「故事·听力」I Got Suspended Because Of My Hair

I Got Suspended Because Of My Hair

Hi, this is Nancy, and some time ago she was suspended for dying her hair. 

It all began when she was feeling a bit down and wanted to experience something new. So she thought to herself, “how about dying my hair?” She talked about it with her parents, and they were okay with it. After a while she dyed her hair pink, and she LOVED it. She looked so different, so bright and colorful. And she immediately got so much attention at school!

Suddenly, she was called into the principal's office. She had never had any problems in school before6 but he was waiting for her with a stern look on his face. He started to ask her questions about her hair, like why she did it and what she was trying to prove.

She tried to explain that she just wanted to express myself, but he said it was unacceptable in school. She was confused, because nobody had ever told her that there was a rule against dying your hair. In fact, there was NO rule like that, but it seemed that some teachers who didn’t like her had started to complain.

Then he said to her that she was suspended from school until her hair returned to its normal color. That was absolutely insane! She tried to reason with him, trying to explain that it wouldn't come off for at least a month, and she couldn’t miss a month of school, but he didn’t change his opinion.

You would think it was cool not having school for an entire month or even more, but it just meant that she would need to work even harder when she got back, or, even worse, she would need to repeat a year of school.

Once she got home, she called her parents and explained the situation. She was panicking, and they told her that they would talk about it once they returned from work.

Nancy’s parents are very rational people, so they said that they would go and talk with the principal about the situation and they would find a solution. After they had a meeting with him, they told her that he hadn’t been very constructive, and said that he wouldn’t accept her back until she had a “normal” hair color.

Her parents asked her what she wanted to do, and she said that she disagreed with his decision and that she would keep going to school, because she didn’t want to lose her chance of having a normal education because of her HAIR COLOR.

So, the next day, Nancy proudly walked into school. She saw respect in the other students’ eyes. During that time, she became a real hero at her school.

The teachers were clearly uncomfortable with the situation, but most of them decided to not tell the principal and quietly let her into the classroom, and then act like they didn’t know what was happening.

But one of them IMMEDIATELY went to the principal, and he was so angry. He called her into his office, and told that this kind of behaviour would lead to her being expelled.

She was super scared, but then she said: “This is unfair and I don’t deserve to be treated like this, there was no rule against dying my hair when I did it.”

He called her parents and informed that the school board would decide the matter of her expulsion within a month, and she would still be suspended during that time.

At home, her parents told they were proud of her for standing up for herself. They asked her again if she was sure that there was no rule against colored hair when she did it, and she was absolutely sure about it. Then they said that if the principal remained as unhelpful as he was, they would try to find a lawyer to provide legal help for them.

To her surprise, several teachers called her and said that they were on her side, but the principal wouldn’t let her off the hook so easily. They offered private tutoring, which was also quite surprising, but that just made her want to stay in school even more.

But it didn’t stop there. A lot of students started to text her about how unfair it was. And then...several of them also dyed their hair in protest. 

Also, her parents talked with the lawyer, and she explained that if the rule about hair had been added only after she dyed it, then the situation was clearly unfair and they could press charges.

Her parents explained this to the principal, and it seemed to have an effect. And besides, he couldn’t just start suspending everyone who supported her, so he was forced to let her come back to school.

Her parents asked her if she wanted to change schools, and she said no. She had been convinced by the idea that her school had really good teachers, and she had made so many new friends there who had supported her when she was in a difficult situation.

It’s funny how when she had wanted to experience something new in life, to change herself, it turned out to be something much more fundamental than her hair color.