Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Making of a Thug

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored!" We passed exhaustion about 50 miles back. Literally can hardly hold my arms up to type.

But here's a story from my sister's neck of the woods, and Sis stories are always worth a read!

About a month ago, Sis and her spouse took in a Korean exchange student who was having issues with his host family. The young man in question does not speak English very well.

At first I thought the student was just a public school invitee, but it turns out that he's being hosted by a horrifically conservative Christian private school inconveniently located in a backwater redneck enclave near the Mason-Dixon Line. Sis has to drive him to and from this school every day, an hour round-trip.

I don't know the details, but the young man pulled a Saturday detention. Sis dropped him off at noon. When she picked him up, they had shaved his head. He was limping from all the running they made him do. He had additionally been made to do sit-ups and push-ups and yard work.

The big thing, of course, is the hair. Someone at that school shaved the kid's head.

The Facebook pictures tell it all. In the "before" pictures the little dude looks something like an Asian Justin Bieber, with one of those shaggy, combed-to-the-front, Beatles-style mops. Now? Now he looks like a thug. All he needs is a do-rag, and he could pledge a gang faster than you can say, "Some Christians are a menace to civilized society."

I guess the morons at the B******** Christian Academy don't keep up with trends. If they did, they would never shave a kid's head to the dome. I'm not sure of the legality of this in the first place, but the kid's family is in Korea. Sis is his only advocate, and she is maximum pissed. But what can she do? If the school dumps the kid, he'll have to go home.

Mind you, this young Christian Korean chappie is no blood kin to me, but if he's under my sister's roof, that makes him family. As a proud Pagan auntie, I intend to take steps.

First, I will research and call upon the bored deities sacred to the Korean people prior to the arrival of Christian missionaries. To these deities I will carry the grievances of a boy who -- whatever he did to deserve detention -- did not deserve to be shaved. I will ask the deities to speak to this young man and pull him back to their ways.

Then Ima gon' inna Philly and buy that dude a ghetto hoodie with badass graphix in a non-affiliated color. Got the hair, get the threads.


A cheerful thought to end this post: The person who shaved that poor boy's head goes into a voting booth and casts a ballot. Sweet dreams, reader!

11 comments:

The Traveler said...

Thaaaaaanks for the nightmares, lol.
I would say right now the bored dieties of Korea have their hands full with that whole bombing thing, but if you want to make things interesting for the upstanding citizens who decided that was an appropriate thing to do to a child that can't speak up or defend himself Loki is ALWAYS available ;D.

Alex Pendragon said...

Isn't that child abuse?

Anne Johnson said...

I think it's child abuse, but I don't know. Definitely emotional abuse. If a kid at Snobville High got treated that way, the parents would sue. But the school in question is a private Christian academy that makes Catholic School look like an amusement park.

Lori F - MN said...

If I was your sis I would demand an explanation of what he had done to deserve his punishment. Did the poor boy even know what he had done to get detention? Is there an embassy any closer than NYC? Contact them on the boys behalf.
Make sure this boy knows you are in his corner. You go Anne!

onelittlepagan said...

I am speechless. Absolutely speechless. Please follow the suggestions of everyone else here and let us know how this situation progresses.

Unknown said...

This is so horrible. It's reasons like this (and trust me there are a great many reasons) that I really hate living in the South, or even letting others know Im from the South. This is a totally uncalled for attack on a child and as a mother, scares me to death.

I will keep everyone affected by this in my thoughts. Big ups to you for having his back.

yellowdoggranny said...

get that boy an attorney.

Dancing With Fey said...

Oh, wow.

Definitely let us know how this goes. I hope things somehow start to get better for him.

It's good that he's got people on his side.

kimc said...

Yes, an attorney. Can you find an attorney that speaks Korean?
At least hair grows back -- but what about the emotional scars? Make sure he knows that not all religions are like that and that there are people out there who do not agree that these religious freaks have the only right answer. Kids who were raised in this atmosphere often don't know there is anything else in the world.

Illisse said...

I wonder if the ACLU would be interested?


~Illisse

Anonymous said...

The fact that the boy does not speak english very well and that this was done without the guardians let alone the parents being told I am sure is in breach of some school or state code. Children in exchange programs are the guests of this country. I would talk to a lawyer. That poor kid. The people in that school have lost all perspective and must be given a wake up call