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Original poster

Children with dreadlocks, any opinions please?

89 replies

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 25/02/2008 14:35

My friends children are 1/2 swedish 1/2 irish and they have washed but never brushed or shampooed their hair, so they have naturally formed curly dreadlocks.
My friends do the same, and their DC's hair looks really cute, but one is about to start school and I worry he may be picked on for it.
I also worry what they would do about nits (hot topic as we have them at the moment)
My friends seem very relaxed about it and aren't worried at all, but I know how mean children can be.

Would you judge a child/ his parents at your school if they were the same?

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Blandmum · 25/02/2008 19:49

People with dreads can get head lice

DualCycloneCod · 25/02/2008 19:51

thats a myth abotu not washing your hair

that said

i ahev NO OPINION ON THIS MATTER

OverMyDeadBody · 25/02/2008 19:54

I thought of dreading DS's hair, as it's long and gets in his eyes, but won't if he could still get lice, they'd have to be chopped off!

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nkf · 25/02/2008 19:55

I thought the hair was washed but not with shampoo.

I think dreadlocks are a bit old fashioned to be honest. And on white people, I think they're a bit naff. But kids can get away with things that adults can't so I imagine they look quite appealing.

If they're in a relatively conservative area, the parents of their school friends will feel sorry for the childen and sneery towads the parents.

Mercy · 25/02/2008 20:00

Just for hte record.

People of Afro-Caribbean origin or descent who have true dreadlocks do wash their hair.

WHen I mean true dreadlocks I means as opposed to cornrows, braids etc.

Surely if the hair is tied back then nits are less of a problem?

Blandmum · 25/02/2008 20:05

hair tied back helps, but small children are very prone to head to head contact (think of them huddled up playing), and that is what is perfect at spreading lice.

Since dd went to primary school (year3) we haven't had anything like so many cases of nits, because the keep at more of a distance as they get older

DloeufyDoo · 25/02/2008 20:07

It's the usual thing...I am sure we have all heard it in one form or another.Hitler very clean and nice neat short hair./Jesus ?re washing, wore sandals and may have had long hair.

Mercy · 25/02/2008 20:11

Actually MB if I think about it most Afro-Caribbean children (that I know) do NOT have locs but they do have braids etc which are undone and brushed out and redone on a regular basis.

I only really know adults with dreadlocks.

Blandmum · 25/02/2008 20:12

No idea what the norm is re dreads, plaits etc. my only comments have been about nits1

terramum · 25/02/2008 21:06

mumofhelen I don't see my HV so haven't got much basis to compare...but at yours if she is truly that judgemental.

KerryMum · 25/02/2008 21:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

noddyholder · 25/02/2008 21:50

my ex dp who I lived with for 6+yrs had really long dreads and although they got wet in teh shower he didn't shampoo them either and he was v clean and v vain and always smelt gorgeous

FourPlusOne · 25/02/2008 22:06

Don't know any children with dreads but they can be washed. Don't know why so many people seem to think that dreads are not washed. You can just pat shampoo all over them.

Nothing wrong with the children not using shampoo. I assume that they are being washed with water.

Would think it would be hard to get nits out of them though, if they were to catch them.

MrsMattie · 25/02/2008 22:18

I really can't stand locks on white people, to be brutally honest. I think it looks scruffy, and I just don't think European hair is suited to it as a style. Each to their own, though. The washing thing is irrelevant really - as many people have already said, it is perfectly possible to wash dreadlocked hair.

fishie · 25/02/2008 22:26

mrs mattie your name is apt for this thread.

what a silly thing to judge small children on.

MrsMattie · 25/02/2008 22:30

Urrr, I haven't judged a small child, seeing as I have never even seen a white child with dreadlocks, and I certainly wouldn't treat any child differently because of what they looked like, anyway. However, I am entitled to my opinion. Some people might say a mohawk looks 'chav-ish' or that dyed hair on a child is horrible or whatever. I think dreadlocks on European hair looks ghastly. OK?

ravenAK · 25/02/2008 22:32

I had dreadlocks for a few weeks as a crusty student type (I'm white, with fine hair - so probably quite similar hair to the young children of Swedish/Irish background in the OP) & it wasn't a success. My scalp itched constantly & they did smell - not an absolutely disgusting offensive reek, but a bit 'woolly' - it was noticeable to me, so I imagine anyone else who got close enough could smell it too.

