To be shocked that schools are still doing this?

[LakieLady]

I've just been reading this article

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/25/black-pupils-excluded-hair-discrimination-equality-act

and can't believe that schools are still treating black kids like this.

Reading between the lines, it sounds as though braided hair is uacceptable in some schools, too and quite what is unacceptable about a fade (unless perhaps it's one with a very high top) is beyond me. Isn't a fade more or less the same thing as a short back and sides, albeit a bit more artful, which used to be forced on boys in my schooldays.

I remember the case about the boy with dreadlocks, but hadn't realised that that had been won on faith grounds.

If our schools can't be accepting of ethnic differences, what hope is there for wider society?

I have never ever understood why schools put so much emphasis on hair and it being such an issue.
POC cannot help the way their bloody hair grows! It’s their natural hair! Personally I think dreads are gorgeous. Afro’s are gorgeous too. You can totally understand why poc get so upset and angry when white people wear them as a fashion statement and get no issue from it when they have crap like this to put up with.
Kids should not be made to miss out on education because of their natural sodding hair!! I’m signing her petition.

Yes its disgraceful, my 2.5year old is mixed race (large curly fro) and I dont expect her to have to deal with an issues, whether we choose to braid it or leave it natural

"Reading between the lines, it sounds as though braided hair is uacceptable in some schools"

But have there been cases of that?

Some of the fade cuts etc affiliate boys with gangs, everytime there's been a case of enforcing the rules, there has been good reason behind it.

Where I live very curly big styles are in, so they don't differ from Afros. There hasn't been any issues with them.

My white DD's all had to wear their long hair tied back in some way.

You've got to look at each case of claimed discrimination individually.

It's interesting because my friends from Nigeria like that they have the freedom to not have to wear wigs (women) and that they can pick neat styles for their children, in the UK. There's a lot less freedom of hair styles in African countries and you can be arrested and detained for having a certain hairstyle.

I can understand schools needing to teaching children how to dress professionally but I think it’s quite OTT to demand that they do it every day and exclude them from education if they don’t comply (especially where most work places no longer hold their employees to such very strict standards over hair).

I would like to point out that the article was an opinion one and didn't bring up any actual cases.

My friend had braided hair extensions back from 2000-ish to 2002 (Year 10/11) and would switch it up every couple of months or so with different colours, blue, red, green etc and I only saw one incident when she was told her hair was inappropriate by a maths teacher.

“Why”? she asked.

He didn’t have an answer.

The reluctance to the short back and sides/fade style really confuses me as well. Why don’t they just mind their own business?

and you can be arrested and detained for having a certain hairstyle

Sounds like another country... oh yes, North Korea.

The issue is what constitutes 'professional'. If it's styles that only work for certain types of hair, then we are discriminating. There is no reason why natural hair, braids and dreads can't be 'professional' if we choose to accept them as such. Professional is not a neutral term that has arisen from nowhere- it is a result of choices made by people in power. When I first qualified in the early 90s, women had only just been given permission to wear trousers as part of court dress. We recognised that there was nothing inherently "professional' in only wearing skirts. Changes were made. We can change approaches to hair as well.

Tbh I don't get the obsession with hair and hair and anyway.

Standards are terrible in some schools. Behaviour attendance and attainment awful. You would think that as long as a kid was in school and behaving themselves what colour their scrunchie was or how long their hair was would be the last thing on their mind.

Black people have different hair to white people, they should not have to be held to western standards of acceptable hair styles. Especially if it causes distress or damage or great financial expense.

As long as no one shaves "fuck you" into their hair then frankly keep your nose out.

I don't understand the hair issue. I think it's perfectly reasonable for schools to say that hair should not obscure the face/reduce line of sight. But other than that, I've never been able to work out why anyone cares.

DD's school says girls hair must be tied back as a safety precaution, particularly for PE, but I don't really understand that - surely her long ponytail is just as likely to be grabbed or caught as her hair if it's loose (but out of her face)?

@Ponoka7

Fade haircuts do not equate with gangs.

Almost every kid now, white, black, mixed-race, Asian, you name it, has fades!

I wish teachers were more worried about children wearing black flags (bandanas) wrapped around a wrist or out of their back pocket, or twisting their fingers into Bs or Cs every time they see an "opp" somewhere etc. Haircuts are low hanging fruit, a way for teachers to look like they're doing something. It's ridiculous in my view.

I have had a fade nearly all of my life, I now work in financial services for what it's worth. My hair looks neater and better when it's a nice clean low fade. I feel fresh as a result. We should be encouraging this in kids.

Some of the fade cuts etc affiliate boys with gangs

Which fade cuts?

Lots of white kids have fades, too, and they take a lot more maintenance to keep on point than a short back and sides so banning them does create some equality in other ways, ie those kids who can't afford to drop a tenner or more a week at the barber's not standing out. I don't agree with a lot of schools' attitudes to acceptable haircuts but I can sort of see the reasoning.

The problem for schools is that when they are constantly having to spend time and resources working out which particular haircuts do signify gang affiliation (which they have to do because of safeguarding when it comes to their attention) it takes up so much time and if they get it wrong, children will be at risk. I understand that most of the time the slightly personalised fade or particular style of braided hair will have bugger all to do with gang activity, but sometimes it will. Promoting conformity - unfortunately - helps keep kids safe. That’s the bottom line.

And some people cant afford hair cuts at all. It's no reason to ban others from having some.

You cant expect parents to fork out 3 or 4 hundred pounds for uniform then ban a hair cut for " equality "...

I bet these are mostly academies. They're just businesses churning out homogenised children ready for the workplace. If you don't conform to industry standard, you're fucked.

My son was sent home twice for his hair cut - once had a little swosh shaved in and once for a fade. My daughter's year group have some girls who have braids and as long as it's off the face (any long hair has to be tied back off the face) not an issue. I think its school by school.

The article seems to be a promotion for a book, so I do wonder whether the writer is exaggerating the issue to create interest in it.
Nevertheless the principle is right, hair styles should not be an issue for schools to decide.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/newsbeat-45521094

Nevertheless the principle is right, hair styles should not be an issue for schools to decide

It’s not right. If you send your child to a school with a thousand or so other kids, you are contributing to the huge responsibility those staff have to keep those children safe. Give your support. In the holidays and when they leave school your child can do whatever they want with their hair.

The issue is what constitutes 'professional'. If it's styles that only work for certain types of hair, then we are discriminating. There is no reason why natural hair, braids and dreads can't be 'professional' if we choose to accept them as such. Professional is not a neutral term that has arisen from nowhere- it is a result of choices made by people in power.

Agree with this. If only styles suitable for straight or wavy hair are considered "professional", then it's indirect discrimination imo.

I don’t see what the problem is with braids or dreadlocks. Hair is supposed to kept away from their face so they can work. So if it’s near and tidy I don’t see what the issue is.

I maybe wrong but wasn’t this brought about as a pupil had their hair in a way that pupils at the back of them couldn’t see the board as it was brushed out in a fashion style so quite big in volume?

If that’s the case then yes they should be told to pin it back during school hours. Like every one else.

And how would not allowing skin fades or sending kids home for having an afro keep them safe?

Do you think they smuggle knives in their hair or something

There's very few examples here in the grand scheme of uniform infractions. It's really an issue with how strict/ ridiculous uniform rules can be these days (scarves should be plain black etc etc) and how much power they give a certain style of teacher. Individuality is stamped on, whether you're black, brown, white, pink or purple.