Long hair/ short hair

[MichelleMyBelle]

Sorry, but I would have knocked her teeth down her throat! Believe that!

It happened so quick I was more stunned than anything. When the French teacher (this was in a hallway on my way to class) saw what she was doing, she called her by name and I turned around.

My jacket was burning and a boy put it out with some Gatorade. I didn't even know my jacket was burning.
I was like, 'hey man why you throwing drinks'.

Until I took off my jacket and saw the burned hole. I was pissed. She was already being whisked away by security. (yes we had security at my school).

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

Someone threatened to do this to me in 10th grade. Along with cutting it. This was always my fear growing up too.

I always had long hair and I didn't really receive negative teasing over it. I'd just get from people 'can I get some of your hair, I want to cut your hair and keep it.' erplexed Mostly from adults and this used to creep me out. I never knew how to answer that. :/
I got teased over other things.

This was the main reason why I wore my hair buns. It was a huge bun and girls use to tease me and say 'hey birds nest'. I couldn't win for losing.

Finally I didn't care by the end of sophmore year. The girl that tried to burn my hair stayed FAR AWAY from me. The principal told her if she came near me he would personally make sure she would be expelled.

I was a pretty good student stayed to myself but I was a geek. Science club, school newspaper, debate team, ran track. So the faculty knew me in a good way.

 

[Nonie]

I've never been teased about my hair, whether short or long. Mind you, my long is a little past SL so I don't know if that qualifies but it's the long I know.

 

[Sugar]

The only time I was teased about my hair is when I was real young and my Mom just up and BC'd my hair one day. My cousin's and the neighborhood kids teased me all summer. Needless to say there is no BC in my future..EVER.

 

[beans4reezy]

My sophomore year in high school my hair was almost waist length. I always wore a long braid or bun. Well, for career day I wore my hair down, pressed and curled. This girl tried to set my hair on fire with a match and burned my blazer instead. The French teacher witnessed. She got suspended for 5 days.

Girls can be mean as hell.

That's it? I would have called for her to be expelled or at the very least, they should have put her in another school.

 

[JustSimplyTish]

Some of these stories are sad....People can be so mean....

I never had short hair in school it was always long....But I never got teased for it being long

As an adult I have had from shaved to waist length...and I have never been teased ...

Oh wait....My son is 8 y/o and just last week he has this kid in his class that told him...

"Thats why your mom is bald headed" When he said this I got so furious because this kid has bullied my son all year...I said and you tell him his mom is fat, has a bad weave and walks with a limp (all true, but wrong nonetheless)....My son said ...Mommy!!! That is not nice I am not saying that....My husband was looking at me in pure shock like wtfff ...and then I came back to earth and said....I am so sorry, you are right that was so wrong and I am not sure why I said that...He said It's okay Mommy, I was mad at first too but I just walked away and was the bigger boy right?? I was like right....I felt like so BADDD and my husband was still giving me the side way eye like....Are you crazy LOL...Hey I got caught up

 

[EccentricRed]

It is hard growing up in the suburbs. While I was in elementary school my hair was to my midback, and even after a unwarrented haircut at a salon my hair was around APL. My cousins used to act like they were going to cut my hair on a regular basis. One of them (Who's mother decided to put a relaxer in her hair at age FOUR) has never had hair past her chin. She keeps really cute short cuts.

When I got the JHS, that is when a lot of the Black girls (wasn't THAT many of us) that I know from the community all got together. A good portion of those girls had long hair. To make it worse, I did not really KNOW how to do my hair. The only time my hair was done was when I got it relaxed and my hairdresser would always put it in these huge pincurls that I loved. The only time I got complements was when I had freshly relaxed hair.

In HS I tore my hair apart. I used every single bad hair product on Earth. I straighted my hair on a regular basis, curled it...overrelaxed it...it was all bad. It think it was hard because many of my black friends had long hair. In addition, I went to school with mostly white students so I was constantly compared to white girls, mostly who had long hair. I had a few people that clowned me here and there about it. My hair was pretty short by the time I got to my senior year. I could only pull it back in pigtails, which of course cause my hair to break off pretty badly. I wasn't tormented, but I can definately think back to the specific people that made comments.

