Haircut boy gets $24k costs

[Akzle]

IMHO says a lot about the maturity of those people and they sit in judgement of others FFS!

oh come on! As a grown man you cant tell me you dont like playing dress up, just a bit...

[Voltaire]

I went to a Catholic School and they used to get all twisted up if you were not wearing your cap.
They liked using the cane too, and being generally miserable
Like a magic less version of Hogworts.
Previously I went to a state primary school , it was much better.
My Kings College mates at tech said that was nothing compared to Fagging and other things....
That's what you get a Dickensian private schools run by teachers with delusion of power.
Sent my kids to a state school.

[TheDemonLord]

Now that is a sensible comment. While I don't agree 100% with the School, the boy (who will now be marked for life via the internet) should simply have accepted that while at that school, the headmaster is the law (within reason) even if only in the job for a month.

Cool - so what you are saying is that you must never disagree with Authority, even when authority is acting stupidly, ignoring the rules or interpreting the rules incorrectly.

I myself prefer to think for myself and if a rule is either illogical, illegal or just plain wrong it is my right AND duty to challenge it.

This kid did, Won (proving that he was RIGHT to challenge it) and now the School has Egg on its face, a hefty Bill to pay and a Headmaster who thought that his power trip as Headmaster was more important than logic and reason.

[Trade_nancy]

Cool - so what you are saying is that you must never disagree with Authority, even when authority is acting stupidly, ignoring the rules or interpreting the rules incorrectly.

I myself prefer to think for myself and if a rule is either illogical, illegal or just plain wrong it is my right AND duty to challenge it.

This kid did, Won (proving that he was RIGHT to challenge it) and now the School has Egg on its face, a hefty Bill to pay and a Headmaster who thought that his power trip as Headmaster was more important than logic and reason.

Well there are even rules on this forum mate. Try replying to a thread without 1st stripping out any embedded image and the mod will send u a stroppy note real fast....and eventaully you'll be removed if you persist (sorry Hitcher) even if you think that is silly..you have to accept the rules of the group/organisation/society - or petition for change through the avenues available...or fuck off.

[Woodman]

Cool - so what you are saying is that you must never disagree with Authority, even when authority is acting stupidly, ignoring the rules or interpreting the rules incorrectly.

I myself prefer to think for myself and if a rule is either illogical, illegal or just plain wrong it is my right AND duty to challenge it.

This kid did, Won (proving that he was RIGHT to challenge it) and now the School has Egg on its face, a hefty Bill to pay and a Headmaster who thought that his power trip as Headmaster was more important than logic and reason.

Yea but its not like some long haired rebellious teen went up against "the man" was it.
The jumped up little prick told his daddy and they got a lawyer. Thats just a little ghey IMHO.

Anyway its a fuckup all round.

[MVnut]

Cool - so what you are saying is that you must never disagree with Authority, even when authority is acting stupidly, ignoring the rules or interpreting the rules incorrectly.

I myself prefer to think for myself and if a rule is either illogical, illegal or just plain wrong it is my right AND duty to challenge it.

This kid did, Won (proving that he was RIGHT to challenge it) and now the School has Egg on its face, a hefty Bill to pay and a Headmaster who thought that his power trip as Headmaster was more important than logic and reason.

I will put it another way, as a kid growing up I learned respect and discipline (among other things) and these 2 things have saved my life on more than one occasion. The boy won his case because the wording of the rule was deemed inadequate, not because the rule was 'wrong' and regardless of your or my thoughts, he will have future employment prospects greatly lessened because of this case. I certainly would never employ him, nor would I wish to be in a jungle relying on someone like him watching my back. If you want to challenge all unfair laws you should move from the safety of NZ and try that in somewhere like Iraq or the highlands of Papua New Guinea, there being a rebel is necessary, as is occasionally towing the line. School is about gaining a learning process and some life resources for the outside world. Kids today follow few rules and I think society is too PC, allowing them in general to get away with too much. I love rebellion in the right circumstance, this haircut case was not it.

[Akzle]

Yea but its not like some long haired rebellious teen went up against "the man" was it.
The jumped up little prick told his daddy and they got a lawyer. Thats just a little ghey IMHO.

Anyway its a fuckup all round.

i would say they first tried discussing it like adults. The school/principal? Said: 'so sue me', and they did.

Thats the farce/system which exists under crown legislation to settle disputes when men act like kindergarten children. Which is encouraged. And profitable, under the same farce.

[MVnut]

i would say they first tried discussing it like adults. The school/principal? Said: 'so sue me', and they did.

Thats the farce/system which exists under crown legislation to settle disputes when men act like kindergarten children. Which is encouraged. And profitable, under the same farce.

True, a normally rhetorical statement like 'so sue me' may have started the farce of the court case....the headmaster and the father I think both maybe went down a path of no return, but it was the stupid kid that initiated it all crying to his dad (in my opinion). He will be a poor specimen of a man if he continues like that. I have sympathy for the school in general as $24000 is a lot of money for the parents to fork out, where do you think the school gets money, from government or on trees?

