Child's mohawk causes debate

[PHANTOM21]

AUBURN, California (AP) -- It used to be that schoolchildren might get their mouths washed out for using blue language. These days at Pleasant Ridge Elementary School, they're more likely to have their hair washed out -- for sporting a blue mohawk.

Parents of a 6-year-old boy say they plan to consult an attorney after a school principal washed bright blue dye out of their son's punk-style haircut.

Levey Padocs Jr.'s father said he allowed his son to get the distinctive 'do more than a month ago for behaving better in class.

But parents of the boy's kindergarten classmates complained the haircut would spoil an upcoming class photo, so Principal Derek Cooper said he washed the boy's hair in the nurse's office after getting permission from the boy's mother.

The boy's father said neither he nor the mother approved the washing. They plan to discuss the situation with an attorney.

"Leave him alone. He's not a problem child. He's not hurting anyone," Levey Padocs Sr. said. "He's an individual, and that's how he's expressing his individuality."