Cancer Survivor Suspended From School In Michigan

January 31, 2012

A Michigan teenager named JT Gaskins was suspended from high school for growing out his hair for the charity Locks of Love.

According to the Daily Mail, JT, 17, wanted to grow out his hair so he could donate it to Locks of Love, a program that provides hair pieces to cancer patients under the age of 21.

JT wanted to give something back because he too is a cancer survivor. When JT was just 8-weeks-old, he was diagnosed with Infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and in 2003, he was declared cancer free.

“He’s [JT] celebrating his life and now he wants to give back so that other kids can have an opportunity to celebrate theirs too,” said Christa Plante, the mother of JT.

So why in the world would a high school suspend a student for growing out their hair for such a great cause, even after learning of his personal battle with cancer? Well, it’s because the school policy clearly states that “hair must be clean, neat, free of unnatural or distracting colors, off the collar, off the ears and out of the eyes” for boys. School officials at Madison Academy are fearful that if one student is allowed to grow out their hair, the entire male class would go crazy and grow out their hair too.

Wouldn’t that be nice of all the male students at Madison Academy decided to grow out their hair so it could be donated to Locks of Love? Shouldn’t doing something good for others be celebrated and not discouraged?

What do you think?