Should a child be allowed to make decisions on their own appearance?

According to one person representing one industry, the answer is yes. I recently learned of a salon which refuses to work with parents if the employees feel the person is at an age to speak for him or herself. I then learned the age at question was 11.

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but at that age, I was not allowed to speak for myself unless the law depended on it. When I questioned this, I was told it was called bad parenting if someone could not let their 11-year-old child make their own decision.

But doesn’t it start there? If you allow someone that young make their own decision about what they want to look like, they will begin making their own decisions on other things. What they eat, what they wear, who they associate with, etc.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I call letting a child that young make all the decisions bad parenting. Perhaps this is why we have children more often than none getting more and more in trouble with the law. It all started with a haircut.

It’s my opinion that someone who refuses to work with a parent is bad business practice. It’s one thing to have an overbearing parent. It’s another completely to protect someone who is too young to make their own decisions.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that any establishment has every right to refuse business to someone who is unwilling to cooperate, but bullying that parent into trying to make their child make decisions for themselves is not a business any parent should take their child to. Parents, perhaps you should pay a little more attention to what is happening in your kids’ lives and less on what social event you might be planning your next drink at. You may learn that when your kids make their own decisions, they also let out your dirty little secrets.

It might just be me, but at that age, anything my mom decided for me, I believed to be for my own good. I was a shy child. I'm nothing like that anymore. At 11-years-old, I'm glad I had someone to speak on my behalf because I may not have made the decisions that made me the person I am today. At that age, I needed to be protected, not out fending for myself.

Then again, I'm not a parent. If you're reading this, and you have children that age, feel free to let me know whether or not you feel comfortable enough to let your child make their own decisions. I know a haircut is a simple one, and not all parents must worry about what their children do, but for those of you who feel their kids are easily influenced, perhaps this questions is targeted more to you.