Girl, 8, ‘banned’ from going to school because of her hairstyle

'My child shouldn't be punished for being herself.'

A woman in California has claimed that her daughter's school excluded the girl over her hairstyle. Tara Sysaknoi's eight-year-old daughter Layla has a buzzcut with designs shaved in to it on either side of her head. The little girl has had the hairstyle for years, her mum said. "She saw a YouTube tribute video dedicated to the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting, and the singer had shaved her hair into the shape of a heart," Tara told Yahoo Lifestyle. "Layla loved the hairstyle and asked if she could have it." Tara gave in and says Columbia Elementary School in Fresno, where Layla is a pupil, has been fine with it until recently. [caption id="attachment_301735" align="alignnone" width="1292"] Outside Columbia Elementary School[/caption]   "I got a call from the school because Layla’s teacher said her haircut was distracting," Tara said. "She’s attended the same school since she was a toddler — why is it a problem now?" The principal didn't have an issue with Layla's hair but school district's dress code forbids "hairstyles which draw undue attention, detract from the educational environment and not acceptable; i.e. unusual designs, colors, mohawks, tails, or unusual razor cuts." Given the choice of an in-school suspension or Layla being banned from the school, Tara says she chose to keep Layla at home. But when she was faced with truancy charges that could land her in prison after keeping Layla out of school for several days, Tara reluctantly sent her daughter back in. She says she hasn't heard anything from the principal since. In response, the school district said that it didn't discipline the girl and that her mum made the decision to take her out of school.