An African-American girl may be expelled from a private school in Orlando if she doesn’t cut and shape her natural hair, according to a news report.

Vanessa VanDyke, 12, said school officials gave her one week to decide whether to change her hair or leave Faith Christian Academy, where she has attended since third grade. Vanessa’s mother told WKMG-TV she will not change her daughter’s hair, which has been in the same style all year.

She said school officials didn’t threaten to expel her daughter until after the family complained that children at school were bullying Vanessa about her hair.

“It says that I’m unique,” Vanessa said. “First of all, it’s puffy and I like it that way. I know people will tease me about it because it’s not straight.”

More trending stories

The honor student told the TV station that while she didn’t want to leave the school, she would do so before she would accept being forced to change her hair.

Read more of the story here.

More Popular Headlines

About the Author

Keep Reading

KSU said Monday a reported gas leak in the H building caused service outages impacting the Marietta campus. (AJC FIle)

Featured

Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo