A mum sparked debate after
publicly venting her frustration over her six-year-old son's school rules which
banned him from wearing earrings in class.
Natasha Valdivieso says her son
was told by the Texas school that he would either have to remove the earrings
or place plasters over them so they couldn't be seen.
She vowed to fight to have the
ruling changed following the incident earlier this year after it made her son
feel "unsure of himself" in front of his new classmates.
When Natasha questioned the
decision, she says she discovered an element of the school's policy which
infuriated her further; she claims the same rule did not apply to girls.
She says her son was left feeling
uncomfortable when he was asked by one of his friends why he had plasters on
his ears, as reported by Honey.
"Why are they making him feel
so different like wearing earrings is bad like it's a crime?" she asked.
"It made my son feel so
unsure about himself.
"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 are doing a
gender discrimination as well."
Natasha said she allowed her son
to get his ears pierced as he had wanted to be like his big brother.
The mum challenged the school to
revise their policy and said she was standing up for other parents who may face
the same situation in the future.
"We are in 2020 now you know,
I can understand if we were back in the day," she added.
The authority responsible for schools in the district released a statement at the time to say male students in elementary, intermediate or middle school could not wear earrings but high school male students could.