The Chop Emerges at Arrowhead High School

This year came with many new trends in clothing and technology, but most noticeably, hair.  A major haircut, preferably called the chop, has been a huge trend with girls. This trend has been at its peak, especially at Arrowhead High School.

“There are probably as many reasons for chopping off hair as there are women who do it, but there are some common threads,” Robert Thompson explains to The Houston Chronicle . Thompson is a director of the Bleier Center for Television & Popular Culture at Syracuse University. The common threads Thompson refers to include the following: celebrities cutting of their hair, and the amount of time and money people save when they cut their hair.

Arrowhead senior Alli Kroeninger, says “[The] new school year means new hair. I was a little skeptical of cutting my long hair but after having it short for about two months, I’ve fallen in love with it. I can’t picture myself with long hair anymore. Short hair just fits.”

“I feel just so refreshed and a lot lighter. The change was huge and drastic. I cut of 10 inches so it was a big change, but really I love how it turned out,” says senior Kendall Knetzger.

Nearly 12 students from Arrowhead High School said goodbye to their Rapunzel-like locks and started the trend of shorter hair. Some of these students included seniors Kroeninger, Andi Eckl, Bryn Bierman, Kendall Knetzger, Lindsay Bertram, Colette Stitch, and junior Grace Gilmore.

So what are the benefits of having short hair?

Bertram says, “Only spending 10 minutes in the morning to do my hair is the best benefit of having short hair. Altogether, not having to deal with all that hair has saved me time and especially money on shampoo and conditioner. I used to spend about $65 just on shampoo and conditioner alone, so making that last as long as possible has been a huge benefit.”

According to the Huffingtonpost.com, the average teen spends between $40 and $70 on their shampoo and conditioner, not including other hair styling products. So chopping a few inches can definitely save you some money on your products and the amount you are using.

As the school year continues, this drastic chop has been catching students’ eyes.

Senior Lauren Goetz says, “Long hair has suited me for the longest time, I could never see myself with short hair. I have dark, long hair and I’ve noticed a lot of blondes doing it so I don’t really think I would be able to pull it off as well as they could. ”

Senior Sam Benben says, “I agree with [Goetz]. [The cut] really depends if you can pull it off or not. If it works with your face shape and your style, I think that’s what it comes down to. I know I’ve had long hair since middle school, and I could never pull off short hair. Others though, they look really good with it cut above their shoulders and with lots of layers. I really like the look.”

So what’s the urge for these girls to be cutting their hair?

“My urge was definitely the new school year. It a fresh new year and that’s how
I wanted to look: fresh and different and stand[ing] out. Bold, was the word I was really going for. I went for it and it was the best decision. I’m never going to grow it long again,” says Eckl.

Eckl went from hair a few inches past her shoulders to now a drastic cut, ending an inch or two under her ear.

Stitch has had hair long and down her back since she was in elementry school, so when she came to school with it brushing her shoulders, her friends, Eckl and Kroeninger were taken by surprise.

“I think I was really pushed to chop it because of my friends. I loved the style, but didn’t have the guts to do it. People around me looked so good with it and getting encouragement from friends definitely gave me the push I needed to finally do it. I’m in love with it now and it’s so much easier to manage,” says Stich.

Overall, short hair has been a trend around Arrowhead High School, and who knows, will you be the next one for the chop?