There is nothing quite like the petty despotism of the public school system. A boy from McMinnville, Tennessee, was suspended after coming to Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary School with a haircut deemed inappropriate by the principal. It was a "high and tight" military-style haircut that the boy had requested so that he would look more like his step-brother, an active-duty soldier.

The principal did not budge, leaving the boy's mother no choice but to shave his head so that he could come back to school, according to USA Today:

"I did shave his head," Stinnett said Thursday. "With no hair, he looks sick all the time." The incident upset Adam, who wants to follow Bloodworth's path into military service, his mother said. "They crushed my son's dreams," she said of the school officials. "They made him feel upset. They broke his heart. He didn't deserve that."

For extra irony, the school is actually named after Medal of Honor recipient and Navy Corpsman David Robert "Bobby" Ray, who was killed in Vietnam while administering first aid to wounded soldiers.

Why is it okay for public school officials to place totally unnecessary, soul-crushing restrictions on students?