When Vinh Nguyen immigrated to Canada from Vietnam 21 years ago, her future career path seemed obvious. Aptitude tests revealed strong computer and math skills, which pointed to a career in accounting. It seemed like the perfect fit. Sure enough, Vinh quickly ended up with a secure job in accounting and computers, working for a local high school in the Kitchener area.

But something was missing.

Vinh desperately wanted to learn to speak fluent English, and although she enjoyed working with numbers and computers, her job in accounting didn't involve much human interaction. She had already invested time and money in her career, but decided to take a new direction and go back to school to learn a new trade.

"I thought about what would force me to speak and practice my English every day, all day, and decided hairdressing might be a good way to reach that goal," says Vinh.

After graduating from hairdressing, Vinh found that her new job in a hair salon was an excellent way to fine-tune her English skills. Instead of sitting in front of a computer all day, she was communicating with customers, learning how to ask good questions and then really listen in turn as her clients explained exactly what they wanted. Much to Vinh's surprise, hairdressing quickly became much more than a tool for language development. It became a passion.

I learned Vinh's story piece by piece, over the course of two years, after she became my family's hairdresser shortly after we moved to the Kitchener area. Born and raised in Vietnam, Vinh was a teenager when she decided to immigrate to North America. It wasn't easy.

Following the Vietnam War, Vinh was part of the mass departure of Vietnamese refugees from Communist-controlled Vietnam. Like many others before her, Vinh's first attempt didn't succeed. Or her second. Or her third. Twice she ended up in prison for trying to leave Vietnam. It would take Vinh almost a decade - and numerous attempts - before she was able to successfully leave Vietnam.

Suffering from hunger and intense thirst, living conditions were horrible on those overcrowded boats, a journey which sometimes took weeks or even months. Many people didn't survive, while others were robbed, raped, or worse. Vinh witnessed many horrors while trying to escape, and although she has somehow managed to put most of it behind her, she has never forgotten those she left behind.

"I don't know why I didn't get shot or die," says Vinh, who sat just inches away from others who were shot and killed. Yet Vinh says she wasn't afraid during her numerous near-misses. "I decided that I'd either be killed and then, if I was dead, wouldn't know anything any more, anyway. Or I'd be lucky and make it."

When she finally did make it to Canada, Vinh didn't have any family or friends to support her. But she was willing, even eager, to work hard and immerse herself into her new country. Number one among her goals was learning how to speak English. "And I knew working with the public, forcing myself to speak English, was the only way I was really going to learn the language."

It's now 21 years later and, in addition to learning how to speak the language of her adopted country, Vinh also owns a salon, "Beauty Hair Creations," in Kitchener. She admits the journey from Vietnam to where she is today hasn't always been an easy one, but she has no regrets. Now a mother of two, Vihn sees only a bright future ahead for her own children.

Vinh also doesn't consider those early years she spent in accounting and computers as wasted. They're skills she's been able to put to good use in her current career as a business owner and entrepreneur. "I plan to expand [my business] in the future," says Vinh, who now dreams of moving to a larger shop.

Vinh agrees that sometimes an education can take you to an unexpected place.

But it also takes the right person to recognize when it's time to cut your losses and not be afraid to explore new possibilities.

(David is Kathy's 14-year-old son. He weighs in on the fuss about explicit sex ed in school.)

None of my friends talk about sex. It just doesn't come up in conversation. If my friends and I were talking about Modern Warfare 2 or the trailer for Gears of War 3, nobody would think about suddenly announcing, "Hey guys, did you know it's impossible for a girl to get pregnant her first time?"

And if they did, they would become an instant outcast freak who nobody would ever talk to again.

The new, more explicit sex ed curriculum was supposed to counter the "misinformation" that kids get from their friends. But we don't get "misinformation" from friends. The thing is, we don't talk about it ... at least, not directly.

But we do use the Internet.

One time on MSN, my friend Brian dared me to type "blue waffle" into Google.

Now I know what a certain sexually transmitted disease looks like.

It's sort of like when someone says, "Hey, smell this." It's never a good smell. Nobody ever says, "Hey, smell the inside of my lunch kit,"

and then it turns out to have a pleasant vanilla odour.