I just remembered how bad my self esteem was because I didn't have "good hair" (ya'll know the mentality). I think my hair struggles even hurt my mothers feelings (When she was a child to a teenager, her hair was WL) and she was there with me every step of the way trying to find a new way to get my hair back. Thank God LHCF finally helped me to get it right...

 

[preciouslove0x]

My hair was also SL so that was seen as acceptable at my school. Then again I may have been teased by my short hair... just don't remember... I DO remember being teased because of my big nose and full lips. :/ Oddly the only thing people ever teased anyone about was being overweight and "big" foreheads. I can still feel the pain some of the girls had to endure in elementary school. Kids are TOO cruel.

 

[Tiye]

It happened so quick I was more stunned than anything. When the French teacher (this was in a hallway on my way to class) saw what she was doing, she called her by name and I turned around.

My jacket was burning and a boy put it out with some Gatorade. I didn't even know my jacket was burning.
I was like, 'hey man why you throwing drinks'.

Until I took off my jacket and saw the burned hole. I was pissed. She was already being whisked away by security. (yes we had security at my school).

Security is normal and necessary in some areas - in fact I'm not crazy about the idea that some public schools believe that security is unnecessary (does Columbine ring a bell??). But still ... I don't get why she wasn't expelled - she could have seriously injured or even killed you.

I feel sad reading some of your stories. No one ever made fun of my hair. When I was growing up it was short, but thick and healthy. In fact the only comments I got were from people who did my hair about it being thick coz it was still a lot to do even though it was short. I remember one girl at the start of hs asking me why my hair wasn't long and I thought it was a weird question. Like - do I look like the kind of person who's supposed to have long hair?? Truth is I would have been happy for longer hair but at that point in life I wasn't retention focused, and didn't even know that length retention was possible - at that time we all assumed it was a genetic thing.

 

[shai_butta]

My hair was always "long" growing up (varying between APL and BSL) and I got compliments on it...when it was done. See, my mom hated salons, wasnt really savvy to salon culture so she always did my hair. Therefore that fresh from the salon swingin, shiney, 'done' look wasnt really something I had in my life. It was actually usually out, kinda wild lookin, and dependin on the day, too dry or too greasy or both. I'd get teased sometimes for having all that hair and not keeping it done (its own extension of the oreo accusation ) And eventually the words probably got to me because after HS I started going to salons a bit more often resulting in a few aggressive trims (the last being a bit past SL last summer), and doing what friends were doing (excessive heat, grease, stronger relaxers "so they don't grow out as fast" wtf). I didn't mind until I saw a pic of myself from HS w my hair hangin down so long, I joined LHCF to get myself back where I was then, but with healthier practices.

 

[Eritreladiee]

I've had long hair, short hair, been bald and have never been teased about the length in school.

I was teased (by black dudes) for the texture, called jheri curl and pubes (the norm was relaxed/straightened) The days I came in with my hair straightened, they were doing back flips. Then 2 days later I'd come back with my natural hair and they'd be like "noooooo what happened?!" uhh... i washed it...Anyway, these dudes were really invested in my hair-- I saw one of them like 5 years later and he was yelling jheri curl across the street

I know my hair looks like a jheri curl or curly perm and it's really annoying. I'm still somewhat self conscious about it, like I make an effort not to go outside with wet hair or use gels.

I remember one time I went to the salon (with my hair damp) to get my hair straightened. I walked up to the stylist and asked if she could do it and she said "NO!" with a really stank attitude. So I turned around and as I started walking away, she called me back and started lecturing me about how I can't have the best of both worlds How I was confused and needed to make up my mind if I want my hair curly or straight She thought I had naturally straight hair, curly permed it and now wanted to press it.

 

[MOTHEROF3NATURALLY]

I got teased for having short hair, because I cut my hair off in 6th grade!! When i was in Middle School I never got teased for my hair, because everyone was wearing all different types of hairstyles then long and short! But i love my hair natural now as an adult, because kids can be so very mean then and now days.

 

[RosesBlack]

I had about tailbone length hair as a kid and constantly had older kids and some adults pull my hair, ask me why my Mama let me have a weave and I didn't even know what that was. As a young adult I had short hair and was made fun of by some people for having a lil fro. It was all asinine.

