school crack down on hair colour

[mrsfuzzy]

new school year and problems already! ds is 14 and like a lot of girls her age experiments with her hair, for the first time during the school hols she tried a semi permanent raspberry colour on her red hair [god knows why- ex p let her do it] anyhow i was cool with that as it doesn't look that obvious, as she washes it it becomes less obvious, however school are cracking down on these things make up, uniform etc as they did last year, but she brought a note home yesterday saying to remove the dye or steps will be taken, i wasn't fazed by this as each wash reduces the colour, but how do people 'get away' with flouting the rules about such things one girl has dyed her hair jet black with blue streaks over the hols and mum told me she is not going to remove the colour for anyone, one lad keeps one side of his head shaved in spite of repeated warnings, mum says she ignores them, i accept the school policy that's not the problem but aibu to wonder why it seems the 'easy targets get picked on' to set an example? any thoughts or similar experiences anyone?

For what it's worth, I agree that rules about hair colour/piercings etc. are daft. As a teacher I would much rather spend my time teaching than nagging about such things. However, one thing that DOES affect learning is parents not backing teachers and telling their DCs to ignore what they've been told etc. It creates a complete lack of respect in the classroom and therefore a huge barrier to achievement. I remember being daft enough to get my nose pierced when I was in year 9 and funnily enough having to take it out as soon as I got to school. I was a bit miffed but accepted that I'd have to wait until after my GCSEs (I did A-levels at college because I was sick of rules). My mum backed the school. Oh - and apologies for the horrific typo in the last post. I have no idea where 'earnt' came from especially from a languages teacher. Oh the shame...

I think the sensory issues thing is another area entirely - unless there is a reason why having sensory issues would ever mean you had to have pink hair?

I'm still waiting to hear what will happen to dd's friends who came back with pinkish hair: will be interested to find out!

My dd2 started 6th form today, full uniform still but a different coloured kilt.
One of the things she was most looking forward too was walking into school with make up on and not being given a baby wipe and being told to remove it, although the rules state that 6th formers can use a small amount of make up i think she might still get the baby wipe
Nothing changes.

Just got our new school handbook 'Hair must be a natural colour and of one tone'. Hope they don't mind DD's surfer-dudeish highlights then.

a couple of points.

Firstly, as in the picture in my profile. My DD's hair is not pink, or blue or green. It's a perfectly natural auburn shade. As someone above said it is their own natural colour.
My issue was that DD was singled out to tone down her hair whilst the child with the green hair was allowed on her merry way.

Secondly, I reckon you'll find a great many barristers and other professions who had weird and wonderful hair through their teenage years. I'm quite sure what colour a kid dyes his/her hair at 14 has no bearing on the career path they take later in life.

I wonder what that school would do about natural highlights grimma. When I was a teenager my hair used to have natural blonde chunks here and there in between all the brown. I wonder if they'd have accused me of dyeing it?

I found going in braless was the best way to flout uniform rules, personally

I also hope my kids have a weird and wonderful time in their teenage years. I think this is entirely separate from tampering with their appearance.

Roonil - quite so. DDs surfer dudeish highlights are the product of an addiction to watersports . I suspect the school really meant one hue!

I knew plenty of law students with daft haircuts, colours and very poor behaviour, actually the law student were the worst behaved at Uni, the faculty had an appalling reputation and they weren't all from state school! But they were closer to being a barrister than a 12 year old....I wonder how it affected their career prospects.
Dh had a daft blond stripe in his hair where he was at the local comp - thankfully he got over his hair dye phase but it didn't stop him getting a degree from Cambridge or making Partner.

The old 'if you don't like the school rules, find a different school' argument always makes me laugh. Yes, because there is so much actual schools choice for most people.

I 'chose' DS1's school because the only school we could get him in to when we moved here was a feeder school to it (our LA applies a feeder school rule in the admissions criteria). It's also, handily, at the end of our road (and the only school he could get to without spending a lot of time on the bus). It doesn't mean I have to like the new managerialism favoured by the current head.

I think schools with really stupid rules actually create much less respect than they would if they were more sensible. I had utterly no respect for the assistant head at my high school who was utterly obsessed with wether you had your shirt tucked in under your jumper and used to carry out spot checks on us (getting us to lift up our jumpers to show that our shirts were tucked in). She was a bloody idiot, and I could see that at 12 just as clearly as I can now.

But natwebb your attitude suggests that whatever rule the school comes up with, however silly, it doesn't matter, because school rules must be followed and parents must back up teachers, otherwise chaos ensues. You think it's a stupid rule too - but conformity is what maters. Why? Why don't good sense, happy kids and a relaxed, conducive learning environment matter more?

