DEAR ABBY: I'm a 14-year-old guy. I have been growing my hair out for a long time, and my bangs are now down to my nose. It looks and feels really cool.
My problem is, now that I'm in high school, adults get on my case about my hair. I can hardly go one day without some teacher yelling at me to "get your hair out of your eyes!" I flip it to the side, but they still seem annoyed.
I'm tired of hearing about it. One day, five different teachers all got mad about it. What can I say to stop people from freaking out over my hair? -- JOSH IN MICHIGAN
DEAR JOSH: Is this the only problem you're having with the teachers? Their concern may be that your hair is now so long you can no longer see the blackboard. And because they can't see your eyes, they may be unable to gauge whether you're "getting" the lesson they're trying to convey.
While you and I may think that what's inside your head is more important than what's on it, if several teachers have been commenting on your hair, it's time to do something about it.