Why does this matter so much?

I don't know how many times now I have told this story. The summer before my junior year of high school, my parents let me dye the tips of my hair bright pink (Oh, Gwenny Gwen, I miss those days). My neighbor saw this and thought it was awesome, so he asked his mom if I could dye the tips of his hair blue. His mom said we should aske the principal first. Little did I know, our principal was color blind. So when I asked him if my hair was appropriate for school (while showing him my blazing pink ponytail), he said it was fine. So, I told my neighbor this, and a week later when school started, I tipped his spiky hair with blue. He was suspended for two days and ordered to remove the hair colour. By this time, my pink hair was gone (I had decided to chop about a foot off of it including the pink tips once school started).

Mind you, I grew up in Memphis, Michigan, a very small town with a decent amount of small-minded people who believe change is bad and Christ is good, and deviations from the norm are the works of the devil. Of course, this sent people into a frenzy! My neighbors were pissed! My parents were pissed! The whole town seemed to turn against us... Even the school board. So, we had a school board meeting after I had staged a massive "protest," where EVERY SINGLE KID in that school, minus one who oddly enough wore his hair in mohawks all the time, signed a petition saying that coloured hair did not "distract" them.

My father was on the school board at the time, and in protest, he sprayed his hair blue for the meeting. The other boards members already detested him for being so "liberal," WHICH IS HILARIOUS to me because my father is a conservative Republican. He just doesn't like people picking on his children for silly reasons. One school board member said I was going to end up selling drugs, and implied prostitution in my future. Another school board member explained that allowing us "kids" to dye our hair funny colours would also mean that they should start allowing us to wear shirts that said "I hate Indians" or "Kill Native Americans" ("WE HAVE TO DRAW THE LINE SOMEWHERE!" I remember him screaming).

The school board ended up amending the "rule" that didn't even exist, mind you, so that we could dye our hair different colours, we just couldn't do it on school premises (which we didn't do anyway). I got to join in on the "rule making" committee. My mom and neighbor's mom went with me for support. At one point, one of the board members (the one who told me I would be a prostitute) started saying really vile things to me again. His buddy, the "Kill Native Americans" dude, was in charge of writing down what we had decided. He passed the paper to me to look it over. I took out a pen and started correcting his spelling and grammatical errors.

So you can see why I take some personal issue with this. I don't really understand why she would dye her hair to pay tribute to her recently deceased father, but honestly? You are going to suspend someone for dying their hair? Aren't there bigger things to worry about in a school?

"MOUNTAIN GROVE (NBC) -- A twelve year old star student has been suspended from school for dying her hair pink in tribute to her deceased father.
Seventh grader Amelia Robbins has found herself back at home at the start of the school year due to her hair color, which she chose to honor her father, who died of cancer when she was six years old.
Robbins dyed her hair pink over the summer with her mother's permission. Which wasn't enough for school administrators, who warned her at the end of her six grade year. At the time, the middle schooler sported pink streaks.
When Robbins returned with her whole head dyed, administrators suspended her. "He said you're suspended until you can change your hair. I don't feel like I should have to, because i'm expressing myself as an individual. Because they constantly tell us be different, don't follow the crowd," Robbins said.
According to the school handbook, administrators have authority over potential distractions. Said Principal J.T. Hale: "We want it to be equal for everybody, nobody getting any more attention than anyone else and we just go on with the process of education."
But Robbins wants to get on with her education, too. "I really want to get back to school so I don't have to make up too much work" she said.
The family is speaking to an attorney, and weighing the option of getting a tutor until the issue is resolved.
Young Robbins believes it's worth fighting for. "I think he's probably really proud, because I'm fighting for something," she said."