OTOH, the mate I was copying looked gorgeous & didn't smell at all (also white, but thicker, coarser hair). So it's probably not possible to generalise that they're always/never minging.

If they were my kids I'd probably just keep an eye out for nits, & if/when they got them the hair would come off & be kept short & combed from then on.

nooka · 25/02/2008 22:54

I agree with Mrs Mattie dreads on white people generally aren't very attractive, but that may be because I have generally only seen them on people who are otherwise pretty scruffy, and their hair looks matted, dirty and unkempt. dd's hair would probably dread nicely as it is very fine and goes into a bird's nest at every opportunity (there is no way we could avoid using shampoo, as she gets stuff into it on a regular basis - maple syrup for example is great for matting hair nicely!). On the other hand a friend of mine from work had a brother with the most beautiful dreads, which were very obvioulsy both clean and styled. So a lot of variation is possible. I would guess if the dreads were of the styled and attractive variety then they would be well recieved and if they were of the unkempt and smelly variety then they would not.

themildmanneredjanitor · 26/02/2008 10:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

vinhotinto · 26/02/2008 10:14

Thanks Martianbishop I will pass that on to dp, he has already said that if he got nits he would cut them off straight away.
His dreadlocks are very thin and suit him well, a lot of people who are not used to dreadlocks want to touch them.
That said we are very careful to comb out dd's hair every day unless we have braided it.
I would not like her to have locks because of nits more than anything.

Spidermama · 26/02/2008 10:22

I think that cow towing to small mindedness is a very bad message to send out to children. Just because so many people are so dedicated to fitting in it doesn't mean everybody should have to.

I really like dreads. I reckon they'd have a mixture of opinions with some kids thinking they looked cool and others being frightened, weird and small minded like many of the posters on here.

It never fails to amaze me how desperate people are and what lenghts they will go to to fit in with the mainstream. Why? I thought we were teaching our kids to be themselves first and foremost.

Five year olds are quite capable of asking for haircuts anyway. If the child wanted to comb out the dreads and have a more common style then of course the parents should oblige. Otherwise it's pandering to predjudice and very bad for the child and for society at large.

Blu · 26/02/2008 10:34

I think kids with little dreads look gorgeous, and have never comeacross kids being 'picked on' for something like that. More likely, I suppose, if parents are taking it upon themselves to worry on the children's behalf - behind pursed lips...

Of course people washed locksed hair! And if done nicely it is an extremely time-consuming business, twisting and keeping it all neat - not for 'negligent' parents at all.

cory · 26/02/2008 10:37

MrsMattie on Mon 25-Feb-08 22:18:33
"I really can't stand locks on white people, to be brutally honest. I think it looks scruffy, and I just don't think European hair is suited to it as a style. "

What about the white children whose hair grows that way naturally? Mine did, though it was washed, brushed and shampooed. It just immediately snapped back into the way it wanted to grow. Should I have been bullied?

And what about all the mixed-race children? How dark does your skin have to be? Do you measure it with a Munsell chart before you take your child to the hairdresser. Lots of Black Mums have white-looking children- or even one white-looking child out of the whole family.

Have we got anything better to do with today than worrying about other people's haircuts?

noddyholder · 26/02/2008 10:53

well said spider and cory sometimes mn shocks me with its small mindedness.thank god i live in brighton

moljam · 26/02/2008 11:14

who cares- theyre not your children.the problems youve said about havent started yet-let them be!
i get fed up with people having opinion and feeling they must tell me whether they know me or not on ds2 hair.who cares?hes happy healthy,and my child not theres

also what does theyre race have to do with theyre hairstyle?