 

[LunadeMiel]

I've always had long hair (except when I would decide to wear it short). However, I always got teased for having doo doo braids

 

[locabouthair]

I had short 4b hair that didnt grow past my ears. I remember the girls in my class would try and get me to eat foil so it could grow my hair It wasnt until I turned 13 that my hair grew to SL because I wore braids. I used to get teased ALL THE TIME. "People would say oh that 4th grader has more hair than you". "If I had your hair I'd get a weave".

 

[YaniraNaturally]

As a kid I only got teased when my hair was in braids (practically 365 days). People wouldn't tease me on a daily basis but it if we started arguing someone was bound to throw out the oh so clever "weavy wonder." I also got made fun of for being able to "hula hoop through a cheerio."

Honestly every time someone made fun of my braids it stung, but the skinny jokes didn't really bother me (because overweight kids got it much worse ). But it certainly didn't hurt enough to make me feel depressed about it. You had to have THICK skin to go to my school.

ETA: My high school had security too. You had to swipe to enter the school every morning with your ID.

 

[curlicarib]

I've had long hair, short hair, been bald and have never been teased about the length in school.

I was teased (by black dudes) for the texture, called jheri curl and pubes (the norm was relaxed/straightened) The days I came in with my hair straightened, they were doing back flips. Then 2 days later I'd come back with my natural hair and they'd be like "noooooo what happened?!" uhh... i washed it...Anyway, these dudes were really invested in my hair-- I saw one of them like 5 years later and he was yelling jheri curl across the street

I know my hair looks like a jheri curl or curly perm and it's really annoying. I'm still somewhat self conscious about it, like I make an effort not to go outside with wet hair or use gels.

I remember one time I went to the salon (with my hair damp) to get my hair straightened. I walked up to the stylist and asked if she could do it and she said "NO!" with a really stank attitude. So I turned around and as I started walking away, she called me back and started lecturing me about how I can't have the best of both worlds How I was confused and needed to make up my mind if I want my hair curly or straight She thought I had naturally straight hair, curly permed it and now wanted to press it.

Pretty much the identical experience. I never liked to comb my hair, so I cut it into a twa at a young age (11/12ish). I was ALWAYS accused of having a jheri curl - the one thing I hated above all else. They were VERY drippy. Kids made fun of the fact that I had a twa. But the one thing that I remember is that I would cut my hair at the end of summer and by the end of the school year, I'd have more hair than all the girls making fun of me. It drove a few of them to the brink and I was regularly accused of the dreaded weave - because nobody could possibly grow a full head of hair every year.......

 

[belldandy]

everyone gets teased though, for different reasons

 

[a_shoe_6307]

I always had long hair growing up and it was very thick and curly. The few black girls I went to school with had SL or shorter hair and relaxers or curls and would constantly call me names because I was natural and had long hair and my dad's Asian eyes. I would beg my mom to press or relax my hair and she wouldn't. In high school they called me "big perm" because my ponytail was so thick and and bushy (so thick that I could only get a ponytail holder around it twice and the only way I could use the even the big hair barrettes or clips was when my hair was pressed). I know they probably would have killed for my MBL hair, but at the time it was very hurtful.

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

Security is normal and necessary in some areas - in fact I'm not crazy about the idea that some public schools believe that security is unnecessary (does Columbine ring a bell??). But still ... I don't get why she wasn't expelled - she could have seriously injured or even killed you.

I went to school before Columbine. 18 years ago for me. My school was one of the first in my district to have security guards and metal detectors on the doors. It was a big deal back then. We even made the national news. It was so violent.

I forget about how old I am sometimes.

They had bigger fish to fry. Like drug traffic, gang wars, rapes (in the school). so my little jacket burning was like whatever. yes thats how they treated it. I'm just glad I made it through alive. 4 rough years. I dont go back for reunions.

 

[Boujoichic]

I got teased in school mercilessly (elementary and most of middle school) but never about my hair I was lil chubby and very quiet this put a target on my back. My hair has always been a decent length what some would consider long at different times between shoulder and apl Until high school when I cut off all my hair twice (shaved it once) but it would always grow back fairly quickly my mom always warned "Keep cutting off your hair it will not grow back you will cut the life out of it".

