MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. -- A southern Missouri school district has suspended a pink-haired seventh-grader.

Mountain Grove Middle School student Amelia Robbins said she dyed her hair pink to honor her father, who died of cancer when she was 6 years old. She said that to her, pink is the cancer color.

The 12-year-old said that when she finished 6th grade with pink streaks in her hair, school administrators warned her not to continue wearing the color. But with her mother's permission, Amelia dyed all of her hair pink, and her school year ground to a halt just days after it started.

She doesn't think her hair color is a distraction.

The school handbook said administrators have the authority to decide whether a student is causing a distraction. Officials declined to discuss specifics of Amelia's case.