like you're suppose to.

What a joke. His mohawk may have caused comments the first day or two but when you publicize it the attention will be much greater. It's not too often our local sports teams make the playoffs, and in this case it's history. We should be encouraging our children to support our teams not putting them in suspension for something this silly.