To the One Person Who Voted No to Reinstating Kamryn to Caprock Academy

3/31/14
 
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by Tony Posnanski,

from The Huffington Post,
3/27/14:

Kamryn Renfro wanted to support her friend who is fighting cancer. Her friend, Delaney Clements, has been battling a rare childhood cancer since 2010. Delaney lost all of her hair through the treatments.

So 9-year-old Kamryn wanted to do what she could.

She asked her mom if she could shave her head in support of her friend. Her mother of course said yes and Kamryn shaved her head.

She also violated her school’s dress code policy and was told she couldn’t come to school.

The dress code “was created to promote safety, uniformity, and a non-distracting environment for the school’s students,” Catherine Norton Breman, president and chair of the academy’s board of directors, said in a statement. “ Under this policy, shaved heads are not permitted.”

Outraged, Kamryn’s mother went to Facebook and the media. Huge numbers of people showed their support and rightfully so. Caprock Academy was very quick to react and they voted 3 to 1 to have Kamryn reinstated in school. The mother and daughter were very happy with the result and are moving on to bigger things.

After reading about this story, there is still one part that bothers me. Actually, it bothers me a lot.

One person said no.

After knowing the story, the character of Kamryn and the reason behind her shaving her head, how could that person still say no? After seeing pictures of the children together all over the Internet and the masses of people calling a 9-year-old courageous and brave, how could one person say no?

So to that one person, the one who said no, I challenge you to visit St. Jude’s Hospital for one day.

And yet, one person said no. No to a girl who shaved her head because of a dress code.

A 9-year-old does not have money to donate and valuables to give. The true measure of a human is what they are willing to sacrifice to make others better around them. Kamryn gave up her hair. I am pretty sure that to a 9-year-old girl, hair is extremely important. Yet, she was proud to cut it off to support Delaney. Did she cure Delaney by doing it? Well, no. But for one moment, she made an 11-year-old girl who lost all of her hair feel special. That is more than anyone else at Caprock Academy did.

So yes, the story is over and yes, the little girl is back at school. I am happy the story did not go any further and honestly I hope that every talk show and morning show wants to talk to these young women. Women who understand what friendship is.

So to the one person who voted no — the One in the 3 to 1 voting…

I hope one day you will understand how courageous a young lady in your school actually is.

Because today you have no idea.

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