Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to be fuming that DS has been sent home because of his hair???

608 replies

brodyblake · 15/09/2017 16:10

DS had his haircut just before he started secondary school. In the uniform rules, it just saying no "extreme hairstyles" does not give any kind of description as to what those may be. Bugger me, he goes in with a perfect uniform, a nice smart haircut and is told it's a no!!! They have said that he is to be in isolation until it grows to an acceptable length Hmm they didn't say what would be classed as extreme!!!!!!!!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
JonSnowsWife · 15/09/2017 19:22

OP. Was he sent home or just put in isolation?

lampshady · 15/09/2017 19:26

Once I wore a sleeveless top JonSnow. Hot coals, I tell you.

I'm not even a teacher - I work with the spirited ones and implement interventions. My success rate is ridiculously high because students stop seeing education as a battle about Us Vs Them and see it as a means to an end.

Sallystyle · 15/09/2017 19:27

Why is it a stupid rule just because you disagree with it?

For all the reasons that have already been stated.

PeterBlue · 15/09/2017 19:32

I thought this sort of bullshit ended with the 1960s. In those days we were sent home because our hair was too long. A style like your DS would have been approved of!

PerspicaciaTick · 15/09/2017 19:33

When I went to school no haircuts were banned. Personally I would have been thrilled if they had banned skinhead cuts especially the ones with the ratty wee fringes.

noeffingidea · 15/09/2017 19:34

Yes, driving on the same side of the road is such a bore, isn't it?
There is a very good reason for rules about driving on the same side of the road. People die if they don't.
Can't really see any good reason for not allowing kids to this kind of hairstyle. It's neat and tidy, easy to keep clean and doesn't have any health and safety issues.
Lampshady I used to work with a nurse with a shaved head. Funnily enough the lack of hair on her head didn't prevent her doing her job in any way.

Seeingadistance · 15/09/2017 19:37

"I'm a middle-aged woman, a church minister and currently have an undercut. The back and sides of my head are a number 2, so that would mean that I'd fall foul of the "nothing less than a number 3" policy that some pps' school have!"

Yes it would. Fortunate then that you are not a school pupil falling foul of rules which don't apply to you then.

Fortunate indeed then that I'm a middle aged, professional woman with two university degrees, in good standing in the local community, involved with chaplaincy in three schools and co-opted member of the Parent Council in one of them. Because were I a child now, I would be deprived of an education because my hair was a bit on the short side, and we can't be having that, eh?

Isn't it bizarre that a teenage boy with a short haircut is so beyond that pale that he has to be isolated from his classmates, but another teenage boy might turn up at school declaring that he is now a girl called Lulu and must be referred to as she and given access to the girls' changing rooms and that's not a problem?! In fact, any child who has the temerity to question this distortion of biological reality, the rules of the English language and girls' right to privacy might find themselves languishing in the shame of isolation along with the boy with the short hair.

lampshady · 15/09/2017 19:42

I'm not a nurse. Hope that helps.

EveryoneTalkAboutPopMusic · 15/09/2017 19:44

Our school has the same policy. Can't see why you thought it was a good idea tbh.

ALittleMop · 15/09/2017 20:02

Poor kid
Is he Y7? Turns up for day one and straight in isolation?
I hate the haircut - but it will grow soon
I would challenge the isolation if the school code is not specific enough
(or look for another school)
There is a school near us that kept one of my friend's DDs in isolation for wearing patent shoes. Totally stupid.

DeleteOrDecay · 15/09/2017 20:03

I would have thought it obvious that this would not be acceptable.

People keep saying this but no one has explained why it is so 'obvious' that it's not acceptable.

It's about fostering a sense of community and identity

Surely you can have that without dictating how people can have their hair?

I've seen male teachers with this hair cut before. It's a normal hairstyle, nothing extreme about it.

crimsonlake · 15/09/2017 20:11

I think it is quire simple, if you do not like the rules find an alternative school.

Flyingflipflop · 15/09/2017 20:12

I'm never quite sure why we are so keen to crush the free spirit of kids. Life as you get older does that well enough.

Nothing has changed since Pink Floyds Brick in the Wall.

DeleteOrDecay · 15/09/2017 20:13

If only it was that simple crimson.

saoirse31 · 15/09/2017 20:18

Totally normal haircut, totally stupid rule, stupid lack of explanation of said rule... Yanbu.

What is the actual reason for school wanting boys not to have a fade cut?

Buck3t · 15/09/2017 20:18

Based on your post, it doesn't seem right. He's just started school and the brochure says no 'extreme' haircuts.

For those who are saying it's to make everyone the same. They should then specify the haircut. For those saying it's because kids can't afford regular haircuts. Have everyone cut it low and let it grow to collar length. Problem sorted.

But most importantly state the rules clearly. Extreme time means blue Mohawk. To someone here it means a short short back and sides.

Quite frankly if a school can't do specifics on something they say is so important then a) maybe it's not that important or b) maybe they're not very good.

SpaghettiAndMeatballs · 15/09/2017 20:19

Our school has the same policy. Can't see why you thought it was a good idea tbh.

TBH I can't see what's wrong with it - it's just a nicer version of the classic short back and sides isn't it? Certainly the pics of that standard haircut from my dad's school years show that they virtually shaved the sides.... In fact, I'd say the long and floppy on top was a lot more irritating to learning than very short sides no?

On the bright side, surely should only be a week before it's grown out enough?

Goldfishshoals · 15/09/2017 20:39

My dd was taken aside last week and told her hair style wasn't allowed. It's narural highlights that have been bleached by the sun on holiday grin

That's hilarious. I mean awful for the poor kids, but funny they can be so idiotic.

Many years ago in the 80s I was once pulled up by a teacher for wearing mascara. I was not wearing any, it was just my natural lashes Grin /stealth boast.

Brown76 · 15/09/2017 20:45

I think this specific rule and the way it is being enforced is very counter productive of schools.

A policy which enforces a dress code avoids a fashion parade and encourages a level playing field. But you can be sent home to change your shirt or take off make up. To exclude children from the classroom until their hair grows longer in particular is so negative and petty. YANBU and I'd say that you went to the barbers and asked for a neat short back and sides and this is what you got.

Willow2017 · 15/09/2017 20:48

Our school has the same policy. Can't see why you thought it was a good idea tbh

What is actually wrong with the haircut and why is it against your school policy?

InfiniteCurve · 15/09/2017 20:49

DS's school wouldn't allow that.Not a problem for us because he likes his hair as long as I can put up with,and it's curly.
It's unfair though - why is DS's long and sometimes quite wild hair acceptable,and a neat short cut not?!
Bizarre.

Ragusa · 15/09/2017 20:57

Are we not all aware that we must follow zero orderzzzzz or risk societal disintegration?

Slavish adherence to pointless rules never did nowt except teach people to be passive subjects or the other extreme, zealots who seek to impose an equally bonkers strict moral code on people.

Control over the fine details of hairstyles is taliban territory. Yes yes broad rules. Long hair tied back, for nits or safety reasons. All fine. But come on people in charge of schools. Engage your brain and at least pretend to read the evidence of what works in raising achievement.

Ragusa · 15/09/2017 20:57

Ze orders obviously

EveryoneTalkAboutPopMusic · 15/09/2017 20:59

Our school doesn't allow any haircuts under 3 and I'm sure the OP said the High School in question had the same policy

Ragusa · 15/09/2017 20:59

And I do not mean to suggest that people in charge of schools are all power hungry overlords/ ladies. Most are thoroughly decent and very admirable indeed. Just a few bad apples.

Swipe left for the next trending thread