School hair

[MooseBreath]

I will preface this by saying I am not from the UK and never attended a school with a uniform. I was a teacher in the UK for a while, and there was a uniform in those schools.

Why is there a rule about how children can style their hair? I genuinely don't see how it affects learning in any way. Is it a rule for rule's sake? If so, why aren't parents saying that the rule is outdated and should be abolished? What am I missing here?

I find the hair rules have been written by Caucasian adults thinking about Caucasian children. They do not seem to consider to different needs of afro hair.
A black boy with a grade one looks perfectly fine and not like a thug/gang member as some people seem to suggest.

In my experience with boys the preference for grade 1 haircuts was always either to avoid nits or because the child really hated haircuts and it was easier to just to a grade 1 more infrequently.

It’s because there exist many chavs who like to highlight 8 year olds’ hair, or send their kids (with long hair) in without even a hair clip to keep it out of place. Lately in the Indian area I live in, I’ve seen Sikh schoolboys and Muslim girls come in with high end designer kerchief’s / hijabs - so local schools have begun to implement colour / material rules for religious items too

What exactly and specifically is wrong with that though?

Im not saying i agree with highlighting an 8 year olds hair, or designer anything, but what harm does it actually do to a child's learning and the school.

afro hair should be protected by the equality act- rightly so. My child is mixed race so I understand the issue of non Caucasian hair being penalised.

For everyone saying people should be individuals and non conformist in the work place- would you hire someone who turned up at an interview in ripped jeans?

I’ve been under a consultant for 5+ years and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him wear a tie. He used to wear (casual) shirts when we had consultations in person but since going online he’s either wearing scrubs or a hoodie he has a buzz cut too.

If there’s any time in your life when it should be fine to have bright coloured hair is when you’re a teenager, no?

Thankfully schools are increasingly letting this issue go. My kids school says long hair must be tied back for PE, technology and science lessons. That's it.

The "no extreme styles" disproportionately affects BAME students due to the open interpretation of "extreme".

I find rules about hair not just silly but really demeanjng. It really bothers me that teachers think they have authority over hair length etc. I can live with a "tie long hair back" temporary thing.

I'm also in Scotland and never heard of any of this nonsense. I remember posting a photo of my daughter starting high school and a friend, who lives in England, saying that she wouldn't get away with her uniform there.

I am a primary teacher and I wear trainers to work and can have any hair colour I like. I like things more relaxed, I find all these rules bizarre and a bit pointless.

Lots of ott rules in schools here. Some specify kids must wear shoes with laces a really big issue if your child is disabled. That’s probably my worst example

My consultant wears unicorn scrubs and has rainbow hair. Shes really senior within her hospitalised trust and has got more and more outrageous as she's got more senior.

My son's junior school says no fashion haircuts, whatever that means! He just has short back and sides and a bit longer on top.

@OnceAgainWithFeeling I don’t want to challenge it though. I have no problem sticking my head above the parapet when required, but I think that a certain degree of conservatism is important in relevant institutions. I don’t think people should wear swimwear in supermarkets either. I am sure I will be criticized for this, but it’s my view.

Totally agree with you.

This is something I totally agree with too. I mean my daughter who has afro hair got called a Bush monkey because her hair was tied up in a ponytail but it was bushy. I defo wouldn't hire someone who turned up to an interview in ripped jeans regardless if its fashion now

Headlice

I think the absolute hiprocracy of teaching children to not judge people by appearance astounding.

Do people truly live such insulated lives where all jobs require suit, and conservative style. If so ye are in for a ride awakening 😄

Basically it’s a weird British thing that many people will argue to the death over, the need for conformity or the sky falls down. They will never get how you don’t under that if we deviate from the norm then the social order will fall about and children will be unable to work. You will never understand how greenhair prevents work. The argument with be circular

I agree that this is an equality issue, and I thought there had been a case that established that principle (involving a girl with an Afro, iirc).

I also think that if a child comes from a culture where dreadlocks are traditional, that should be allowed, as should a Hindu boy wearing a patka or a Muslim girl wearing a hijab.

Maybe if law abiding, non-gang member kids were allowed to have shaved hair, with patterns in, it would stop having those connotations.

Lots of people work in offices with bright pink hair

It's so annoying. I had this at school and in various jobs for years where I had to have natural coloured hair, no piercings, no extreme styles etc. Now I work in the tech sector and I could come into work in PJ's and rainbow hair in a giant mohawk and no one would care. I can appreciate the need for formality in some situations IE court but most of the time it's pointless power trips at play

The difference is I can choose to go to a job interview with pink hair and ripped jeans.
They can chose not to employ me.
I can find work somewhere that doesn’t mind pink hair. I can compromise my job search to these places if I wish.
Some jobs it will be fine.
Sometimes if you are just amazing enough jobs will bend the rules. I’ve been a teacher with flame red hair.

The problem with schooling is the right to education is withheld to force teens not to have pink hair. They legally have to attend school, it’s not optional or realistic to do otherwise. They have no choice in whether they go to school or not.

So it’s not ‘real life’ as some people claim

Hair is usually treated as part of looking uniformly neat, the clothing is uniform but so is overall presentation. They're supposed to not look like a stand out individual, but part of the group. It's something to consider when you choose a school, if you don't feel comfortable following their rules then it's not the school choice for you.

But it's also the people that do follow the rules that get picked on. No where in the schools curriculum does it state that your hair has to be done in a certain way. Uniforms yes but not hair. Children go to school to learn. Not to be told how to have there hair.