MONT BELVIEU, Texas — Black student faces discrimination due to his dreadlocks

DeAndre Arnold is a senior at Barbers Hill High School who is being withheld from school events due to having dreadlocks. 

Arnold’s family is of Trinidadian descent, and it has been a cultural and family tradition to grow dreadlocks that can grow long enough to reach the hips. Arnold has been growing his since seventh grade. 

Arnold and his mother have carefully worked to style his hair so as not to violate the school dress code, despite openly disagreeing with the policies. The school eventually told Arnold and his parents that he would face in-school suspension if he did not cut his dreadlocks. Arnold is now suspended. 

The district is now barring Arnold from attending the graduation ceremony, prom and attending classes. Local residents and activists have expressed their condemnation of the school’s actions. 

Arnold and his mother have expressed that they have  no intention of cutting his hair and are continuing to argue that the district has a discriminatory policy in place.  

PETERSBURG, Fla. — Boys form choir group that sings in the bathroom

A group of 15 boys at Gibbs High School came together to form a choir. The choir, different from all others, performs in the boys bathroom. They go by the name “Mens Bathroom Choir.”

The group posted videos of themselves singing on YouTube and TikTok and promptly went viral. Their YouTube channel now has almost 85,000 subscribers. The group has even been offered a sponsorship from a sheet music company. 

The group said they decided to form when they noticed the particularly nice acoustics of the bathroom, noting that the sound filled the room very well. 

While the whole thing began as a joke, the students eventually started meeting two times a week and have gained a designated senior directing the choir.

After the success of the Mens Bathroom Choir on YouTube and TikTok, other schools have reported finding students grouping up to sing in their bathrooms as well, hoping to get in on the fun.

The boys have also spawned a trend on video platforms YouTube and TikTok where groups of boys have also started YouTube channels and TikTok accounts featuring their own bathroom choirs.

CHICAGO — Basketball team incident causes punishment of staff and students

On the weekend of Dec. 27, the Lincoln Park High School basketball team went on an unsanctioned trip to Detroit to play in a tournament. The tournament lasted several days. 

After Chicago Public Schools student protections began the first of several investigations looking at the three adults who went on the trip, it was found that there was sexual misconduct during the trip on the part of both the staff and students. 

Following the investigations, both the principal and the assistant principal were terminated, as well as the head basketball coach. The team was then barred from competing for the rest of the season. CPS has been reluctant to release more information or statements on the progress of the investigations.

Many parents are unhappy with CPS’s decision to suspend the team and are petitioning for their students to continue playing despite the firing of their coach. The petition currently has over 1,500 signatories. 

Varsity players from the team have continued to show up to games that they would have played in to protest their suspension.