Dreads are cool and if he wants them, that should matter way more than what other people think. He can get his hair treated so each strand will catch all the other strands; that is what makes them form into dreadlocks. Dreadlocked hair is just as easy to clean as any other type of hair style. If he gets tired of it later, he can just cut it off and grow it out non-dreaded again. But once it’s dreaded it cannot be put back.