To not get schools issue with dyed hair?

[fitforflighting]

I suspect I may get flamed for this but I genuinely do not get it.
They have a rule against earrings including sleepers. That I get especially with younger children or in sports were children can end up getting them at worst ripped out.

I can kind of even get extreme haircuts with big shaved stars or strange styles that look unprofessional and might not be allowed by adults in a professional work place.

But this week and last term several of senior age children who had dyed hair brown/red/dark purple etc were sent home from school to re dye or put in isolation by teachers with errr brown/red/purple dyed hair! One of the children's teacher has bright purple hair. It does not make her any less of a English teacher or lesson her professionalism in school I don't reckon so what is the problem for teens?

Possibly not a good idea to teach children that they can choose to ignore rules if they want to, or if the rules seen irrelevant, silly or inconvenient.

But why teach them by imposing irrelevant and silly rules? What on earth is wrong with having sensible rules? And, face it, all day every day schoolchildren do evade the uniform rules, so you actually are teaching them how to do this.

and since when was it a teacher's job to tell a child what might be expected of them at interview and the consequences of not looking the part?

Since it was part of the PHSE syllabus.

It's about understanding what the rules are, learning how to follow them and understanding that there can be consequences to operating outside the rules.

You teach them that by having sensible rules, not stupid ones.

And if it doesn't change culture ?

will you continue to bankrupt yourself on unnecessary clothing items? refuse go let your daughter wear trousers as if it's 1930?

allow them to overheat in blazers?

where does this support nonsense rules end?

If my son ever chooses to die his hair and gets sent home I'll just take him straight back to school and inform the teachers that they should get on with teaching. They send him home again and it's a complaint to the Education Minister.

As others have said, we are surrounded by rules and conventions all the time. Whether it be queuing, filling a form correctly, putting the rubbish in the right colour bags or obeying the speed limit, we are all supposed to abide by them. Rules are what make a society tolerable. Children heed to learn that rules are not there to be broken.

Dodo, that's fine, but children will learn that by being required to follow sensible rules such as turning up to class on time, doing their homework at the right time and in accordance with instructions, behaving in school, being polite etc etc. Why do they need a whole extra set of pointless rules for that? And, as I've pointed out, if anything most children learn to evade the uniform rules anyway, so if anything all that is doing is teaching children to subvert authority.

"and the answer would be because teachers are adults and you agreed to the school's rules when you sent your child there. "

School rules have to be lawful. Schools cannot refuse to educate a child because they don't like the colour of a child's hair.

My DS has what I now realise is a degree of sensory sensitivity and hates wearing anything with long sleeves. His school for some reason had an obsession with children wearing a long-sleeved jumper in everything but the very hottest weather. He never did, and when the subject was raised with me I regularly told the school I could see no reason why he should wear something that made him uncomfortable and hindered his ability to learn. Ultimately they gave up trying to enforce it.

It's true to say that exclusion guidance says you can't exclude a child for uniform infractions. A school that does so would itself be breaking the rules, which wouldn't be the best example to the children.

I think it's much better to teach children to evaluate rules in the proper context than to blindly obey them. The number of appalling things that have happened in our time because people are not prepared to go against the rules and norms laid down for them is sickening. All the great civil rights gains of the last century came from people not obeying rules they disagreed with.

I remember a poster on a previous thread saying how her dd was crying with cold as the children weren't allowed to wear coats.

now a teacher stood outside the gates waiting to.pounce on kids who hadn't even entered the premises who were wearing coats.

do all the "obey the rules" people really think that one should be followed even in the "meantime" whole a person complains?

"Possibly not a good idea to teach children that they can choose to ignore rules if they want to, or if the rules seen irrelevant, silly or inconvenient."

On the contrary, I will teach my child to challenge nonsense wherever he finds it and I certainly won't be giving him the impression that authority should be respected.

"why shouldn't children 'look the part' in school?"
Why should they have to "look the part" in school? Why shouldn't they have hair the colour they want in school? As I've already asked, where are the peer reviewed scientific studies that prove it's beneficial to children to be told by schools how their hair should look?

"and since when was it a teacher's job to tell a child what might be expected of them at interview and the consequences of not looking the part? Surely that's a life skill - you know, something parents should be teaching?"
Because, cannotlogin, the argument of some PPs was that the school rules about appearance were to prepare children for the expectations of interviews and the job market, that's why. Which is why, by that logic, I asked why teachers couldn't just inform them instead.

