Is Brightly Colored Hair Distracting? (Editorial)
It is a commonly argued topic on whether or not vibrant hair colors are a distraction in the classroom.
Some schools see brightly dyed hair as distracting, but CHS teachers don’t think so. All asked teachers stated they didn’t think it was a distraction; most even had a positive view on students dying their hair. Then why do other schools throughout the U.S. ban dyed hair?
In Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Hayleigh Black got sent home from school on the first day for having an “unnatural” shade of red hair. She claims it had been that color three years before the school had a problem with it. Another instance was at St. Francois County school, Missouri, where Savannah Keesee had to be pulled out of school for her auburn hair.
Colored hair is something even our teachers don’t have a problem with, and they would be the first to be concerned about their students’ attention span.
When asked if dyed hair was a distraction to her students, English teacher Michelle Disbrow said, “Students should be able to express themselves with tattoos and hair color.” Disbrow doesn’t believe her student’s learning ability was affected by the presence of colored hair.
Kelly Brent, a CHS math teacher, sees hair color like accessories that “show their personality.”
Other teachers, like English teacher Erika Schiffgens, also see brightly colored hair as a positive way for students to express themselves during school.
Students can adapt. If a rainbow t-shirt isn’t distracting, then how is red hair? The color of a fellow student’s hair can’t possibly be the reason students get distracted in the classroom.
While so many other schools have policies against unnatural or dyed hair, CHS students are lucky to have the freedom to choose whatever hair color they want.
Disclaimer: Articles designated as “Editorial” represent the views and opinions of the author, not the 2015-2016 Periscope staff, CHS Administration, or the CHS student body.
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Kenny Brenizer is a junior and the perspectives editor for the 2016-2017 Periscope staff. She does no sports. She has no hobbies. She just wants cats and...
Aeryn Grant • Sep 19, 2019 at 2:21 am
Hi i just wanted to say thank you for putting this out for other people to see . It was very helpful as I am starting a petition in my high school for unnatural hair colors and this research has helped me find a place to start.
Illeana Harris • Aug 3, 2018 at 6:59 pm
I belive people should wear any hair color they want… its stupid, i mean, my school bans dyed hair colors….
Amber • Dec 5, 2017 at 11:42 am
I think students should be able to dye their hair, like how I wanted a pink ombre but had to go with blond ); i’m writing a petition and my opinion to the principle of my school!!!!
Raphael Feldman • Apr 23, 2017 at 7:39 pm
It seems like all of us are united against dyed hair bans, eh? Thank god you can choose your own hair color at your school. Besides, its just being CREATIVE!
Amber • Dec 5, 2017 at 11:43 am
Agreed
Izzy • Mar 7, 2018 at 12:51 pm
Yeah I totally agree!
Emma Bateman • Oct 26, 2015 at 9:56 pm
I really appreciate that CHS allows bright hair colors. I think that hair color is great for personal expression and I think that allowing people to have some forms of personal expression, like clothing and backpacks, but not others, like hair color and tattoos and piercing, doesn’t make much sense. I can’t see that distracting from learning. I understand that schools want their students to be focused on learning and being respectable people, but it is very important to allow self expression.
Mary Smith • Oct 26, 2015 at 2:01 pm
Everyone else makes good points, why should we care about other’s hair? It’s a choice, so we should let everyone do what they want.
Charles Willis • Oct 25, 2015 at 9:37 pm
I have been to 3 different schools in my high school career and have seen every color, shade, and tint of dyed hair that can be imagined. Not once did someone’s hair color distract me from my academics or bothered a teacher. I’ve even seen and had teachers who dye their hair. Dyed hair is just another form of expression. I always believed a person should be free to express themselves as long as it doesn’t harm anyone or anything.
Blaine • Oct 25, 2015 at 9:01 pm
Hair color is something that can easily change and affords students an easy and less permanent way of expressing themselves. Nobody ever died from hair color. Unless, of course, you count my mom who allowed my older sister to dye her blond hair a gothic shade of black in 8th grade. But even that tale has a happy ending. Color is never permanent and should not be considered a distraction in the classroom. A red shirt is pretty much the same as pink hair. It’s just a color.
alex lopez • May 12, 2016 at 11:39 am
PREEEEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gabriela Menendez • Oct 23, 2015 at 5:58 pm
I am happy CHS is a place where student’s self expression is not stifled. It is natural to experiment and change in such formative years, and changing, if you so choose, your appearance is imperative to a healthy progression through life.
Sarah Frick • Oct 21, 2015 at 12:33 pm
We have come to a point in society where we accept people for there differences and being unique, encouraging young people to make decisions for themselves. If we can encourage individuality of the mind, why should we prohibit it on the outside? Dyed hair is just another form of expression same as what a student wears or acts and should not be treated differently because of the color of their hair, this is no more distracting then something such as a colorful shirt as described in the article.
Maryanne Cantwell • Oct 19, 2015 at 8:15 pm
Because I think that Carlisle is such an open place when it comes to expressing oneself, I think it would be interesting to hear the voice of someone who doesn’t agree. Is having attractive red hair any different from having an attractive figure, that some CHS teachers insist is covered up. In reality, I think that these forms of expression are not distracting, but they make some uncomfortable simply because they are not commonplace.