[TheDemonLord]

Well there are even rules on this forum mate. Try replying to a thread without 1st stripping out any embedded image and the mod will send u a stroppy note real fast....and eventaully you'll be removed if you persist (sorry Hitcher) even if you think that is silly..you have to accept the rules of the group/organisation/society - or petition for change through the avenues available...or fuck off.

Let us take your example - for that Rule there is a perfectly good reason for it - it increases loading time, often cause the Webpage to display incorrectly and increases bandwidth. Also it is considered impolite (due to the factors mentioned)

Rules that can stand up to the rigor of critical analysis and can be defended using reason and Logic are fine - rules that cannot and are simply enforced arbitrarily aren't.

Yea but its not like some long haired rebellious teen went up against "the man" was it.
The jumped up little prick told his daddy and they got a lawyer. Thats just a little ghey IMHO.

Anyway its a fuckup all round.

Both scenarios you listed could be viewed as interpretations of events. I myself had run ins when I was in school and on one occasion resulted in a strongly worded letter to the school - written by my Dad, the result was the school backed down. I see little difference between this scenario and what happened in NZ - The Kid had a good case to be made, but didn't have the Experience or skills to properly argue it - so the enlisted the help of someone who did.

I will put it another way, as a kid growing up I learned respect and discipline (among other things) and these 2 things have saved my life on more than one occasion.

There is a time for rigid discipline, and there is a time to respectfully challenge authority - being an adult is partly knowing when to do which - for every occasion you can list where rigid discipline saved your life - I bet I can come up with an occasion where bending or breaking the rules has saved mine.

The boy won his case because the wording of the rule was deemed inadequate, not because the rule was 'wrong' and regardless of your or my thoughts,

So, if the Headmaster had pulled his head out from his Egotistical power trip - he would have seen that the rule was poorly worded and updated it and THEN enforced that rule, OR he would have entered mediation and agreed that whilst the boy wasn't following the spirit of the rule, he was following the letter of the rule.

he will have future employment prospects greatly lessened because of this case. I certainly would never employ him, nor would I wish to be in a jungle relying on someone like him watching my back.

I would employ him in a heartbeat - he clearly has a brain and can think for himself - two qualities that seem to be more and more lacking in the general populace. As for being in a Jungle - maybe not in the combat sense, but in the corporate jungle sense I would.

If you want to challenge all unfair laws you should move from the safety of NZ and try that in somewhere like Iraq or the highlands of Papua New Guinea, there being a rebel is necessary, as is occasionally towing the line.

Risk Vs Reward - its a great risk for me to go to places like iraq or PNG, and until they figure it out for themselves - there is no point me or anyone else going in there to tell them otherwise.

School is about gaining a learning process and some life resources for the outside world. Kids today follow few rules and I think society is too PC, allowing them in general to get away with too much. I love rebellion in the right circumstance, this haircut case was not it.

I agree school is about learning - and what better lesson to teach people than to challenge poorly written or poorly thought out rules and to not be afraid to go against the norm? Most visionary leaders, in business and politics often start out this way - and I suspect if the Kid is as smart as I suspect he is, he will do well in later life.

[jellywrestler]

Well it's $24k down the drain for the school.....isn't that taxpayers money in there somewhere....actual costs were about $36k apparently....what a waste of time and money, the little shit should've just got a haircut

nah that lawyers kid will be able to stay and extra year at a private school so it's all good

[MVnut]

There is a time for rigid discipline, and there is a time to respectfully challenge authority - being an adult is partly knowing when to do which - for every occasion you can list where rigid discipline saved your life - I bet I can come up with an occasion where bending or breaking the rules has saved mine.







.

So you have been in a fair number of situations involving imminent danger and risk of your life, that surprises me (sorry for off topic). By the way I am all for bending or breaking the rules but only in the right circumstance, big difference between discipline and being a dork, sometimes you do need to make the rules as you go along, but not with the haircut issue. We should probably just agree to disagree, this could go on for a while

[buggerit]

So who is the longtime loser in all this,I don't think the school is and def not the lawyers.
And therein lies the lesson,pick your fights and remember, being right can still bite u on the arse .

[oldrider]

The art of diplomacy is to be able to "tell someone where to go and have them looking forward to the trip"!

The previous head master had it under control the new man was obviously a zealot .. My way or the highway type!

The judge sorted the "facts of law" out for him and now the school is paying for their own indiscretion in employing him --- $24,000.00 later!

Most schools can't afford that level of incompetence.

[Blackbird]

The art of diplomacy is to be able to "tell someone where to go and have them looking forward to the trip"!

I thought the art of diplomacy was to talk softly and carry a big stick . None of the parties seen to have talked softly first in this case.

When I was at grammar school in the UK, a smartarse remark to one of the teachers earned me a week of lunchtimes pulling a heavy roller up and down the cricket pitches. As far as I remember, I didn't think it was unfair at all and whining to my parents involved would have caused me a world of pain

[mashman]

Cut your hair because we said so. What is the reason for having to have one's haircut above the collar? As a show of respect? I was kicked out of school for a week/until hair was cut nearly 30 years ago and some schools are still overly fuckin ridiculous about it? If girls can have long hair, then why can't boys? What a load of nazi north korean bullshit Money well spent.