"Laws DO get changed and social/cultural norms DO change - and they change after people start to question them. If everyone just 'followed the rules' we'd still be living in the dark ages."

Absolutely. IMHO people should do a lot more questioning.

Another thing, if I hear of any teachers shouting or behaving aggressively in the classroom I will not accept that either. They are at work, and it is not acceptable to rant and rave in the workplace, especially with a vulnerable group such as under 16s.

I remember in primary 6 and 7. Our teacher had horrendous mood swings and used to scream at us and throw things around the room. The class was terrified and hated going to school. Definite impact on learning.

Had the belt still been around she would have been regularly assaulting children.

It must depend on where you live then as my local secondary and primary school just have to be wearing the colours so it doesn't have to have logo on (optional). Can be from Asda, m&s wherever.

Regardless that was just my opinion so no need to jump all over me because of it. When I was at primary (up until primary 6 when uniform was introduced) I, and other pupils, got bullied terribly about the clothes we came to school in. Once everyone had to wear the same colours etc, surprise surprise, the bullies couldn't pick us out because of it anymore

If i can't get a stupid and unfair rule changed and I felt as strongly as you do about it, Gruntled, then I would have to consider withdrawing my child from that school. Either to send to another school with rules I preferred if at all possible, or if not, then maybe home ed instead (yes, I know not everyone could do this, but really, if the state-provided education is not to your liking, and you can't change it, what other option is there? Maybe set up a free school but that would take time, money and is fairly risky in terms of the quality of education that might result.).

The only rules I could see myself getting that annoyed by would be sexist ones like different hair rules for boys and girls, or girls not having the option of trousers. Although, surely there are very few schools these days that don't allow trousers for girls?

mrs that is terrible. I am sorry I totally agree that hair colour etc should not be relevant unless a safety issue etc but I do think that uniform is a good idea but should be cheap for everyone

I went to one that didn't permit trousers.

I also live in an area with very crap schools amongst very good ones so just switching wouldn't be an option as finding a place in an equally good school wouldn't be easy.

English schools are much much stricter than Scottish schools in this respect. Theoretically Ds has to wear a school uniform ( 3rd year high school) but it is very loosely interpreted. He won't wear his blazer any more - lots of the kids don't which is a shame - and wears white shirt, black trousers,school tie and black trainers. Any coat or jacket is OK. Any socks OK. He has often gone in with one red sock and one blue one....sigh . I would like him to be smarter but as long as he's got a tie on and mostly black and white shirt and trousers, its accepted . Any hair colour is fine, girls go plastered in make up, in tiny skirts, leggings, boots...and this is one of the bettwry, high achieving schools in a good catchment. Allegedly.

Dc school make them take coats off at the gate too.
Luckily (?) mine both have with learning difficulties and special needs so do not go outside at break. Not that many secondary kids wear coats as there is no where to leave them but mine go looking like eskimo in winter!

MrsDevere that is bloody awful.

Giles, how long ago was that, and is it still the rule now?

Changing schools is obviously not easy or even possible, but if the rules are so awful, discriminatory and crushing then what else can you try to do if the head/governors won't listen to reason and change?

Culture DD us at a non-uniform primary at the mo. Doesn't seem to be hindering anyone's learning that I've noticed, certainly not hers. The only rules, which are perfectly sensible and therefore easy to explain and uphold are no open-toed sandals or sleeveless tops (stubbed toes and sunburn). If anyone (older kids really) Coe in wearing something inappropriate (slogan for example) a sensible conversation can be had about ehy that's not appropriate. The same can't be said about sick or hair colour other than demz da roolz, which is of course as brainless as it sounds.

How can we expect our children to grow up with enquiring minds and the ability to make good decisions when we expect them to follow mindless meaningless rules-for-the-sake-of-rules. The sheeplike bleating on this thread alone shows the likely end result, doesn't it?

If DD ends up at a uniform secondary, which she probably will (and we'll have bugger all choice about where she ends up), I'll be on the PTA and any bollocks about children missing class time because of sock colour etc, I'll be on it like a ton of bricks. I can clearly remember the bureaucratic implementation of uniform rules at school and all it taught me is that some school staff are utterly petty jobsworths.

A lot won't allow corn rows/braids, completely ignoring how Black hair is cared for naturally, and imposing their own cultural 'look' on children. Makes me so angry. It's often said that they do it because of 'gangs' which IMO is also racist as where I'm from EVERYONE who's black has braided hair.

*sick=sock

I left school in the mid nineties and was not allowed to wear trousers.