It's the same sort of mentality when one of your friends tells you to type "pancakes" into Google image search. You don't really expect to find a picture of pancakes. But you have to know.

And then, inevitably, there's a picture of a woman pouring maple syrup over herself, complete with a pained expression on her face.

Then there's YouTube: the hub of Informal Sex Education. There's always one kid in every class who sees it as their responsibility to stay ahead of the curve. They watch all the videos on YouTube, and then make creepy jokes about dildos. And then everyone in the class has learned what a dildo is.

Some kids would still really benefit from an explicit sex ed curriculum, though. Last year, one of my friends actually thought "anus" was the fancy medical term for "penis."

But seriously, I don't understand all the fuss over the government wanting to introduce 'anal sex' and 'vaginal lubrication' into the curriculum. It's not like we can't Google it.  

Ontario planned, starting next fall, to have schools take on the responsibility of teaching our kids 'clear and explicit language' using a new sex education curriculum: In Grade 1, students would learn the proper names of body parts; by Grade 3, they would be learning about 'sexual identity and orientation.'

Not everyone was happy with this new all-inclusive sex education curriculum: members of a religious 'family focused' coalition threatened to pull their children out of school on May 10th.

Now the province is shelving the controversial curriculum.

I think schools should take an active role in helping our children become familiar and comfortable with this terminology. Whether or not parents are introducing their children to sex education, learning about sex and the proper names of body parts as part of a structured curriculum can only be a benefit to our kids.

It may be uncomfortable for us: Children in grades 6 and 7 would have been introduced to terms such as 'anal intercourse' and 'vaginal lubrication.'

Anal intercourse?

Vaginal lubrication?

Maybe schools would have taken their responsibility a little too far. Or maybe they wouldn't have. But as a mother of five who doesn't hesitate to discuss sex, reproduction, and the importance of safe sex with all of my kids, I'd rather see the pendulum swing too far in this direction than swing backwards.

(Editor's note: this entry has been changed to reflect the government's reversal on their decision.)

Your opinion: Should sex ed be more explicit?

Comment: Ontario's 'education premier' fails on sex education

A four-year-old in Dallas has been suspended because he’s refusing to cut his shoulder-length hair. Although the little boy’s long hair is a violation of the school’s dress code- a code which actually dictates the length of a student’s hair- his parents are supporting his decision.

In a televised interview, the school principal claimed the little boy’s long hair to be a distraction to the other students. The boy’s parents claim that school officials are more concerned about their son’s hair than his education. The boy now spends his days in the library, serving an in-school suspension.

This is the kind of news report that makes me wonder which parts of the story we just aren’t hearing about- those missing pieces and facts that would maybe help us ‘get it,’ instead of just shaking our heads in disbelief.

Of course it could also be a simple case of a school actually not allowing a kid to be in the classroom just because his bangs hang in his eyes a bit and his hair touches the top of his shoulders. But I like to think that there’s more to it than that. After all, this is a public school we’re talking about, right?

And it would be just plain stupid to suspend a kid because of the length of his hair, right?

The school’s dress code states that a boy’s hair must be kept out of the eyes and can’t extend below the bottom of earlobes or over the collar of a dress shirt. I’m not sure what, if any, rules they have about the length of female students’ hair.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a serious problem with any of the rules or polices of any of the schools my own five children have attended over the years. I do remember one time starting a discussion at a parent council meeting about all the school dances the school kept throwing for the grade 7s during school hours.

And to be honest, I’ve also never liked ‘On the Wall’ as a form of discipline. That’s where kids are made to face a wall outside of the school during recess time. I can understand and appreciate that sometimes the school needs a quick way to divide and conquer when things start getting out of hand in a crowded school yard. And ‘On the Wall’ can be great, I guess, for a cooling-down period. But I think it’s inappropriate to use it as a way to deal with every infraction of any kind. Like for students who forget to do or hand in their homework.

For the most part, however, I’ve never had a serious concern about any official school policy.

Until now.

Suspending a student- especially a four-year-old- simply because of his or her hair length is just stupid.