Principal Fixes Insecure Student's Hair Rather Than Taking Disciplinary Action For Violating Dress Code

By Annie N. in Amazing On 1st March 2021
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Jason Smith is a principal at Stonybrook Intermediate and Middle school where he was asked to check on a student that refused to take off his hat.

Anthony Moore,14, was awaiting disciplinary action for insubordination and refusing to abide by the dress code.

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Jason Smith decided to take an empathetic approach and asked Anthony why he refused to listen to given instructions.

After speaking to Moore for 30 minutes, it became clear that the issue wasn’t about the hat but his insecurity regarding his haircut. That's when Smith decided to help address the problem.

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"I sat across from him and asked, ‘What’s wrong? Why are you being defiant, why are you refusing to take your hat off? It’s a pretty simple request. And he explained that his parents took him to get a haircut and he didn’t like the results."

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Smith was of the view that at the age of 14 or 15, social acceptance was more important than it is to adults and looked at the situation from Anthony’s perspective.

The principal then proceeded to show Anthony pictures of his son’s haircuts and offered to help fix his.

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Smith offered Anthony a deal where if he listened to the teachers, removed the hat, and went to class, he would bring clippers from home and help him fix it.

Before setting the clippers to the student’s hair, Smith was sure to call the parents for permission.

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Smith also mentioned the cultural aspects of hair and how important haircuts and looking sharp are within the black community.  

"He didn’t say straight out, but I feel like he didn’t want to be laughed at. The barbershop and hair cuts as Black males is very important in the community and looking your best and being sharp — it’s just a cultural aspect."

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Anthony’s mother, Tawanda Johnson was happy for the way in which Smith handled the situation and was happy that no further disciplinary action was taken.

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