I think the whole issue of laying down pointless arbitrary rules should be addressed and parents and students should be allowed to point out if rules are daft, counterproductive (i.e. make otherwise well-behaved, well-performing kids lose respect for the school) or even harmful to learning (i.e. students being forced to be too hot). I mean where do you draw the line? Just how stupid would a rule have to be before you said "No, this is harmful, and just because some HT has dreamt it up does not make it right".

If we take your attitude, we are teaching kids that all authority is right, always, no matter how insane. Teaching them to hkeep their heads down, never question, never think for themselves, never dare to challenge the status quo. Yet people who actually do well in society are the opposite. They are people who can be inventive and imaginative, apply reason to problems and question how things are done.

Curlew The Sensory Issues I mentioned was more with regard to blazer.

I do not know of any reason why hair must be dyed, the only problem (which might need dispensation) I can think of is that if a school takes on a new pupil who has emotional issues, maybe after previously been homeless / a runaway ,they might arrive with dyed hair which would take a while to sort out. It would be a shame if they were suspended until it was sorted out.

As I say discretion - not anything goes.

It's all just incredibly stupid in my opinion. What you wear and the appearance of your hair has zero effect on your education and creates completely unnecessary battles. Having to wear an ugly school uniform and being told off on a regular basis for some stupid infraction by teachers who wore whatever they liked did the opposite of creating respect at my school. It was incredibly hypocritical apart from anything else and teenagers are very sensitive to unfairness real or perceived.

My children go to a non uniform school and my dd has purple and blue streaks this term. She looks fantastic, and gets lots of compliments. She is 12, and it is how she likes to express herself. Personally I have blond and red streaks and have a well paid professional job so it would be a bit odd if I tried to tell her that her very smart hair would be a barrier to success.

motherinferior See the stricter the rule enforcement the more creative you have to be to rebel....Its the quiet ones you have to watch!

I found going in braless was the best way to flout uniform rules, personally

I wore a vest until fourth year! I was a rebel and I didn't know it. No wonder I never made it to barrister

"If we take your attitude, we are teaching kids that all authority is right, always, no matter how insane. Teaching them to hkeep their heads down, never question, never think for themselves, never dare to challenge the status quo. Yet people who actually do well in society are the opposite. They are people who can be inventive and imaginative, apply reason to problems and question how things are done."

They are also people who don't sweat the small stuff. Obviously, if a rule is harmful then question, challenge, flout. But if it's just a rule, save your energy for important stuff.

Ladybigtoes - if a rule was 'harmful' it wouldn't be allowed to be a school rule. If you spent a week in a school you'd see how being allowed to wear makeup affects learning (poxy mirrors and lipgloss out rather than listening etc.). Whether you like it or not, in a building with 1000+ teenagers there has to be rules. I personally am not a fan of hairstyle rules but let's face it, not having pink hair for a few years isn't exactly 'harmful' is it?!

Kids having mirrors out and not listening in class is not because they are allowed to wear make up. It's because the class management is not as good as it should be. People were allowed to wear make up at my school (and some applied it with a shovel) but there was no doing your make up in class. The teachers wouldn't have tolerated that, and we all knew it.

natwebb79 Schools are not infallible.

Some schools insist children cannot wear coats on school premises (even in the snow) and somehow they have to stuff their coat in their bag, once they are through the gates. I'd rather have a regulation coat on the uniform list than none at all.

Velcro school shoes have been banned by some schools because they look too much like trainers, thus immediately singling out any child with fine motor skill problems who find tying laces extremely difficult.

I'd rather have a plain and simple list eg flat black shoes.

the DDs school has a new head. As reported by DD2, she told them in an assembly today that they weren't allowed to wear makeup as they were in a professional environment. That'll be the one with the head teacher wearing foundation and eyeshadow then . What was even funnier for DD was that straight after the assembly, her next teacher has dyed orange hair, tattoos and multiple ear piercings .

Will be following the progress of the head with interest - there's rumours that girls with too short skirts will have to wear a kilt, presumably as a punishment. The head presumably hasn't seen the grammar school girls in the next county with their michelin man rolls of kilt fabric round their middles .

Nothing like gross hypocrisy to make sure the student body have utterly no respect for you, IShallWearMidnight.

Just because an adult wears make up doesn't mean a child can also.

A bit of make up can help no end with confidence if a teenager develops acne. I would recommend helping them choose it and showing how to apply it properly though!