Why do some schools ban certain hair cuts?

[KindergartenKop]

I'm looking at secondary schools. One of them doesn't allow shaved heads under a no.3 grade cut. My son regularly has his shaved short, mainly because he has thick hair (due to South Asian genes). Is this normal in schools? Is this something I should avoid in a school or should I just shut up 😁

My DD is at one of the best state schools in scotland where you can learn in secondary even if you forget your tie have red hair, or wear trainers it is truly amazing!!!!!!!!

It's indirect discrimination under the Equality Act, so I would think very poorly of a school with such rules.

Separately, I do think some of the complete absence of proportion about bullshit rules like this in schools is because we staff them predominantly via a pipeline from school to university straight back into schools. Sure, some retrain from other professions but the worst culprits are those with no perspective and no sense of proportion.

Hence teachers with zero experience of any other workplace telling kids they have to do xyz bonkers thing to "prepare" for the workplace - even though that's not what the real world is like. Useful preparation would be teaching kids to understand a fucking payslip.

It's part of the British obsession with uniformity and conformity. I was so relieved when my DDs went to 6th form and I could bin all the uniform - and no 'business dress' nonsense either.

Amazingly enough they both managed to get good A levels, got into good unis and DD1 is graduating in a couple of weeks.

I miss read as ‘curtain haircuts’. That does feel like an odd, and not particularly relevant haircut to ban.

Because school prepares children for the world of work, to look smart.

Skinhead cuts, neon green dreadlocks and Sonic the hedgehog patterns trimmed into the back of hair are not smart.

What a load of bollocks. If they go to college or Uni they wear whatever they want so it's nothing to do with preparing for the workplace.

I'm so glad we're in Scotland. DDs school has a very flexible uniform, so badged or non badged options, and shoes, jackets, haircuts or colours, completely students' or parents' own choice. Some of the girls do wear a lot of make up, mind you.

How many workplaces have you been in? The trend overall is for more casual, less traditional. In my last workplace (NHS), several people sported blue, green or purple hair - one of them a very senior high up indeed. The world is moving on from obsessing over appearances and starting to judge people on what they do, not what they wear.

And a good thing too.

people I've encountered today
1 post office wearing own clothes smartish casual
2 toolstation company polo shirt black trousers
3 various people using toolstation jeans, workers padded multi pocket trousers t shirts
4 supermarket company uniform polo shirts black trousers gilet if you want to
5 pharmacist open neck formal short sleeved shirt smart trousers
most people had natural colour hair but plenty of tattoo's trainers etc

most important thing in workplace is to smile be polite, look approachable and be competent wherever you work

Yes there's dressing in casuals and suitable clothing for blue collar jobs, and there's dressing like a chav.

@strawberrylacey using the word 'chav' immediately means you lose the argument. It's classist and hateful. It's also meaningless because it assumed a person who behaves a certain way must also look a certain way.

You can't judge a book by its cover, and if you think you can, you have a real problem.

Agreed. Scottish schools don’t have this ridiculous obsession with hairstyles.

Any good school, like any good manager, in my view has ruled based on behaviour, not on appearance.

It's harder work for managers, in whatever environment, to do this. So lazy ones opts for rules based on appearance.

At my school they banned braids, patterns, skinheads and Afros. My brother shaved off his 'Afro' (not even Z curl pattern, just buoyant curls) and then got in trouble for looking like a skinhead. Racist, classist nonsense. I got sent home for highlighting my hair, it's all dark except for a small bit at the front which naturally has no pigment (a Mallen streak).

Ridiculousness! you would think the teachers had better things to do like deliver an education

@strawberrylacey a pharmacist is not a blue collar job, having your hair dyed, not wearing a tie or wearing trainers is not a chav ( hate the term but you used it) it is just normal
I would stick to a fewer simpler rules
hair must be out of eyes and tied back when necessary, and not hinder participation in sport swimming science etc
coats must be warm and waterproof
bags must be big enough for what you need
shoes must be flat, waterproof ( ie not cotton) and closed toe and not fall off if running
no bags coats haircuts should have any offensive message or symbols
state school uniform should be basic like black or grey trousers/ skirt/ shorts white or blue shirt and coloured jumper and school tie or for primary school grey trousers skirt pinafore shorts pale blue polo shirt royal blue sweatshirt no blazers at state schools
PE kit should be a school colour t shirt and black sports leggings or joggers or shorts and a pair of trainers from 3-18 years maybe a sweatshirt hoodie in as its freezing outside in winter

Because school prepares children for the world of work, to look smart.

Its far more of an attempt to control the working classes in an outdated notion that they should behave, dress and respect their ‘betters’. Schools continue to work on old fashioned lines that are generally to just appease, not have a useful benefit.

Looking smart means very little unfortunately - having worked in a school for 12+ years, the more smartly dressed teachers are the least intelligent…

*it’s

FFS - they are adults, the teachers, why on earth do you think that the same rules apply to them?

What an utter waste of time and energy. School is not the armed forces, and how pupils look has no impact on learning. Control does not teach self-control!

Classroom teachers have nothing to do with determining uniform policy. It's senior leadership and governors that do this.

While it's all well and good to preach "don't judge a book", when people take on an appearance, they do it to send a message to everyone else as to what kind of person they are.

Racism plays a role.

How?

@strawberrylacey they really don't. Not any more. As I've said above, in my last (NHS) organisation there were several people who had unnatural hair colours (think blue, purple). Respected, competent, qualified professional people and fully viewed and treated as such. The world has changed and is changing still. You may not like it, but it's a fact.

My DD1 is currently working (temping) as a nanny for a very middle class family - she has a quarter of her hair dyed turquoise and has tattoos. They hired her out of a dozen candidates because she was the best.

These days having odd hair colours tells the world that you're confident, not afraid to stand out, creative. Those are qualities people are looking for.

And you are still in the wrong for calling anyone a chav or thinking of them in those terms.