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?

My kids have afros. Only one was challenged once by a black male teacher and was told to put some cream in his hair. My DS was rocking the get out of bed and do nothing style. My DD reckons teachers never say anything to her and when telling the white girls to tie up their hair for PE they avoid saying anything to her. However the kids never stop saying stuff and touching her hair and asking stupid questions. She finds that offensive.

I love the natural look of their hair and I love the fact that I see more people with natural curls and afros and hope the numbers increase. I used to get a bit of grief from their grandmother who when they were little would braid my DD's hair without asking me. I think she was trying to show me how it was done. Lost cause. My inability to tame their hair coupled with a lack of desire has been a blessing.

Re: standards in some schools are terrible -
Could this be because of the total lack of respect many pupils (and their parents) have for those who are trying their best to teach them? This is discipline, very much needed in this country where the PC approach has led to a complete breakdown of standards. It has nothing to do with racism, just a need to instil in our young people an aspiration towards higher standards.

I would love to hear the views of the 12% who voted that the OP was BU!

older

Its not discipline.

When I was at school all.the kids moaned at for hair or earrings or whatever did nothing. They were well behaved , non disruptive etc

Required no behaviour management at all. But they would rather you were in the office removing nail polish than in the lesson.

Meanwhile "perfectly dressed" kids could sit there and ask for blow jobs in art class and call you a slag or frigid or a Dyke or all three at bloody once throughout your lesson and fuck all got done.

Uniform is just another way for sexist or racist or power hungry teachers with their favourites to bully kids.

Funnily enough another frequent observation was those who could produce an engaging/interesting lesson or frankly didn't spend half of it buggering off to god knows where and who got on with it rather than worry if your shoes had been polished had far less trouble .

I didnt experience racism as I'm white but I did experience bullying because my surname is foreign.

I experienced alongside every girl there , sexism because we couldn't wear trousers.

People seem to accept offensive and unfair behaviour when its dressed up as "uniform or some other policy"

I think hair should be kept neat in school, whether you are male or female, black or white. The whole point is for no child to stand out in the way they look , which is why uniforms are worn. Sorry to sound like a old fuddy duddy . I realise black hair is a different texture but it can be worn short or tied back.When they leave school the world of work expects you to conform, so why not get used to it.

Not an old fuddy duddy, but an ignorant person who knows little to nothing about black hair.

4a, 4b,4c curly hair cannot just be pulled back in a ponytail nor will cutting it short (on women) be easy. To even do what you assume means to straighten the hair by using hair relaxer which can cause hair loss, chemical burns, and a higher chance of cancer or using styling gels, oils and creams with a straightening iron. It is time-consuming. That doesn’t even include detangling beforehand and sectioning.

No child to stand out

Give me a break. Children/people shouldn’t have to change their natural state to conform to standards made by people who deem their attributes unnatural.

Would you tell a platinum blonde-haired child or a bright red-haired child to dye their natural hair a more subtle shade so they wouldn’t stand out from other children. I highly doubt it.

The world of work doesn't really expect you to conform anymore. That argument has passed, I'm afraid. (As someone smack bang in the middle of "the world of work)

It's hair. So many more worthwhile things that schools could be putting their scarce, underfunded energies into than worrying about how hair needed to be 20 years ago.

I didn't go to school (other than uni) in the UK and I don't understand all these rules schools have regarding appearance. They are so specific and I dont understand the.. We didn't have any formal rules and we did fine.

Could this be because of the total lack of respect many pupils (and their parents) have for those who are trying their best to teach them? This is discipline, very much needed in this country where the PC approach has led to a complete breakdown of standards. It has nothing to do with racism, just a need to instil in our young people an aspiration towards higher standards.

No, what leads to lack of respect is teachers having to enforce rules which anyone can see are pointless and a waste of time.

In at least one of the cases cited, the school in question had a specific rule about Afro hair and hairstyles. How can that be anything but racist?

@If1knewiwouldnotbehere

I couldn’t agree more. What I’m not quite understanding though is whstvexactly is the problem with a fade cut, or a high top? What is deemed so offensive about it, what exactly does it represent to school senior leadership teams and governors?

Like some have said if it has fuck you or some such word etched on the sides then I get that but what is it about a basic fade that is considered so wrong and so negative that it is part of some schools policy.

