Jason Smith, the high school principal at Stonybrook Intermediate and Middle School in Indianapolis, Indiana, understood that feeling. And that’s why it was a no-brainer to take action for one of his students, Anthony Moore.
Moore was wearing a hat, which violates the school dress code. After the student spoke to a principal for about 30 minutes, Smith was asked to intervene.
‘I sat across from him and asked,’ What’s the matter? Why are you defiant, why do you refuse to take your hat off? It’s a pretty straightforward request, ” said Smith. “And he explained that his parents took him for a haircut and he didn’t like the results.”
Smith said he and the dean thought his hair looked good. “But you know he’s a 13 [or] 14 year old boy, and we know that social acceptance is more important than adult acceptance, ”he said.
“I said to him, ‘Look, I’ve been cutting hair since I was your age’, and I showed him pictures of my son’s hairstyles that I did and some of me cutting hair in college. And I said: “If I run home and get my clippers and fix your line, are you going back to class?” Smith said. “He hesitated, then said yes.”
So in the snow, Smith drove back home to get his clippers and took them to his office to line up Moore’s head, while his parents were asked for permission to update his hair.
Tawanda Johnson, Moore’s mother, said she loved the gesture.
“He (Smith) handled it really well to avoid getting into trouble at school,” she said. “I’m just glad he could handle that without … being suspended from school.”
“Just because I’m a black man myself and come through that culture and you know, I really think girls are important at that age. [means] appearance would then matter. He was worried that he would be laughed at and we were pretty sure no one would notice, but he was looking through his lens, ”Smith said.
Smith made sure to check on Moore throughout the day and found he was learning and not wearing his hat after updating.
“All behavior is communication, and when a student is struggling, we should ask ourselves what happened to this child rather than what is wrong with the child,” Smith said. “What does the child who is trying to be fulfilled need, and actually the future of urban education rests on that demand.”
Smith said the result of not adhering to the dress code would normally have been a suspension from school or picked up by a parent, which, Smith said, “ would have prevented him from standing in front of a teacher in the classroom and give him the training. he earns, so it worked out really well. ”