Boys with long hair at secondary school

[Whateveryouwant1]

My boy has long hair and is off to secondary school in September.
I'm looking for other mums views on how their boys got on with starting secondary school with long hair. Did you find your boy was treated differently or not due to hair length?
Or did you encourage them to cut a short cut before they started?
It's up to him how he has his hair but he's very sheltered at primary school.
aibu - he'll be fine with long hair
Ainbu - he'll be a target with long hair

@Whateveryouwant1 if you have time, you could do a stake out at the gates and check the hairstyles....

My DS had long hair all the way through primary.
He went for an induction day with his 1 to 1 at secondary and they said he'd have to cut it so he reluctantly did.
When he went in September there was at least 10 boys out of 150 with long hair so he was raging, but he hasnt grown it again yet. Hes still experimenting with lots of short styles. But he regrets cutting it.

I really feel for your ds. Must have totally felt wronged from the start.
My ds has a few induction days so maybe we'll see how he gets on with those.

My DS is now 21 but he had shoulder length curls all the way through secondary school right up until he went into 6th form.

He didn’t get any grief at all - in fact his friends all said he had great hair and his nick name was curly.

I actually got emotional went he went for the chop - from shoulder length to a crop with a fade in one swoop

Prob also depends on the school; I cant think of any boys in my kids’ school who have long hair. I dont think they have a specific policy about it(I would hope not), but now I think about it it does seem odd that I done see any boys there with long hair, even outside their friendship groups.

Don't think he'll be a target but will school allow it? Our ds wanted to grow his hair in Year 9 but the boys were told by the school that boys couldn't have hair past collar length and were ordered to get and get it cut. Girls meanwhile could have long, flowing hair. It was SO sexist old fashioned and senseless. I wanted to complain to the school but ds wouldn't let me. At 19. he has beautiful, blond waist length curls do he's more than made up for it!

My ds chose to have long hair and I'm fine with it. Only condition was that he looked after it well - washing/brushing which he has.
The School isn't terribly close and most kids get on school buses within the grounds so stalking probably won't work but thought I'd call them and ask. They'll most likely think I'm a bit nuts asking about other boys hair length!

Both of my sons have always had longish hair and have only ever had positive comments from other kids. They were occasionally hassled by teachers about it, but I think that probably depends on the school.

DS hasn't had any issues with long hair. There's an older lad I recognise at parkrun with impressive waist length hair.
It's quite a good school for not trying to be too corporate anyway.

The only rule that should exist for long hair on boys is being tied up for safety reasons in line with the policy for girls.

My year 7 son has had a few negative comments. He's on the "ginger" spectrum, not bright auburn, redder than strawberry blond. "Titian" according to the hairdresser! Apparently ginger enough to attract comments from badly brought up ignoramuses. Please can everyone model to their kids not to pass comment on other people's appearance. We know we are tall / short / ginger / have long hair / have dimples / are slim etc without needing to be told.
My son has kept his long hair but did at one point ask about dying it.

my son has long hair, and mostly had positive comments about it. I think it helps that both his big brother and my male hair dresser (who is young, tattooed and v cool) have long hair and he really looks up to them. It seems to give him the confidence to shrug off any negative comments.
Slightly different in that it's an all boys school, but I would say only a small percentage have below collar length hair.

@Love51 it's such a shame people still have that attitude. A boy in my DS year has really long vibrant red hair and is generally considered cool. It seems we're lucky at my son's school!

Depends if you live in an area where gender stereotypes are rigidly enforced. Is the local playground filled with girls in head-to-toe pink and boys in camo gear with buzz cuts? If not, you’re probably fine.