What happened to her hair?

I was outside today and a young girl came running up to me to say hello.  I had to do a double take.  The last time I saw her, her hair was probably down her back.  Today it was cut as short as you can imagine (sorry no photo!) in a boy's style.  I just didn't know what to say.  Literally.  There was no femininity to it.  None. 

She's such a cute girl, but she had a very, very short boy's haircut.  Shorter than my boys' hair by far.

Over here people are quite direct so I get to do the same;)  I asked why she cut her hair so short.  She told me that her teacher told her she needed to cut her hair.  So she did.

I asked why her teacher was so concentrated on her hair...

She said because her teacher told her long hair distracts students from study.  And it's too much trouble to take care of.  And that all students in middle school have to cut their hair.  She didn't even believe me when I told her people in other countries don't cut their hair short in middle school.

I asked what would happen if someone didn't cut their hair...

She said they would either be kicked out of class, mistreated by the teacher or made fun of in class by that same teacher

As a rule, all middle school students have to have their hair short and a very similar hair cut.  They are gearing up for a big test and I'm not sure what having short hair has to do with this, but it's an across board rule in all schools. 

I asked her what her Mom had to say about it all...

Her Mom said, "If the teacher tells you to do something, do it."

 

I tried to encourage her to get some hair clips, make it a bit more feminine and perhaps consider trying next time to find a way to listen to her teacher and also consider whether it will really distract her or not and perhaps not getting too carried away.  I tried asking her a lot of questions and getting her thinking about whether or not her hair really distracts her...   

She seemed unaffected by a certain loss of her femininity and much more caught up in practicing a few English phrases (she is looking forward to going abroad for a bit and is very concerned with practicing her phrases), helping my little man out in the goal and indeed being a young girl running and jumping here and there.  Teachers over here have a lot of authority in student's lives.  It's an interesting dynamic to look at.  The drive for good test results continues and with it's intensity it takes away a bit of young people's expression and ability to make choices in the little things.  These teachers often have about 70 students in their class but yet they seem to be aware of even the little things.  Parents complain but no one really does a lot to change anything.  I wonder if this little girl will one day think back to this and have a different perspective.

Thanks for stopping by and reading...