Highlighting hair in 5th grade?

[Anonymous]

A girl in my daughter's 5th grade class is clearly having her hair highlighted (not just highlights from the sun). Nothing extreme -- just a lot of blond highlights in brown hair. This seems awfully young to me. Am I being old-fashioned and out of touch with current trends?

[Anonymous]

You're not out of touch.

Highlighting costs $, requires maintenance, and slowly, over time, damages hair. No need to jump on that train.

[Anonymous]

And this is your business ... why? How?

[Anonymous]

That is straight up weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And this is your business ... why? How?

Only obliquely, as you probably well know. If this is a "trend" among kids of her chidlren's age, it's good to know. Is she out of step? Is this unusual? Culture and values change... sometimes it's good to ask what the cultural "center" is, and an anonymous forum like this is a good place for "lite" questions of this nature.

I'm rarely offended by a question.

[Anonymous]

I do not know if this is a trend, my children are all younger. I however had my hair highlighted in fifth grade. This was in the early 1990s. It was no big deal and was just a fun thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Maybe her mom is a hair stylist. I've actually asked my hair guy about kids who get their hair highlighted. He says that he will usually just paint in a few highlights to humor them. He doesn't seem to think it is worth the time and money to do a full highlight for such a young kid.

[Anonymous]

Are you certain they're actually highlights? My mom was asked all kinds of pointed questions about my "highlighted" hair when I was in 4th-6th grade and... my hair wasn't highlighted. My hair was brownish-red and had some pretty intense blonde streaks in it. I'd post a picture if I could.

I remember another mom coming up to me when I was 11 and asking incredibly condescendingly, "Your mom let's you RINSE your hair?!" I had no idea what "rinse" meant other than washing shampoo out of my hair, so I told her that, yes, my mom let me rinse my hair all the time... My poor mother had to go and clarify THAT one later on.

[Anonymous]

If her mom wants to add chemicals to her childs hair, scalp, brain, then let her! Fomaldahyde (sp) and other harmful chemicals are known to be in hair color and highlights.

[Anonymous]

I highlighted my hair for the first time in 5th or 6th grade because my sister was in high school and was doing it to her hair. My mom saw it as something fun and never cared at all. I have been coloring my hair ever since then (I'm now 34) and am a happy, successful, well adjusted person. Who cares if a 5th grader is having fun by highlighting her hair? Live and let live.

[Anonymous]

Relax, perhaps it is not highlighted.
I know two 6 and 8 year old boy and girl siblings in my son's karate class: they have beautiful light brown hair with pale blond streaks all over! It's stunning and completely natural, I am sure.

[Anonymous]

One of my friends has her daughter's hair highlighted every now and then. I have never given it a second thought. Her kid her business.

[Anonymous]

Seems very Honey BooBoo trashy to me.

[Anonymous]

My mom gave me home perms starting in third grade and highlighted my hair all through high school. I never really thought much about it until now. I'm pretty paranoid about chemicals and would never put those chemicals on my kids' hair, lol! My mom was (and still is) just a very stylish and fashion-focused woman (much more than me) and wanted her daughters to look cute. No harm done...I turned out okay

[Anonymous]

I'm sure they are highlights. You don't just develop highlights like that overnight. I was just curious if lots of other girls do this. I guess maybe I'm a little bummed that girls this young start changing themselves to be attractive. But I do remember my mom giving me home perms at this age, so I guess that I'm just out of touch.