@jannnie49 maybe the 12% can answer my question

When they leave school the world of work expects you to conform, so why not get used to it

This really is a ridiculous pov. There are loads of jobs, industries, careers etc where they don't expect everyone to conform to some of outdated, white, middle-class "norm". The creative industries, tech, voluntary sector, construction, quite a chunk of the public sector now treat people like adults.

I work for a third sector organisation. One of our exec team has bright pink hair, a senior manager has waist length locks, a frontline worker has a splendid Afro (something not often seen in rural Sussex lol), dress code is whatever you're comfortable with as long as it's decent and the culture is that it's what you do that counts, not how you look or what you wear. None of this prevents the organisation from winning contracts ad getting fistfuls of awards for delivering quality services, and for things like diversity and family-friendly policies.

It's high time we started valuing people for what they do, not for what they wear. And that we bring our children up to do the same. People are so much more than what they wear.

When they leave school the world of work expects you to conform, so why not get used to it

Other than work places with uniform or rules due to hygiene (ex. Nurses and jewlery etc.). How many work places have rules that state what colour scarf you are allowed to have or what colour chief under your suit you should be wearing and what brand it should be? How many work places tell you what shoes and socks to wear or give you a list of appropriate hair colours, styles or nail polish?

I've yet to work in place like this even though I've worked in professional jobs. So I don't see how these rules prepare anybody for anyhting. I only see it as a way to control students just for fun. As mentioned before, didn't go school in the uk and yet I know how to dress myself and act like a human person.

Absolutely disgusting that schools do this. And to the comments about hairstyles being affiliated to gangs, that is absolute bullshit. Do you know how expensive and difficult it is to maintain an afro? The amount of products and oils needed to detangle and moisturise, plus the amount of nits they get in it at primary school, and the time it takes to comb it out and then when it rains it shrinks When you braid your kid’s hair it lasts up to two weeks with next to no maintenance. Ignorance and racism cause these hair ‘rules’ nothing else. I understand not accepting brightly coloured extensions and wigs but how can you say someone’s natural hair is unacceptable? And braids are natural hair in a preserved style - no different to a white child wearing a French braid or a pony tail.

There was a girl in our class at school with afro type hair. She had it braided with extensions but in natural colours and that was allowed, the braids lasted until they grew out a bit and then got redone, sometimes in a different braid style.

@Ponoka7

1. It's interesting because my friends from Nigeria like that they have the freedom to not have to wear wigs (women)

Pls can you write facts about where in Nigeria your so called friends have mentioned wig wearing is a must or a necessity other than choice?😏

1. and that they can pick neat styles for their children, in the UK.

Which school can’t you pick beat styles for your children without a choice in Nigeria?🙄

3.There's a lot less freedom of hair styles in African countries?

🤨Please name a few? Fact based!

1. 🤨🧐🤔and you can be arrested and detained for having a certain hairstyle?

Please bless us with the names of countries with proof of figures of those who have been arrested or detained due to hairstyles at school or elsewhere as you never specified 🤔

@Ponoka7
Pls next time you respond on such an international chat forum can you make sure you are well educated, informed and knowledgeable about what You type rather than some random stupid gossip between friends.
As someone who has lived in certain parts of west Africa - nigeria included, east Africa and South Africa as an expat. I would love to know how I missed out on all this

Why should pupils have to look "professional" ? I think that is a value judgment rooted in elitism all by itself, along with wearing ties. Yes, their hair should be out of their eyes, and made safe for PE and Bunsen burners. But that's it.

It is indeed shameful that someone feels they have the right to judge a child's haircut.

If the worst act of rebellion by a schoolkid is having a “banned” hairstyle, then that is pretty good going.

In my day it was (in an all girls' school) a short skirt. We bleached our hair white (no problem) but a skirt barely covering our upper legs was a no-no.

As an aside, when at college we had a visit from students from Africa. They danced in traditional costume and sang. We white saps applauded and joined in the dance: it was only at the meet and greet afterwards they admitted their song was vulgar and anti white colonialist. You go girls was our response!

@icedgem85 I wish my DS would take the time to oil, de- tangle and moisturise his afro. He rolls out of bed and does nothing to it. Might be a subject for a different thread.