15 year old wants dreads, can anyone share any info?

Can anyone can share information about dreads, like what the process is, is the hair ruined, cost? My son with long hair wants dreads, I don’t want him to do that to his hair. He catches a lot of grief for having the long hair in the first place but his hair is beautiful and curly. Most people say stuff to him like get a hair cut but they really like it. It took me a long time to get used to it and now I can’t see him changing his style. Sometimes he is judged as a pothead but he isn’t and I am afraid that having dreads may be worse for him.