Friday, October 10, 2008

FREE ZACHARY SHARPLES!

Zachary Sharples, A 12-year old boy in Pinellas, Florida, has been placed in ISS because he got a Ray-Hawk haircut in support of the local baseball team, the Tampa Bay Rays. This is wrong on so many levels it is hard to know where to begin.

School officials cite their dress code which prohibits hairstyles that are distracting or disruptive. Oh brother. Let's be realistic about this. Kids are not distracted by weird haircuts. They get over it in about five seconds, especially if the teacher uses it as a teaching lesson.

"Hey, Zachary....I see you got a new 'do! Tell us what this is about!!"

That's how they could have handled it, and the kids would have learned something.

But no--into ISS he goes, as if he has used bad language or been disrespectful to a teacher.

Maybe the folks at Lincoln Middle School have not heard the news. The Tampa Bay Rays, doormats in the American League East for over a decade, have catapulted into the AL Championship Series with an exciting brand of baseball. They beat the New York Yankees. They finished ahead of the defending champion Boston Red Sox, and now face the Sox in the AL Championship.

People in Florida should be excited about this. The players are--many of them have gotten mohawk haircuts (Ray-Hawks they call them) as a sign of solidarity, fun and support. Zachary was trying to support his local team. For this he gets punished.

Sad.

We hope the Rays will get this kid a free ticket to the game. Put him on national TV and embarrass these school administrators for making a decision that reinforces whatever negative opinions the general public might have about school administrators.

Please join the Dawg in this campaign.

FREE ZACHARY SHARPLES!! GO RAYS!!