Mohawks: fashion faux pas?

by Shannon Murphy

It all happened sometime in September of this year, when two good friends were sitting in a bedroom listening to some music, and senior Conor Dolan looked up and asked his friend to give him a mohawk. The friend agreed, and Dolan walked away happily adorned with the "punk" hairstyle.
There are people who agree with tenth grade Secretary Diane Jones that, "Mohawks are an ugly hairstyle, but people should have the right to wear them."
Some, like freshman Kortney Frederick wonder, "Why would someone even want to do that to themselves?"
Dolan, fingering the 6-inch mohawk he has sported since around the beginning of this school year said, "Teachers are pretty cool about it; they either grin at me and shake their heads or ask if I've lost a bet."
Many parents find mohawks a scary possibility for their children and are often against them. Dolan commented, "I didn't ask to get one, and at first [my parents] didn't even notice. My dad walked into my bedroom and talked for awhile before he looked up and was like, 'woah!' My parents were really mad."
There is the exceptional parent like English and Film Studies teacher Jody McCabe who said, "I wouldn't care if my son Ben got a mohawk as long as he was a good kid and did well in school."
There is a common misconception that students with mohawks are "weird and kind of scary," as Frederick put it. McCabe commented, "They're seen as derelicts, as people who just want attention, but it's not a big deal."
Ninth grade secretary Pam Hickenbotham, whose son attends Boy Scout meetings with Dolan, agreed, "It's just a hairstyle; after all, we're all weird in our own way."
"Speak for yourself," mumbled a nearby counselor.
Some students and teachers alike find the upright hairstyle cool and fun to look at. "Sometimes someone will just come up behind me and touch it," commented Dolan.
PE teacher Jill Pearson said, "It's an awesome hairstyle, if you're willing to put in the effort. But it takes a certain person to have one; not everyone can pull it off."
The people who choose this hairstyle say that there are some inconveniences that come with having a mohawk. "It was pretty awesome until leaves and stuff started getting stuck in it when I walked under trees," said freshman Michael Deveist, who had flaunted a large mohawk one summer break.
Dolan said, "I like it better up [in a fan], but it's too much work and I get lazy.
When Dolan thought of his mohawk's future, he said, "I don't know, maybe I'll shorten it, but I don't want to get rid of it. I'm a strong liberal, and this is kind of like my statement to Bush."

By Stephanie Axelrod |  December 19, 2006; 8:48 AM ET
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