<p>Son had dreads from age 13 to the end of the first semester of college. It was a better alternative to us than tattoos or piercing. He looked cool running on the soccer field.(where various hairstyles are a way of being an individual). He avatar icon on facebook was a Komondor(dreadlocked dog). A big plus for him, girls seemed to like to touch his hair.
My wife and I were trepidatious at first, but eventually got well used to his hair. Some folks always gave a double take and seemed disapproving, but most in our small community liked him as a person and thought the hair was a cute youthful phase,(though a long time phase.)
For college visits and interviews, and driver’s test, he tied the hair into a pony tail.
There was also the on and off beard. I guess he really liked to grow and experiment with his hair!</p>