 

[Uber]

it really depends on what you call long hair. My SL hair was considered long. Even though I thought it was short I got told it was long. I never got teased. I never really noticed that others had "short" hair, I'm talking EL or NL until I started visiting the boards and realised there were people at these lengths trying to get to SL. I noticed looooong hair though- APL or beyond.

I also really didn't notice chewed up breaking relaxed hair until LHCF boards. Now I see it everywhere.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

Other than being called crazy for my multiple BCs...no.

 

[MizAvalon]

I've always had long hair and was mostly complemented on it. I had a friend who was attacked in junior high with by two angry girls with scissors. They cut her WL hair down to SL. She had to switch schools.

OMG!!

If I were her mother, I would have made those two girls lives hell. They and their parents would still be suffering the consequences from that assault years later. Court, juvenile detention, a monetary settlement for pain and suffering, expulsion from the school, I would have pursued every avenue possible trying to ruin them.

 

[SignatureBeauty]

I was never teased for my hair and it was a decent length I guess, I just got teased for having a Big Sade Forehead, but that didn't bother me LOL!!, In high school I would cut my hair and it would grow back and I would get the weave check, I relaxed my own hair and done pretty damn good in caring for it with no internet and all that good stuff we have now, and I LOVED pink oil moisturizer, it never harmed my hair at all back then and that was all I knew to moisturize with.

 

[aquajoyice]

Yeah, I had short "bad" hair as a child and was teased about it....mostly by family members. My mother washed/pressed my hair every 2 weeks, and it never grew past a scraggly neck length. I was athletic in school, so a press wouldn't last very long, and before you know it, here comes the bead-de-bees...my brother would be the first to point them out.

At age 20, I got my first relaxer, but since I didn't know how to properly care for my hair, I didn't see much progress. Fast-forward MANY years to the advent of hairboards, mainly LHCF, which has been a God-send for me. I transitioned to texlaxing (which I love, love) and started seeing progress in length and thickness.

Now, when my family sees my hair (even my brother), noboday says a thing!!

ETA: I almost forgot: my dad has always supported me. He never "made fun" of my hair as a child, and now he compliments me everytime he sees it down.

Your Dad sounds awesome

 

[AimWard]

I was teased, but it wasn't too bad so it never really got under my skin. I got my last perm freshman year of HS and by junior year, I was sporting an afro puff bigger than my head. For the most part, everyone liked it (Lady of Rage's afro puff song was out) but I did pick up the nickname cocoa puffs. Actually, I was teased more for my Ashantiesque sideburns.

 

[Chaosbutterfly]

My jacket was burning and a boy put it out with some Gatorade. I didn't even know my jacket was burning.
I was like, 'hey man why you throwing drinks'.

"Thats why your mom is bald headed" When he said this I got so furious because this kid has bullied my son all year...I said and you tell him his mom is fat, has a bad weave and walks with a limp (all true, but wrong nonetheless)....My son said ...Mommy!!! That is not nice I am not saying that.

OT: I'm really sorry that those things happened to you guys, but !!!!

Back on topic, when my hair was long, nobody was mean to me, unless my mom threaded it and/or used Sulfur 8 in it.
When either of those two things happened, it got pretty ugly.

And when it all broke off, it pretty much got worse. Everyone said that I was ugly, bald headed, and that I didn't belong in my family because they all had long hair and I didn't. Even my siblings were mean to me about my hair. My mom tried to be nice about it but she was not good at that. She was always like...oh, remember when you had such beautiful hair? Why did you mess it up? It used to look so good. She didn't mean to like...hurt my feelings, but she still did.
Bottom line is, my self esteem took a big hit over my hair.

So I openly admit that half of my hair journey is a quest for revenge. I've always loved long hair, so I'm doing it for me too, but hell yeahz, I'm on that Count of Monte Cristo ish. I know many of those same people today, and my hair is longer and healthier than theirs. My hair is finally longer than all of my siblings's. And I'm closing in on my mom too. Now, when I wear my hair out, nobody says nuftin.
I'm still super far from goal length, or even a length where I can consider my hair long, but it feels good that even at my current length, I can shut down all these people who made my life hell.