Mother upset after being told son can’t wear earrings at Texas elementary school
(Meredith/CNN/KTRK) — A Texas mother is upset after her six-year-old son was told he can’t wear earrings to school.
Officials told her it’s against school policy, which hasn’t been updated in more than a decade. Now, Natasha Valdivieso is on a quest to make sure the district changes the policy.
“Why are they making him feel so different, like wearing earrings is bad, like it’s a crime,” Valdivieso said to KTRK. She said her son’s school, Heflin Elementary School, told her that her son, Pedro, had to either take the earrings off or place Band-Aids on them.
“It made my son so unsure of himself,” Valdivieso said. She also said that she let her son do it because he wanted to be like his big brother.
After looking into the policy further, Valdivieso said she found out girls are not banned from wearing earrings.
“I found out girls can wear earrings. I was under the impression that no child can wear earrings to school so I said if girls can wear them, why can’t boys? So now, you guys (referring to the district) are doing gender discrimination as well.”
The school district sent a statement to KTRK saying that male students in high school could wear earrings as long as it’s not a distraction. However, students younger than high school age are not allowed to have them. It also said that it will “review the rule during our annual student code of conduct committee review as we begin preparing for the 2020/2021 school year.”
Photo Credit: kmov.com/KTRK via CNN